BELIEVERS ARE GOD’S TREASURED POSSESSION
Exodus 19:2-8 - June 27, 2004 - Pentecost 4
EXODUS 19:2-8
2After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.
3Then 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 house 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. 5Now 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, 6you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."
7So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. 8The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.
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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:
What is your most-treasured possession? This might be a hard question--because in this land of opportunity and in this nation, the Lord has blessed us with many possessions. It may be hard to pick out one thing that is our most-treasured possession. As we think about treasured possessions, they may be treasured for a different number of reasons. They may be our treasured possessions, because they are worth lots of money. We may have a treasured possession, because it has sentimental value to us. Or we may have a treasured possession, because it is simply unique and one of a kind.
Today in our text the Lord speaks to the children of Israel, and he speaks to us to remind us as believers that we are his treasured possession. Every believer of us is a unique individual to the Lord. Now it is true that at times we might forget that. Sometimes we might forget that we belong to the Lord. Yet, in our entire life and even in our death, which brings us into eternal life, we are the Lord’s. Paul reminds us in the book of Romans: "If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord" (ROMANS 14:8). That is our thought and theme today. We are going to look at that important message that we belong to the Lord.
Our theme is BELIEVERS ARE GOD’S TREASURED POSSESSION.
I. It is the Lord God Himself who draws us to himself.
II. We remain close to the Lord as we continue in His Word.
I. OUR LORD DRAWS US TO HIMSELF
Exodus, the second book in the Bible, has been given this title because it talks about the exodus or the exit of the children of Israel from Egypt as they travel into the Promised Land. In verse 2 of chapter 19 we are given a routine that the children of Israel are going to start day after day for an entire generation. Our text begins by saying: 2After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain. The original tells us they broke camp. They left Rephidim. So they broke camp and traveled a distance, and they made camp again to stay there in front of the mountain. They did not know it yet, but this would become their routine for 40 years as they would wander in the wilderness--break camp, gather up all of the supplies, and march for a day. They would camp there a few days, one day, or a few months and do the same thing over and over again for 40 years. It sounds simple, but yet we want to remember that the group of Israelites numbered at least one million and maybe even close to two million people. That is quite a camp to break, lift up and move and set down again.
Today the Israelites come to a mount and camped in front of it. If you read chapter 19 and the rest of 20, we find out it is Mount Sinai where Moses is given the Ten Commandments. We will talk about Moses a bit here. 3Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain. Moses is God’s leader for God’s people and he is also God’s spokesman to God’s people. Moses was the go-between. God would tell Moses what he wanted to tell the people. The people also speak to Moses, and Moses would tell what the people wanted God to hear. Moses faithfully carries out this duty, and we are thankful he did. The Lord has a message for Moses to take back to the people. God wanted his people to remember how much he loved them. The Lord wanted Moses to relay that to his people. The Lord said to Moses, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel. (In other words to all of the Israelites.) 4`You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings. The children of Israel had seen the plagues that the Lord raised against Pharaoh. They had seen as they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground that the waters came in and killed Pharaoh’s army, the greatest nation on the earth at that time. The Lord had carried them on eagle’s wings. In fact that is only three months ago. The purpose of that deliverance was that they would see God’s love and mercy and also understand the Lord was drawing them close to himself. The Lord says, I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.
It was true it took awhile for the people to realize this. As they were slaves in Egypt, they cried out, "Lord, deliver us. Lord, help us. Lord, save us. Have mercy on us." In that way, too, they were drawn closer to God in realizing their utter need for his deliverance. As they stood at the edge of the Red Sea and the army of Pharaoh was coming, they realized again how much they needed the Lord. The Lord drew them to himself. He kept them close. Then the Lord tells them why: 5Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. The world at this time looked at Egypt as a great nation and the children of Israel as just a small footnote in history. But the Lord looked at the children of Israel as his treasured possession, his chosen people who believed. Then the Lord also adds: Although the whole earth is mine, 6you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ They were going to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, and one nation chosen from among all nations by the Creator of the heavens and the earth in order to be God’s treasured possession. The Lord would do it. He would draw them close to him. The Israelites would become close to God and their wanderings in the wilderness even though they would grumble and complain from time to time.
At times the children of Israel felt far off from God. They thought God had forsaken them and forgotten them. Maybe sometimes we might feel that way. We might throw up our hands and say, "Lord, save us. Lord, help us. Lord, have mercy on us." We wonder if God is truly listening. But we know God does, because the Lord is anxious not to just listen, but also to answer our prayers. What happens? Why is there this dividing wall, this separation that we might feel between God and us? To put it simply it is because we live in this sinful world. We have a sinful nature. We do not always see clearly the purpose of God for us in this day-to-day life that we lead. That separates us. When Jesus walked on the earth, He said this: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" (LUKE 13:34). We picture Jesus speaking to the crowds and saying that, but they would not, would not listen. Sometimes the Lord has to say it to us, "How I wish to gather you under my wings, but you would not." We simply walk down the path we have chosen for ourselves, and we would not do what God wants us to do. The root of that is sin.
We heard it today in our first lesson (2 SAMUEL 11:26-12:10, 13, 15). If we look at 2 Samuel and read the verses before that, you see the situation that King David was in and how the prophet Nathan was sent to tell him, "You are the man." King David was walking on top of his palace. David saw his neighbor’s wife, Bathsheba, and committed adultery with her. Then David had her husband, Uriah the Hittite, killed. Because Uriah was in command of the army, David put him in front of the battle line; so the enemies of God would kill him. David thought nothing of it. For a time what happens? His sins separate him from God. He did not see the wrong he had done--adultery and murder, lying to God. Until Nathan came to David and said, "You did that." So the Lord reminds us that we have sinned against God. That is also our dividing wall. Isaiah 59 says: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear" (ISAIAH 59:2). There are times that it seems that the Lord doesn’t hear us because of our sins.
But it is because of our sins and in spite of our sins the Lord does hear us. God tells us to come to him. The fact is our Lord God knows by our sinful nature we can’t come to him on our own, but he puts his choice upon us, and God draws us close to him just like the children of Israel. They were going to disobey. They were going to reject God and his Word. So the Lord would draw them close to him time and again, because the Lord is full of mercy. God desires to show us his grace, and he displays to us his love and mercy and grace, which is far, far greater than our sins and disobedience. Jeremiah reminds us of this power of God: "The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ’I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness’" (JEREMIAH 31:3). "I have drawn you with loving kindness," our Lord says. God draws us close to himself with his love and kindness. God’s love lasts forever, which far surpasses our sinfulness.
Today, the Lord reminds us that as believers, we are God’s treasured possession, because He has brought us close to himself. The Lord considers us his treasured possession. In order to appreciate that and understand that even more, II. We need to continue in his Word.
II. BELIEVERS CONTINUE IN GOD’S WORD
The children of Israel camp and think everything is going great. They had just been delivered from the Egyptians. Moses speaks to God. God speaks to Moses. Moses comes and tells them all of the things that the Lord had said. What are those things? He says, "You are my treasured possession. You are going to become a kingdom of priests, a holy nation." First of all, they were reminded that they belong to the Lord; and they would become priests. They would serve the Lord. This nation would be a holy nation, holy in the sight of God and in the sight of the nations around them. Time after time as the children of Israel journeyed on their way and got to the Promised Land, the enemies saw their example and realized the Lord God Almighty was with them. We even think of Pharaoh. Before the children left Egypt, Pharaoh had to admit that the God of Moses was the God of the heavens and the earth. Pharaoh wasn’t anxious to let them go, but he realized that God’s power was greater than his.
God reminds his people of that very fact. The Lord tells Moses, These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites. The Lord speaks to Moses and says, "Tell them all these things. Go down the mountain. Gather them together and tell them all these things I told you." We can be thankful Moses did that. Just imagine if Moses would have kept all God’s word to himself and never said a word! But Moses did speak. Moses was God’s faithful servant, and he had come to proclaim God’s word to God’s people, good and bad. Later on, we see there was also some bad new as God’s judgments that came against the children of Israel. 7So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. Moses reminds them of their past; and reminds them how the Lord draws them close to himself. The reaction of the people is a believer’s reaction. 8The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD. The children of Israel said, "The Lord loves us, and we will love Him."
It would be nice if it stopped right there, but we know it doesn’t. We know the story goes on. In fact in chapter 20 of Exodus, which is only a few verses later, Moses was back on the mountain and receives the Ten Commandments. We know that within a few, short days Aaron, the brother of Moses who was to help Moses lead the people, leads the people astray with the golden calf. They said, we will do everything the LORD has said. God’s chosen children forgot they were God’s treasured possessions. They forgot they were to be a kingdom of priests. They forgot they were God’s holy nation. Even after they said this, what are we told? So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD. But Israel forgot!
That is why we gather together today, so that we might not forget, so that we always remember that God has placed his choice upon us. God draws us close to him in spite of our sinful actions and words and thoughts. Our God says, "You are mine. You belong to me." We constantly need to remind ourselves of that in this sin-darkened world. The Lord tells us how to do that--by hearing God’s word and by studying God’s word. Listen to this in Colossians: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness" (COLOSSIANS 2:6,7). One way we stay close to God is through thankfulness. We know that when we are happy in our life, we are thankful. It seems that everything is going well. The Lord says, "Yes, that is true." We are to continue in him, built up in our Christian faith, being thankful. As we are thankful for the little things in this life, the Lord gives us joy to live in this world.
The Lord says we are to do that for ourselves. Remember the Lord draws us close, and we stay close to Him by continuing in God’s word, studying it, hearing it, and reading it so that we might be thankful. Scripture goes on to say that there is more, isn’t there? We are not to just build up ourselves but to help those around us. We do that in our Sunday worship. We do that in our Bible Study. Those who gather together are able to encourage each other. The Lord says to us in Hebrews: "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he (God) who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (HEBREWS 10:23,24). Today, that is a sign of a believer, isn’t it? If we look at the world around us, we don’t see that happening much. We don’t find people trying to spur one another on towards love and good deeds. In fact we just see the opposite in this world. We see people causing divisions. We see people trying to cause quarrels, all kinds of fighting and wars. There are all kinds of accusations that we hear in the media about this politician or that politician or this person or that person. It never stops. All the more then, our Lord reminds us as we have grown in the faith, as we have seen God’s love on us, God says consider how we can encourage one another in love and good deeds. Believers do this by living a Christian life, by continuing in God’s divine word.
The Lord says we grow in our own faith. We are to encourage fellow believers in faith. But then comes the hard part, the hard part that we are to be shining lights in this world. I have already mentioned the children of Israel being a light that other nations saw and realized the Lord God was their God. We also heard about David today. At the end, what happened? A small sentence stated, but because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt (2 SAMUEL 12:14a). Israel had seen their king commit adultery and they had seen their army commander murdered. The enemies of Israel also saw this not so bright light of David. David would pay the price with the life of his son. So if we want to admit it or not, we are always examples. David in that case was not a good example. Whether we want to admit it or not, we are always those examples in this world. The Lord encourages us then to be shining lights, to be examples to display God’s glory. Our Lords says this to remind us and encourage us. Matthew writes: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (MATTHEW 5:16). Not praise your good deeds, not praise your good intentions, but praise our heavenly Father. Believers are excited to do all of this because the Lord has drawn us close to him. Believers are excited to do all of this because we are God’s treasured possession.
Now that you have had time to think about, you might try to remember your most treasured possession. You still might not have a favorite treasured possession, because we have so many. But when we ask the Lord, "What is your most treasured possession?" The Lord would say, "You, as a believers, are my treasured possession, my kingdom of priests, a holy nation. You are the ones that I love with an everlasting love. You are the ones that I have taken out of the darkness and brought into the light so that you may continue in this light right into eternity itself." Peter sums this up in his letter, almost quoting these words from Moses way back in Exodus, the second book of the Bible: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light"(1 PETER 2:9).
So this week or next week or anytime that you might feel forgotten by the Lord or forsaken even by your loved ones, remember this. The Lord says, "You are my treasured possession." I have drawn you close to my heart so that you may continue in my word and in the light of the knowledge of salvation—for yourself and for others. Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
