WEBVTT 00:00:00.340 --> 00:00:01.280 As a church family. 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:08.460 We're going through the Old Testament, and one of the reasons we're doing that is many times as a as a believer in Christ, when you open up the Bible, especially 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:14.380 for the first time, it looks like a tremendous mystery to us as to what it possesses and what it's about. 00:00:15.020 --> 00:00:19.660 When you get to the Old Testament, it always looks like a mystery as to what it's talking about. 00:00:19.740 --> 00:00:26.060 And the reason is because it's written to a people in a particular place at a particular time, in a in a culture we can't always relate to. 00:00:27.140 --> 00:00:34.320 And so it's important for us to understand what the Bible is communicating within the context of these verses, so we can get a better grasp of who 00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:36.360 God is and what God desires for our lives. 00:00:37.420 --> 00:00:44.580 One of the ways that we've encouraged you to do that was when you open up God's Word for the first time, God's God's Word being written to a particular people at a particular 00:00:44.580 --> 00:00:50.780 place and a particular time, it's important for us to have a background understanding to each book of the Bible why it was written. 00:00:51.380 --> 00:00:56.280 And the more you understand about that background and time period, the more you appreciate God's Word and so on. 00:00:56.280 --> 00:01:00.230 Our information table, when you leave today, there's a book that's called Know Your Bible. 00:01:00.400 --> 00:01:01.910 It was given to us as a church family. 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:02.690 We started the series. 00:01:03.060 --> 00:01:05.140 If you haven't grabbed one, just feel free to take one. 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:12.580 And when you go home, as you open God's Word before you dive into a particular book of the Bible, read a little bit about what the Bible is about and it'll help you better 00:01:12.580 --> 00:01:19.780 appreciate the contents of what God's Word expresses for us as a church family, we started from the beginning, as the book of Genesis means 00:01:19.780 --> 00:01:20.730 the book of beginnings. 00:01:20.960 --> 00:01:22.520 We're about to jump into the book of Exodus. 00:01:22.860 --> 00:01:24.680 The Book of Exodus talks about exiting. 00:01:25.080 --> 00:01:27.210 It's clever how God did that beginning and exiting. 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:27.500 Right. 00:01:27.900 --> 00:01:35.020 And this, the summation of the story of the Book of Exodus, centers around Moses leading the nation of Israel out of Egypt as slaves into 00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:39.800 the Promised Land, where the where God had given to them through Abraham in the land of Canaan. 00:01:40.940 --> 00:01:41.890 They're exiting Egypt. 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:44.220 Into Israel. 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:53.360 We've seen together God's calling of the nation of Israel through the man we've called Abraham, Father Abraham, Abraham having Isaac 00:01:53.360 --> 00:01:54.300 and Jacob. 00:01:54.300 --> 00:01:55.780 And then last week we looked at Joseph. 00:01:57.240 --> 00:02:02.940 We learned in the in the life of Joseph, what happens is Joseph brings the people of Israel into Egypt. 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:07.300 And under the power of Egypt, he raises up a mighty nation. 00:02:08.860 --> 00:02:12.690 You might wonder at the beginning of the existence of Abraham when God gives him a promise. 00:02:12.860 --> 00:02:18.300 I'm going to make a multitude of people from you, Abraham, and through your seed all nations will be blessed. 00:02:18.660 --> 00:02:25.780 How in the world is God going to grow a nation out of one individual, where they're not going to be attacked by other nations feeling 00:02:26.260 --> 00:02:27.770 pressured by them? 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:31.640 And the answer is that God hides the nation of Israel in the land of Egypt. 00:02:32.920 --> 00:02:36.780 From the time of Joseph to the time of Moses. 00:02:36.840 --> 00:02:43.920 If you count a generation in that time of about 20 years, there's 11 generations of people that exist within that time period from when 00:02:44.320 --> 00:02:51.160 Joseph's married and begins his family to the time Moses comes back to the land of Egypt to lead the nation of Israel free. 00:02:52.620 --> 00:02:56.120 Between the death of Joseph and the birth of Moses. 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:57.810 You're looking at about 60 years. 00:02:57.940 --> 00:03:05.140 And from the time Moses is born to the time Moses is called to lead the nation of Israel out of the land of Egypt, you're looking at about 80 00:03:05.140 --> 00:03:05.240 years. 00:03:07.580 --> 00:03:14.860 Under the protection of Egypt, and with 11 generations, God grows this people group into an enormous amount 00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:15.670 of individuals. 00:03:15.740 --> 00:03:23.040 It tells us in Exodus chapter two, that the Pharaoh at the time notices that the people of Israel are growing 00:03:23.040 --> 00:03:26.760 in numbers, and they begin to feel threatened by their presence in the land of Egypt. 00:03:26.860 --> 00:03:28.640 And so he makes them slaves. 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:35.760 And then he tells the midwives that if a Hebrew child is born, that if it's a male that they are to kill it, and if it's if it's 00:03:35.760 --> 00:03:38.360 a female, they're allowed to let it live. 00:03:38.700 --> 00:03:42.260 And the midwives wouldn't participate in what the Pharaoh said. 00:03:42.260 --> 00:03:45.160 And so the pharaoh tells his army, Army go into the homes. 00:03:45.160 --> 00:03:48.220 And if there's a male child under the age of two, you are to kill it. 00:03:48.220 --> 00:03:49.850 But if it's a female, let it live. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:57.040 And then Moses is born and his mother, at three months old, hides him in a basket and puts him next to the Nile. 00:03:58.440 --> 00:04:05.820 The Bible tells us that in those moments, as he lay there, I'm assuming next to some pretty big crocodiles, Pharaoh's daughter 00:04:05.820 --> 00:04:08.620 daughter comes down to the water and finds Moses. 00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:17.220 It just so happens as she finds Moses, Moses's sister, is hiding beside him, and she pops up and just says, hey, I know someone great that could help 00:04:17.220 --> 00:04:18.320 take care of this child. 00:04:18.820 --> 00:04:20.480 And she says, okay, go get him. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:27.620 And so the Moses's sister goes and gets Moses's mother, and Moses's mother now is asked to care for her 00:04:27.620 --> 00:04:28.320 own son. 00:04:29.460 --> 00:04:36.580 And so Moses is raised in such a way that he learns in the schooling of the Egyptians, but he also is connected to his own people, the 00:04:36.660 --> 00:04:36.900 Jewish people. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:41.260 And so his heart rests with them. 00:04:43.320 --> 00:04:50.340 Many scholars believe that within those 11 generations, if you look in chapter two of Exodus, it continues to say that God showed favor to the nation of Israel, and they 00:04:50.340 --> 00:04:52.220 greatly increased in population. 00:04:53.480 --> 00:05:00.940 If you mathematically figure it out at about three three kids per family, I'm assuming in those days they started a little bit younger at having 00:05:00.940 --> 00:05:03.760 kids, and they were a little bit better at it than what we are. 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:11.300 And so larger families may have existed, but if everyone had on average, a little over three kids, it would become easy for the nation of Israel to multiply 00:05:11.300 --> 00:05:15.500 into millions of individuals by the time Moses sets them free. 00:05:17.400 --> 00:05:24.560 Some people estimate that size to be somewhere about 2.5 million individuals that would have exited out of the land of 00:05:24.900 --> 00:05:28.850 Egypt into the nation of Israel and to the land of Canaan. 00:05:30.520 --> 00:05:37.980 And it's on the back of the growth of this nation as God has protected them on the protection of Israel, that God leads this man, 00:05:37.980 --> 00:05:43.560 Moses, to call them out of slavery and into their relationship with God as they go into the land of Canaan. 00:05:45.300 --> 00:05:52.100 We said at the very beginning that the book of Genesis Moses writes the first five books of the Bible, and the book of Genesis is a book of beginnings. 00:05:52.260 --> 00:05:59.000 It's a book that's written to a people who have been slave for decades, trying to reshape their identity and who they are in God. 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:03.170 God created you in his image. 00:06:04.320 --> 00:06:08.840 God made you to know him and to live for him for all eternity. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:15.540 Moses is the man that God comes to in order to give new direction into his life. 00:06:17.020 --> 00:06:19.210 I can imagine if you read the life of the story of Moses. 00:06:19.760 --> 00:06:25.480 Moses is raised until he's in his 40s under Egyptian care, ruling in Pharaoh's household. 00:06:25.520 --> 00:06:30.540 The Bible tells us that one day he's on a trip out to see how the Jewish people are doing. 00:06:30.540 --> 00:06:37.720 And as he's walking around, he sees one of the Egyptians being angered and coming towards one of the Jewish people. 00:06:37.840 --> 00:06:39.890 And he starts attacking that Jewish person. 00:06:40.340 --> 00:06:44.360 And Moses steps in and the Bible tells us that he kills the Egyptian. 00:06:46.540 --> 00:06:50.340 He knows that secret comes out and Pharaoh is going to find out. 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:51.400 And now Pharaoh is going to hunt Moses. 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:57.700 And so the Bible tells us that Moses flees to the land of Midian, and he's there for 40 years. 00:06:59.560 --> 00:07:04.220 And when Moses is 80 years old, God comes to him. 00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:06.840 80 years old. 00:07:06.900 --> 00:07:13.920 I can imagine at my point in life, I may not be quite asking for a new direction for God to give me, but in this situation, Moses, 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:17.340 in the place that he's in his life, God comes to him and offers. 00:07:19.220 --> 00:07:20.960 Direction. 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:21.980 Moses. 00:07:21.980 --> 00:07:23.310 I'm not finished with you. 00:07:24.200 --> 00:07:29.460 Matter of fact, Moses, what I've called you to is ahead of you is far greater than anything that you've done for me thus far. 00:07:30.960 --> 00:07:32.750 Moses have prepared you for this? 00:07:34.380 --> 00:07:35.970 It tells us in Exodus chapter three. 00:07:36.280 --> 00:07:43.400 In verse seven it says, the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry 00:07:43.400 --> 00:07:47.290 because of their taskmasters masters, for I am aware of their sufferings. 00:07:49.980 --> 00:07:52.350 Now think in the life of Moses, all of us have been in this place. 00:07:52.520 --> 00:07:57.140 Moses isn't in a position of slavery, but he's left and he's an alien in a foreign land. 00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:04.340 And the nation of Israel in these moments, are thinking about the persecution that they're under and the slavery that they're having to endure. 00:08:04.660 --> 00:08:08.500 And Moses thinking how he just stood up for his people now it's left him all alone. 00:08:08.540 --> 00:08:11.040 He hasn't for 40 years been able to see his family. 00:08:12.860 --> 00:08:19.900 And he's praying before God about what he's had to endure, thinking about his family, who's under that slavery, and the people of Israel trapped under the 00:08:19.900 --> 00:08:21.480 slavery of Egypt. 00:08:21.480 --> 00:08:23.980 And I can't help but maybe relate a little bit to this moment. 00:08:23.980 --> 00:08:28.480 Not in the sense of slavery, but the thinking in the midst of the trials that I face in my life. 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:31.110 Does God really care? 00:08:32.820 --> 00:08:33.710 And this got here. 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:38.340 Bible tells us in Exodus three seven. 00:08:39.760 --> 00:08:47.280 I've surely seen the affliction of my people, and I've given heed to their cry because of the taskmasters, for I am 00:08:47.280 --> 00:08:49.950 aware of their sufferings. 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:53.380 God hears their prayers. 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:55.360 God sees their sufferings. 00:08:57.160 --> 00:08:57.700 And God remembers. 00:09:00.260 --> 00:09:01.750 When it comes to the idea of prayer. 00:09:01.960 --> 00:09:05.460 Sometimes within our lives we feel as if prayers are hitting the ceiling. 00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:13.960 But the encouragement from the story as it begins is don't stop pouring your heart before God. 00:09:14.760 --> 00:09:20.190 Psalm 34 and 17 says this the righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:25.540 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:26.980 May our may. 00:09:27.140 --> 00:09:33.350 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of all of them. 00:09:34.020 --> 00:09:34.440 The Lord hears. 00:09:36.540 --> 00:09:39.040 And as God hears, he does something just bizarre. 00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:46.220 I got to tell you this morning when you read the Bible, the first five books of the Bible are what's called the Pentateuch. 00:09:46.280 --> 00:09:47.700 They include narrative stories. 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:52.000 The next 12 books of the Bible are narrative or history books. 00:09:52.660 --> 00:10:00.060 And when you read history books as God reveals himself, just because God reveals himself in a particular way doesn't mean God is always 00:10:00.060 --> 00:10:01.520 going to reveal himself that way. 00:10:01.520 --> 00:10:01.620 Right? 00:10:02.520 --> 00:10:05.440 But I would say that the story of Moses happens like this. 00:10:05.860 --> 00:10:07.100 There's a burning bush. 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:14.180 And I want to tell you as a as a church family, if you're ever in your backyard and you know, a burning bush pops up, I 00:10:14.180 --> 00:10:21.680 would call the fire department, okay, but if you think it's from the Lord, Moses lived at a time where there's no tweets, texts, and Facebook, let 00:10:21.680 --> 00:10:25.430 me know, okay, I want to come over and participate in that, in that with you. 00:10:25.520 --> 00:10:28.220 But the story goes like this strange encounter with God. 00:10:28.220 --> 00:10:35.380 It says, now Moses was pastoring the flock of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the West 00:10:35.380 --> 00:10:39.020 side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:42.740 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush. 00:10:43.500 --> 00:10:47.680 And he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:51.520 And so Moses said, I must turn aside now and see the marvelous sight. 00:10:51.940 --> 00:10:53.740 Why the bush is not burned up. 00:10:54.220 --> 00:11:00.220 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. 00:11:00.800 --> 00:11:01.800 And he said, here I am. 00:11:02.600 --> 00:11:04.060 Then he said, do not come near here. 00:11:04.760 --> 00:11:06.160 Remove your sandals from your feet. 00:11:06.780 --> 00:11:09.200 For the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 00:11:09.700 --> 00:11:14.620 He said also, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 00:11:15.340 --> 00:11:18.220 Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:26.180 Then God said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for 00:11:26.180 --> 00:11:28.380 I am aware of their sufferings. 00:11:28.940 --> 00:11:35.970 So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from the land to a good and spacious land, 00:11:36.380 --> 00:11:38.550 to a land flowing with milk and honey. 00:11:40.300 --> 00:11:41.440 And so the story goes like this. 00:11:42.860 --> 00:11:43.060 God is. 00:11:43.300 --> 00:11:44.500 God went green, right? 00:11:44.820 --> 00:11:46.800 He burned something without burning something. 00:11:46.800 --> 00:11:51.320 He's not interested in burning a bush, but he appears in a consuming fire. 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:51.580 And then? 00:11:51.880 --> 00:11:53.540 Then something odd happens off that he's. 00:11:53.880 --> 00:11:56.620 He asks Moses to take off his shoes. 00:11:56.620 --> 00:11:56.800 And if. 00:11:57.040 --> 00:12:00.660 If we're not careful here, God's going to demonstrate himself as some sort of hippie, right? 00:12:00.660 --> 00:12:04.640 In this situation, it's like at any moment God might say, get into warrior pose. 00:12:04.840 --> 00:12:06.460 Moses, right? 00:12:06.880 --> 00:12:09.760 But God tells Moses something unique in this situation. 00:12:09.760 --> 00:12:10.060 He tells. 00:12:10.300 --> 00:12:17.340 He tells Moses as he's lighting this bush, God, God's going to recognize for himself an identity in which he is going to present himself 00:12:17.340 --> 00:12:19.600 to the nation of Israel for years to come. 00:12:20.620 --> 00:12:22.350 Moses is going to be the one who builds the tabernacle. 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:27.500 Moses is going to be the one who leads the nation of Israel through the wilderness, wandering for 40 years. 00:12:28.520 --> 00:12:35.740 And the Bible tells us, when the nation of Israel is wandering, that by fire at night they have something to follow, and by cloud 00:12:35.740 --> 00:12:37.700 through the day they're looking to God. 00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:39.860 God directs them. 00:12:40.560 --> 00:12:46.060 And in the moments before this bush that's setting on fire, God is showing Moses as he calls him. 00:12:46.420 --> 00:12:48.800 He guides him through this fire. 00:12:50.860 --> 00:12:52.840 And then God tells him to take off his shoes. 00:12:54.760 --> 00:12:56.090 If you're at church today, take off your shoes. 00:12:56.300 --> 00:12:56.660 No, I'm just kidding. 00:12:56.680 --> 00:12:56.880 Don't do that. 00:12:58.800 --> 00:13:01.150 Why is God saying to Moses, take off your shoes? 00:13:02.980 --> 00:13:09.160 You know, one of the interesting things that God's doing in this passage of Scripture is he's identifying himself in a way that has not been done. 00:13:11.020 --> 00:13:15.150 This is the first time in the Bible that God tells Moses that he is holy. 00:13:16.540 --> 00:13:20.980 It's the first time that the attribute of God and holiness is being revealed to a person. 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:28.180 And as God is saying this to Moses, he's telling Moses to take off his shoes to distinguish from Moses the difference between creature 00:13:28.180 --> 00:13:29.260 and creator. 00:13:31.300 --> 00:13:34.460 You remember way back in the beginning of Genesis when God made man? 00:13:34.460 --> 00:13:38.340 It tells us that he formed us from the dirt of the earth. 00:13:39.680 --> 00:13:46.970 And what God is asking of Moses and the demonstration of his holiness is to say, Moses, I am so set apart, I am I am so inspiring. 00:13:47.620 --> 00:13:49.040 I am so powerful. 00:13:49.040 --> 00:13:56.300 I'm so mighty before your eyes that I want you to take off your shoes in this moment of me presenting my holiness as a way to demonstrate not 00:13:56.300 --> 00:13:58.700 only to you, but to the nation of Israel. 00:13:58.900 --> 00:14:00.300 I'm so far beyond you that I. 00:14:00.540 --> 00:14:04.860 I am creator and you are just creature created from the dirt. 00:14:06.580 --> 00:14:09.540 God is holy. 00:14:11.580 --> 00:14:15.920 The indication for us is this when we lower God to our level. 00:14:17.680 --> 00:14:22.260 We tend as people to underappreciate his power and authority. 00:14:24.140 --> 00:14:31.320 See what God is about to call Moses to do is to lead millions of people out of a land before a Pharaoh, 00:14:31.500 --> 00:14:32.560 who is the world power. 00:14:34.380 --> 00:14:39.320 When you talk about the most powerful nation at the time, Pharaoh would have been first on your list. 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:46.320 In order to even began to believe that this was a possibility for God to do through Moses. 00:14:46.620 --> 00:14:52.440 The first thing that Moses needed to recognize is the authority of the one who is calling him to do it. 00:14:54.280 --> 00:15:01.620 And you think in the beginning of this verse, when you hear the prayers of the nation of Israel and God answering that, and Moses coming before God 00:15:01.620 --> 00:15:08.620 and just thinking about this moment, and God is saying to Moses, Moses, I'm about to prove to you that I have the 00:15:08.620 --> 00:15:11.480 authority to do what I'm calling you to do. 00:15:13.040 --> 00:15:17.720 Because I'm holy. 00:15:18.680 --> 00:15:22.140 Now before God leads us anywhere in this world. 00:15:23.520 --> 00:15:27.620 Before God does anything with us for a new direction in our lives. 00:15:29.300 --> 00:15:33.200 We've got to get to a place where we understand his authority reigning above us. 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:36.540 Come before him as creature. 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:38.260 Before creator. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:48.080 Moses saw this moment as so impactful in his life that after he leads the nation of Israel out of the land 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:54.360 of Egypt, he says this in Exodus 15, who among the gods is like you, O Lord? 00:15:54.400 --> 00:15:59.620 Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders. 00:16:02.740 --> 00:16:09.920 Moses is demonstrating to the people that it's by the authority and the holiness of God as he presented it to him, that the that this was even 00:16:09.920 --> 00:16:12.120 possible for his people. 00:16:13.460 --> 00:16:14.170 And in that he rejoices. 00:16:16.920 --> 00:16:20.190 Oh, God, how wonderful you are among the gods. 00:16:21.700 --> 00:16:24.610 How beautiful you are to be praised, Lord. 00:16:26.780 --> 00:16:29.860 Bible tells us as Moses has this encounter with God. 00:16:30.220 --> 00:16:32.590 He then goes on to ask a very simplistic question. 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:40.080 Growing up in the nation of Egypt, as Moses was raised under Egyptian rule, he would have discovered that the people of Egypt worshiped many 00:16:40.080 --> 00:16:40.540 gods. 00:16:41.800 --> 00:16:46.170 In fact, the ten plagues that we often hear about, let my people go. 00:16:46.380 --> 00:16:47.120 You know that part, right? 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:48.150 And then the plagues happen. 00:16:48.400 --> 00:16:55.860 I don't know, that's off some movie somewhere, but the plagues that devastate the land of Egypt are all directed toward 00:16:55.860 --> 00:17:03.080 a false deity or a false idol that the people of Egypt had been worshiping is as if God is saying 00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:10.099 to the land of Egypt and to the people of Israel, this God is so holy that he defeats the false 00:17:10.099 --> 00:17:11.079 gods of the world. 00:17:11.260 --> 00:17:15.220 And so Moses comes before God and he asks a very specific question. 00:17:15.220 --> 00:17:22.089 He says, therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt. 00:17:23.020 --> 00:17:28.580 But Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt? 00:17:29.620 --> 00:17:35.560 And he said, certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. 00:17:35.560 --> 00:17:39.380 When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain. 00:17:39.460 --> 00:17:42.280 Then Moses said to God, behold, I am going to the sons of Israel. 00:17:42.520 --> 00:17:43.860 And what will I say to them? 00:17:44.760 --> 00:17:46.920 The God of your fathers has sent me to you. 00:17:47.520 --> 00:17:49.620 Now they may say to me, what is his name? 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:51.360 And what shall I say to them? 00:17:52.280 --> 00:17:54.180 And God said to Moses, I am who I am. 00:17:54.560 --> 00:17:59.910 And he said, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent me to you. 00:18:00.520 --> 00:18:08.060 God furthermore said to Moses, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob 00:18:08.220 --> 00:18:09.460 has sent me to you. 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:14.440 This is my name forever, and this is the memorial of my name to all generations. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:20.850 God in these moments is identifying himself in a specific way. 00:18:22.140 --> 00:18:23.240 As a matter of fact, it tells us. 00:18:23.380 --> 00:18:29.040 Just a few chapters later in Exodus six, God spoke further to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord. 00:18:29.040 --> 00:18:32.720 And I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:36.520 But my name, Lord, I did not make myself known to them. 00:18:38.020 --> 00:18:38.220 It's like. 00:18:38.620 --> 00:18:43.260 It's as if Moses is asking God, okay, out of all the gods, who do I tell them that you are? 00:18:43.260 --> 00:18:44.100 That makes you so special. 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:47.770 And God gives this response. 00:18:47.820 --> 00:18:49.520 My name is Lord. 00:18:49.520 --> 00:18:53.540 I am the I am, I am who I am, he says. 00:18:54.400 --> 00:18:56.540 The phrase literally is Yahweh. 00:18:57.860 --> 00:18:58.920 And the I am is haiya. 00:18:59.900 --> 00:19:01.520 It sounds like a karate chop, right? 00:19:02.280 --> 00:19:05.720 Haiya is the root from which Yahweh derives its name. 00:19:05.860 --> 00:19:08.570 For the first time, God is defining himself. 00:19:08.700 --> 00:19:10.120 Have you ever tried that define God? 00:19:10.740 --> 00:19:13.040 If I said that this morning, how would you explain God? 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:15.120 right. 00:19:15.120 --> 00:19:15.700 That's how. 00:19:15.900 --> 00:19:18.040 I don't know what Webster say, but. 00:19:18.180 --> 00:19:20.670 But God in this passage defines himself. 00:19:21.900 --> 00:19:29.100 And the idea of what Yahweh carries is this I am the self-existent, self-sufficient, eternally present 00:19:29.100 --> 00:19:34.100 one, the I am the Haya, the one who is present here with you, Moses. 00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:38.160 And when you go before him, tell them that Yahweh has sent you. 00:19:40.100 --> 00:19:43.060 Never before has God revealed himself this way. 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:51.020 When the Jewish people originally wrote the name of the Lord, they didn't have vowels in their language. 00:19:52.220 --> 00:19:53.320 Do you imagine that would be cool? 00:19:53.340 --> 00:19:55.030 I could spell so much better, right? 00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:57.820 No vowels I before e, and I don't forget it. 00:19:57.860 --> 00:19:58.440 I'm Jewish. 00:19:58.560 --> 00:19:59.020 Right? 00:19:59.560 --> 00:20:05.460 But when they spelled the name, they write it down in the consonant form y h w h. 00:20:06.980 --> 00:20:07.180 Today. 00:20:07.240 --> 00:20:08.820 We refer to it in two ways. 00:20:08.820 --> 00:20:12.840 I'll tell you how in a moment, but we could either say Yahweh or Jehovah. 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:19.150 As a matter of fact, in some translations of Exodus six, if you read it in your translation in the Bible, it might have the word Jehovah there. 00:20:20.500 --> 00:20:24.900 But Yahweh was his name, and the nation of Israel didn't have any vows to pronounce it. 00:20:25.120 --> 00:20:31.500 So in order to pronounce his name correctly, they were dependent upon the oral traditions of history to pronounce the name Yahweh. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:32.480 And here's what happened. 00:20:33.900 --> 00:20:40.140 When Israel got to the name Yahweh in Scripture, they considered it so sacred that they wouldn't utter it. 00:20:40.980 --> 00:20:42.540 They would simply write it down. 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:50.700 The way that, when Yahweh is written in your Bible is when you come to the word Lord in the Bible, if it's all caps, Lord. 00:20:50.700 --> 00:20:52.540 All capital letters, that's Yahweh. 00:20:53.940 --> 00:20:58.240 If it's in a lower case Lord, it means Adonai, which is a similar name. 00:21:00.060 --> 00:21:03.110 The Hebrew people as they would write this name Lord or Yahweh. 00:21:03.620 --> 00:21:08.210 For us in the Bible they would write it, but they would never utter the name Yahweh. 00:21:09.280 --> 00:21:14.180 They considered it so sacred that they were afraid of blasphemy before God. 00:21:14.260 --> 00:21:21.960 And so tradition is taught throughout the ages, since they were afraid to speak of the name Yahweh, that through time they lost the ability to accurately 00:21:22.320 --> 00:21:22.540 pronounce it. 00:21:24.260 --> 00:21:30.780 So today when we say the word Yahweh, it's the best assumption as to how God would have pronounced his name. 00:21:31.580 --> 00:21:31.860 Yahweh. 00:21:33.300 --> 00:21:37.380 It's taught that in the Bible God had other names Adonai, Elohim, and. 00:21:37.460 --> 00:21:44.600 And for us to understand this name of God best that they inserted those vowels into the name of Yahweh to give us that pronunciation. 00:21:45.910 --> 00:21:48.890 And so the A for Adam and I and the E for Elohim. 00:21:49.060 --> 00:21:50.340 And so it became the name Yahweh. 00:21:51.500 --> 00:21:54.780 If you try to put any other vowel in there, it comes up with a similar sound. 00:21:56.160 --> 00:22:03.160 Yahweh, what happened in through the history is that as the Bible was translated, one of the largest translations that 00:22:03.220 --> 00:22:05.120 came into was the was in Latin. 00:22:06.320 --> 00:22:13.460 And names that have a Latin tradition tend to turn the y into a j and the w into a V, 00:22:14.880 --> 00:22:22.130 and so throughout time, as time progressed through the Latin translation and languages that have the root in the Latin form, 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:25.320 and about the 1500s, the name Yahweh was transposed. 00:22:25.480 --> 00:22:28.480 When the y was replaced with a g and the V with a w to Jehovah. 00:22:30.700 --> 00:22:35.940 And so when we call God Yahweh, or we call God Jehovah, it's in reference to the same person. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:39.380 Jehovah is Yahweh. 00:22:41.340 --> 00:22:42.960 And Yahweh is Jehovah. 00:22:45.260 --> 00:22:50.470 And some of you may be thinking this morning, oh man, we don't even know the name of God like we got Yahweh. 00:22:50.660 --> 00:22:51.790 That's not may not even be it. 00:22:51.860 --> 00:22:55.880 And I would say, well, Israel didn't really even pronounce it because they considered it so sacred. 00:22:56.160 --> 00:22:57.310 They just looked at it and admired. 00:22:57.780 --> 00:22:59.180 Right, and wrote it down and admired. 00:23:00.360 --> 00:23:06.060 And Jehovah isn't necessarily the correct beginning of the word, but Yahweh more accurately is. 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:11.040 But I would say this, if that concerns you this morning, you do the same thing with Jesus. 00:23:13.600 --> 00:23:15.060 Jesus's name isn't pronounced Jesus. 00:23:15.160 --> 00:23:17.760 That's the that's the like the white country bumpkin name, right? 00:23:18.120 --> 00:23:19.380 Jesus, right. 00:23:19.420 --> 00:23:20.030 Here's some Jesus. 00:23:21.180 --> 00:23:21.740 It's more accurate. 00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:22.360 Yeshua. 00:23:24.260 --> 00:23:24.860 The Y is a J. 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:28.440 His name Yeshua means salvation. 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:32.820 Another identity of what God would fulfill for us. 00:23:34.140 --> 00:23:41.240 And so when Moses comes before God, he refers to himself as the great I am Yahweh, the self-existent, 00:23:41.620 --> 00:23:44.540 self-sufficient, eternally present one. 00:23:45.940 --> 00:23:53.200 This became so important to the nation of Israel that it identified them as a monotheistic belief in God. 00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:54.780 There is only one God. 00:23:54.780 --> 00:23:56.360 That's all there ever will be. 00:23:56.360 --> 00:24:03.600 And they came up with the great Shema, which Israel would recite to themselves every morning and every night in honor of this Yahweh. 00:24:03.600 --> 00:24:07.860 And it says this hear, O Israel, the Lord Yahweh is our God. 00:24:07.920 --> 00:24:09.360 The Lord Yahweh is one. 00:24:09.640 --> 00:24:14.880 You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. 00:24:16.100 --> 00:24:23.260 I mean, if you want to understand what life is about Israel and why we were called from the land of Egypt to pursue God, it begins with 00:24:23.340 --> 00:24:25.550 loving God with all that you are. 00:24:27.560 --> 00:24:28.960 When Moses says this, hear, O Israel! 00:24:30.180 --> 00:24:30.800 It reads like this. 00:24:32.040 --> 00:24:34.380 The Yahweh is our Elohim. 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:37.720 The Yahweh is a God. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:41.440 Which literally means to us the Lord. 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:45.120 The eternally present one is Elohim. 00:24:45.120 --> 00:24:52.160 And during the time of Moses, Elohim could have referred to a ruler, it could have referred to gods, or it could have referred to 00:24:52.260 --> 00:24:52.980 God in the singular. 00:24:53.260 --> 00:25:00.260 And what Moses is saying in this passage, that God is one and God is this Elohim that people think that 00:25:00.260 --> 00:25:03.600 they're after, and this Lord, this Yahweh, this Elohim. 00:25:04.160 --> 00:25:05.200 He says in the end, is one. 00:25:07.180 --> 00:25:14.460 When you translate the word one in the Hebrew language, it literally means a plurality of one, a singularity 00:25:14.460 --> 00:25:15.520 of one in the plural. 00:25:16.340 --> 00:25:21.880 And you can use this to identify the Trinitarian teaching from the Old Testament. 00:25:22.980 --> 00:25:28.500 This singular God manifests himself in the plurality of one, both father, son, and spirit. 00:25:29.560 --> 00:25:30.740 God is one Yahweh. 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:38.600 This became so important in the Old Testament through through God's showing himself in this bush to Moses. 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:46.640 Moses declaring the singularity of God in Deuteronomy that in the New Testament, when Jesus is asked, what's the greatest commandment? 00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:48.580 Jesus quotes the Shema. 00:25:49.740 --> 00:25:56.190 He said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 00:25:56.200 --> 00:25:59.070 Jesus says, this is the greatest commandment. 00:26:01.100 --> 00:26:08.280 How important does this I am become for us as people that when you get to the New Testament, Jesus says 00:26:08.280 --> 00:26:09.580 this about himself. 00:26:09.740 --> 00:26:17.100 He says, Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. 00:26:18.340 --> 00:26:25.380 If there's any doubt about what Jesus is trying to say, he's going back to the book of Exodus and he's saying to the Jewish people, remember, 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:32.810 remember in the bush when God showed up to Moses and he declared himself as the great I am Yahweh, who is Elohim? 00:26:33.060 --> 00:26:33.880 Do you remember that? 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:37.380 That's me. 00:26:37.380 --> 00:26:39.610 And the Jewish people understood it. 00:26:40.420 --> 00:26:41.870 Because the very next verse says this. 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:44.460 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at him. 00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:47.780 But Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. 00:26:49.560 --> 00:26:52.230 The Jewish people were about to kill Jesus for blasphemy. 00:26:53.860 --> 00:26:56.400 They knew exactly what Jesus was saying in this moment. 00:26:57.880 --> 00:26:58.920 Jesus, you are God. 00:27:00.520 --> 00:27:03.110 You are the one that has set the nation of Israel free. 00:27:03.500 --> 00:27:04.580 That's what you're saying. 00:27:06.780 --> 00:27:09.740 God calls all of us to this place to embrace it or reject it. 00:27:11.100 --> 00:27:13.900 Nation of Israel chose to reject it in those moments. 00:27:15.540 --> 00:27:18.080 God reveals himself as the great I am. 00:27:18.100 --> 00:27:25.220 And what God is saying in this passage of Scripture, the same God that showed up to Moses at the bush is 00:27:25.220 --> 00:27:29.600 the same God who is showing up to interfere into your life and to mine. 00:27:31.380 --> 00:27:35.860 Just as Moses experienced his presence, so can you. 00:27:37.840 --> 00:27:45.100 Matter of fact, I think the book of Second Corinthians in chapter three at the end of the chapter says to us that Moses saw God from behind a veil, but 00:27:45.100 --> 00:27:47.860 we with unveiled faces may gaze upon his glory. 00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:52.540 I think that relationship has become heightened in what we can experience in Christ. 00:27:56.300 --> 00:27:57.940 Before God calls you anywhere in this world. 00:27:59.720 --> 00:28:07.120 It requires us to experience and encounter the great I am to come before him as creature, before creator, 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:11.880 to be mesmerized by the power of his might and not our own. 00:28:14.200 --> 00:28:21.010 Bible goes on and tells us that as Jesus did this, he continued to identify himself as the I am. 00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:25.900 As a matter of fact, the Book of John centers around the thoughts of the I am. 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:28.880 He says in John six, I am the bread of life. 00:28:29.020 --> 00:28:30.520 In John eight I am the light of the world. 00:28:30.520 --> 00:28:31.980 In John ten I am the door. 00:28:32.220 --> 00:28:34.080 In John ten again I am the good Shepherd. 00:28:34.460 --> 00:28:35.740 I am the resurrection in the life. 00:28:35.800 --> 00:28:37.520 I am the way, the truth in the life. 00:28:37.780 --> 00:28:39.940 I am the true vine. 00:28:41.900 --> 00:28:45.040 Meaning when you were created by this great I am. 00:28:45.080 --> 00:28:49.900 You were never intended to find life apart from him, but rather life in him. 00:28:51.900 --> 00:28:59.380 God designed you for the purpose of creature coming before creator and settling yourself in his power 00:28:59.380 --> 00:29:01.540 apart from your own. 00:29:02.640 --> 00:29:04.750 Is the I am. 00:29:06.700 --> 00:29:09.360 I like Moses's response to all of this. 00:29:10.280 --> 00:29:13.020 I don't know if I tend to think maybe more highly of myself. 00:29:13.120 --> 00:29:16.700 If God comes talking to me in a bush, I'm doing whatever he says, right? 00:29:17.820 --> 00:29:20.540 But Moses has some hesitancy in his life. 00:29:22.660 --> 00:29:24.290 I can imagine going to the nation of Israel. 00:29:24.300 --> 00:29:31.380 It might tell me to put me in a place where I second guess what God might be calling leading Israel, convincing them of God's calling 00:29:31.380 --> 00:29:32.440 and out of Egypt. 00:29:34.900 --> 00:29:38.840 Moses in the Bible tells us in Exodus four that he challenged what God said. 00:29:40.120 --> 00:29:46.120 Bible even tells us that Moses was afraid to go because Moses was a little tongue tied in his life. 00:29:46.180 --> 00:29:50.820 He had some sort of speech impediment that he felt would limit him in what God desired to do. 00:29:52.360 --> 00:29:57.080 And what God called him to was continuing to trust in him. 00:29:57.900 --> 00:30:04.920 Bible says in Exodus 410 Then Moses said to the Lord, please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, 00:30:04.920 --> 00:30:06.540 nor since you have spoken to your servant. 00:30:06.900 --> 00:30:08.740 For I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. 00:30:09.620 --> 00:30:15.960 And the Lord said to him, who has made man's mouth, or who has made him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? 00:30:16.580 --> 00:30:17.800 Is it not I, the Lord? 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:24.190 Now then, go, and I, even I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say. 00:30:27.120 --> 00:30:28.280 It's incredible. 00:30:28.280 --> 00:30:34.940 I know the Super Bowl is coming up here, and, it's amazing to me when you get people the right instruments, what they're capable of. 00:30:35.760 --> 00:30:43.280 I mean, if I give a I give a football to me and it's worth about 25 bucks, I give it to Tom Brady and it's worth about 25 00:30:43.280 --> 00:30:43.580 million. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:47.420 you give me a baseball and it's worth about five bucks. 00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:51.060 You give it to Roger Clemens and you're going to the World Series, right? 00:30:51.780 --> 00:30:53.340 But that same thing applies. 00:30:53.580 --> 00:30:55.160 Applies with the Lord. 00:30:57.480 --> 00:30:57.920 In the story. 00:30:58.140 --> 00:31:02.470 The Bible tells us in Exodus four that God tells Moses, take that staff. 00:31:03.280 --> 00:31:04.400 They'll throw that staff on the ground. 00:31:05.460 --> 00:31:10.960 The Bible tells us that when it happens that the staff turns into a snake and he says, use this to convince people of my message. 00:31:11.740 --> 00:31:13.200 Now take your hand and put it in your cloak. 00:31:14.280 --> 00:31:16.780 Use this to convince people of my message. 00:31:17.900 --> 00:31:25.020 When you think throughout the Bible, God takes a slingshot, which is just a kid's toy in my hand, and he uses the nation of 00:31:25.020 --> 00:31:25.990 Israel free. 00:31:26.560 --> 00:31:26.560 God. 00:31:26.760 --> 00:31:27.040 God takes. 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:31.100 He takes two fish and five loaves, which would just be lunch for me. 00:31:31.340 --> 00:31:33.200 And he feeds thousands of people. 00:31:34.620 --> 00:31:41.480 God takes nails, which for me I maybe could build a decent birdhouse, but for him he brings salvation to the world. 00:31:43.500 --> 00:31:50.660 If God just has one willing individual who comes before creator as creature and just says, here 00:31:50.660 --> 00:31:51.380 I am. 00:31:52.900 --> 00:31:54.770 What he's capable of doing for you. 00:31:57.360 --> 00:31:59.200 Moses subjects in these moments. 00:32:01.040 --> 00:32:03.830 But as God tells him in Exodus that he is with him. 00:32:05.080 --> 00:32:10.690 Moses finds the strength to go back to the land of Egypt, to see his people set free. 00:32:12.520 --> 00:32:19.720 You know, one of the beautiful things, if you follow this theme through the book of Exodus, is this time that Moses spends on the mountain of Horeb before God. 00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:24.150 Isn't the last time that Moses wants to go before God and spend time. 00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:29.160 As a matter of fact, when you read throughout the book of Exodus, you continue to see that theme. 00:32:30.260 --> 00:32:37.300 Bible tells us in Exodus 19 and Exodus 24, and in Exodus 32 that Moses goes up on the mountain and 00:32:37.300 --> 00:32:39.560 he spends time with God. 00:32:41.100 --> 00:32:44.120 Matter of fact, in chapter 24 and verse 12 it says, this, says this. 00:32:44.140 --> 00:32:51.200 Now the Lord said to Moses, come up to me on the mountain, and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law, which is where the 00:32:51.280 --> 00:32:52.120 Ten Commandments came. 00:32:54.140 --> 00:32:54.500 The. 00:32:54.660 --> 00:33:01.680 The Hebrew text has this idea that when God says this to Moses, he sang to Moses, Moses, come up and just be 00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:03.680 in my presence for a while. 00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:06.200 Was this just set here? 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:12.040 Knows this before I direct you anywhere, you need to be with me. 00:33:13.860 --> 00:33:16.540 You need to understand my holiness as creator before creature. 00:33:18.360 --> 00:33:19.690 You need to take your shoes off again. 00:33:21.580 --> 00:33:22.700 You need to just sit with me and listen. 00:33:26.040 --> 00:33:27.660 Before God calls you to do anything in this world. 00:33:30.120 --> 00:33:31.250 You've got to set before him. 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:35.320 Before God directs your life. 00:33:37.740 --> 00:33:38.790 You've got to come before his presence. 00:33:42.140 --> 00:33:44.480 I think in our society today that becomes so important. 00:33:46.900 --> 00:33:49.160 Rather than make God the tagline, we make them the focus. 00:33:52.800 --> 00:33:56.320 Well, I'm too busy or God, if I get to it, right? 00:33:58.820 --> 00:34:05.980 Moses is teaching the lesson in his life that it wasn't just about the one time that I went before this bush, it was about the perpetual movement 00:34:05.980 --> 00:34:11.239 that I had towards God and just seeking his face and just being there in his presence. 00:34:13.460 --> 00:34:17.600 You should follow the theme of God coming before Moses and telling Moses, come up in the mountain and pray. 00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:25.020 Every time God did that, it was just before God did something amazing through Moses in the land of Israel and the people of Israel. 00:34:27.520 --> 00:34:34.600 I would say within our lives, if we have these expectations of God doing great things, but we're not spending time before the great 00:34:34.600 --> 00:34:38.750 I am, we're limiting ourselves for what God can do in us and through us. 00:34:42.280 --> 00:34:46.500 God is asking for more than just us to get excited on a Sunday. 00:34:47.980 --> 00:34:48.880 But to know him on Monday. 00:34:51.940 --> 00:34:59.180 Moses's father in law was with him on a portion of this journey, and it says to him, as he's leading the nation of Israel out, Moses's 00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:01.680 father in law comes in and he gives him some words of advice as well. 00:35:03.620 --> 00:35:07.660 Says Moses's father in law said to him, the thing that you are doing is not good. 00:35:07.700 --> 00:35:12.280 You will surely wear out both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you. 00:35:12.600 --> 00:35:13.720 You cannot do it alone. 00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:15.040 Now listen to me. 00:35:15.340 --> 00:35:17.680 I will give you counsel and God will be with you. 00:35:18.120 --> 00:35:19.370 Continue to go on the mountain, Moses. 00:35:20.200 --> 00:35:27.340 Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who 00:35:27.340 --> 00:35:28.680 hate dishonest gain. 00:35:29.020 --> 00:35:32.320 So it will be easier for you and they will bear the burden with you. 00:35:32.540 --> 00:35:37.620 If you do this thing and God so commands it, then you will be able to endure. 00:35:42.160 --> 00:35:42.600 Never been there. 00:35:45.660 --> 00:35:51.420 And the pressure on your life feels so difficult that you don't think that you can endure. 00:35:53.460 --> 00:35:54.360 Can I tell you why? 00:35:55.720 --> 00:35:56.780 That's because you were never created to. 00:35:59.400 --> 00:36:02.000 God made you to connect to him. 00:36:03.600 --> 00:36:06.480 God made you to find your strength in him. 00:36:07.520 --> 00:36:12.940 God breathed His Spirit into you, that you may live for him in this world. 00:36:14.920 --> 00:36:18.460 This world apart from him will wear you out. 00:36:20.540 --> 00:36:27.920 And Moses is saying in this passage, listen, Moses, or excuse me, Jethro was saying in this passage to Moses, Moses, it's 00:36:28.200 --> 00:36:29.930 important that you continue to go on the mountain. 00:36:30.020 --> 00:36:33.220 But in addition to that, Moses, God has given you so much more. 00:36:33.720 --> 00:36:37.970 You need to join with people who are on this journey with you. 00:36:39.400 --> 00:36:40.980 God never called you to do it alone. 00:36:42.440 --> 00:36:47.450 That not only did God call you to do it with him, but God has called us to do it together. 00:36:49.520 --> 00:36:55.980 You think from the beginning of creation, God, being a triune God, has always existed in community. 00:36:57.500 --> 00:36:58.780 God creating us. 00:36:58.940 --> 00:37:02.600 The first thing that God does is he says it's not good for man to be what? 00:37:03.600 --> 00:37:04.120 Alone. 00:37:05.060 --> 00:37:07.360 God created you for community. 00:37:08.720 --> 00:37:13.660 God, in the very first thing he creates is female and says it's very good, right? 00:37:13.700 --> 00:37:15.400 And God say amen to that. 00:37:15.520 --> 00:37:19.100 And when he created female, he creates community through that. 00:37:20.540 --> 00:37:21.380 And God creates the church. 00:37:23.600 --> 00:37:24.770 The church is community. 00:37:27.020 --> 00:37:29.070 God never created you to do it alone. 00:37:30.840 --> 00:37:31.980 He created you for him. 00:37:33.200 --> 00:37:35.640 And it created the family to join in with you together. 00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:40.780 Men and women who do not like dishonest game. 00:37:42.440 --> 00:37:44.040 Who fear God and desire truth. 00:37:46.560 --> 00:37:47.080 In our hearts. 00:37:47.420 --> 00:37:51.680 The stories reminder to all of us to just redirect it to the mountains. 00:37:53.780 --> 00:37:57.740 To look to the place in our lives where we can come and know him and sing his. 00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:04.040 As Moses said in Exodus chapter 15, who among the gods is like you, O Lord? 00:38:04.420 --> 00:38:10.480 Who is like your majestic in holiness, awesome and glory and working and wonders? 00:38:10.980 --> 00:38:14.070 God, may we find the time to come with you on the mountain. 00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:21.910 To not enjoy or seek to find the pleasure of this life apart from you, God, but to find it through you. 00:38:23.490 --> 00:38:27.360 And some of you come to this passage and you say, and that's what I need. 00:38:29.380 --> 00:38:30.500 That is what I've been missing. 00:38:32.160 --> 00:38:37.160 When I think about the time I've just given to God, it is nothing in comparison to what he deserves. 00:38:39.140 --> 00:38:44.780 And some of us will come to this passage and say, yeah, that's exactly what I see in my life, and I'm doing this in my life. 00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:49.660 And I would just say to us as people that the nation of Israel recognize how important it is. 00:38:49.700 --> 00:38:54.440 But when you read the New Testament, the frequency of their life was to walk away from this moment. 00:38:55.980 --> 00:38:57.790 God, we know that we need you in overtime. 00:38:58.140 --> 00:39:00.080 Just forget the significance of him in their lives. 00:39:02.220 --> 00:39:03.630 And so my cry back would be this. 00:39:05.260 --> 00:39:07.310 Always go to the mountain. 00:39:09.160 --> 00:39:11.140 Our spiritual life has a tendency to go in cycles. 00:39:12.960 --> 00:39:15.360 But God's desire is that you always be present with him. 00:39:16.820 --> 00:39:18.380 And so my encouragement that I leave for you today. 00:39:19.900 --> 00:39:20.380 As creature. 00:39:21.660 --> 00:39:22.890 Crave to come before creator. 00:39:24.600 --> 00:39:26.560 Seek His Holiness above all things. 00:39:28.460 --> 00:39:35.860 Know that the great I am of the Old Testament is the great I am of the New Testament more than capable of fulfilling what he's promised to you. 00:39:36.940 --> 00:39:37.700 That he transforms you. 00:39:39.500 --> 00:39:40.260 As you follow him. 00:39:41.680 --> 00:39:42.180 Go to the mountain.