The Israelite Walk and Us

The days of unleavened bread are for seven days, and that seven days is not just a one-time event. It's not just a Passover or a night to be much observed. It is a seven-day feast in which we are to put leavening out and put unleavened in, and it pictures a lifetime of growth. Not just a one-time event. It's not just about accept Jesus as your Savior, and you're done! Go and do whatever else you want to do, because you're done. Well, brethren, when we understand the Christian days of unleavened bread, and that the apostles commanded Christians to keep this day, and if you're new to the church, you may not know that, but you'll find that out today as we walk through the New Testament Scriptures, that it is for us to keep these days with huge meaning.

In Numbers chapter 33, let's go there, Numbers chapter 33 verses 3 through 4.

Let's walk through the Exodus and the events of the Exodus. Numbers chapter 33, starting in verse 3. And they departed from Ramses in the first month. On the fifteenth day of the first month, on the day after Passover, the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of the Egyptians. That is today, the day we are keeping. This is the day, the fifteenth day of the first month. Verse 4, For all the Egyptians were burying their firstborn, whom the Lord had killed among them. Also their gods the Lord had executed judgment. The events of the Exodus from Egypt are so filled with lessons for us today that God not only requires us to observe seven days of eating eleven bread, but He commands that we assemble and review and reflect on the meaning of this Exodus not once, but twice during the days of the eleven bread at the first day and the last day of this festival. So let's walk through the Exodus and let's pick up some lessons that we need to learn in 2015 as followers of Jesus Christ. What does the Exodus teach us? What do these days of eleven bread symbolize? What are we supposed to take from it? Exodus 12 is where we'll pick the story up. Exodus 12 and verse 25. Exodus 12 and verse 25.

It will come to pass when you come into the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service, and it shall be when your children say to you, what do you mean by this service? God tells us to retell the story to our children and to teach them to tell this story to their children. We're supposed to review this story.

Why? Verse 27. That you shall say, it is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord who passed over the houses of the children of Israel and Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households. So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. How does their walk through the wilderness teach us about our Christian walk? That's what we're going to examine today. Okay. So let's walk through the Exodus. There's going to be a lot of scriptures. So I played an unfair game and I'm actually drinking coffee.

You have to just struggle to stay awake.

Exodus. Let's go now to Exodus 12. Let's drop down 10 verses to verse 37. Verse 37. Then the children of Israel journeyed from Ramses to Sukhov, about 600,000 men on foot. Besides children, a mixed multitude went up with them also, and flocks and herds and a great deal of livestock.

And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought out of Egypt. For it was not leavened because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves. Leavening wasn't in little yeast packets back then. There was no quick biscuits made on the fire.

They had to leaven through fermentation. It took about eight hours. They didn't have eight hours. They had to slap the dough on the fire and cook it and eat it. Thus started the days of unleavened bread. And it pictures something very large in significance. Verse 40, Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was 430 years.

They were in slavery 430 years to the day, or they were in Egypt for 430 years to the day. And it came to pass that at the end of 430 years, on that very same day, it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. That expression on that very same day is considered to be very significant. You'll find out that Isaac was almost sacrificed on that day also. It says on that very same day, many scholars believe that that is talking about Passover Day. So read, when you have time, go back and read the story in Genesis of Abraham and Isaac and look for that phrase.

Very interesting, the symbolism, and how things happen very precisely in time with God. Verse 42, It is the night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is the night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations. And skipping to verse 3 of chapter 13, And Moses said to the people, Remember this day on which you went out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

For by strength of hand the Lord brought you out of this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. It was by God's strength nothing that those slaves did that brought them out of slavery. Very similar parallel that we're going to get into at the end of this sermon.

It is not by our strength. The Day of Unleavened Bread we put leavening out, picturing repentance on our part, because we don't have the strength to put sin out of our lives. What puts sin out of our lives? It's not by our hand and it's not by our might. It's by the blood of Jesus Christ and it's by His strength are we saved. They were brought out of the place and they were to eat unleavened bread because God brought them out.

Verse 8, And you shall tell your son in that day, saying, This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. And that is what we are to be passing along to the next generation. Not what we did, not what we accomplished, but what God through Jesus Christ our Lord did. It shall be assigned to you on your hand. And as a memorial, a memorial is the service set up to remember something because we people are very forgetful. We're creatures of habit, we get into habits, and we get into ruts. And when we get into ruts, we forget where we came from and who did what for us.

We even do that amongst each other, and we lose appreciation for each other. And God wanted to make sure we never lost appreciation for what Jesus Christ did for us. And so every year we have this memorial. Verse 9, As a memorial between your eyes that the Lord's law may be in your mouth. Yes, if we don't do this every year, what goes away? The law of God, right out of our mouth. And out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

If God's law is not in our mouth, it means it's not in our heart. Verse 10, Therefore, keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. Eating unleavened bread every year teaches us and reminds us that it was God's strength that saved us, not our own. And it reminds us that it's God's law that's to be in our mouth, not our own lusts, anger, or complaints, as we will see in just a minute.

The days of unleavened bread has a lot to do with what we say and reflects on our hearts. When Israel left Egypt, they had been set free from slavery, but they had not yet received the inheritance, did they? It was their dream, but they didn't have it yet. No, they wandered in a barren wilderness, and there's a huge parallel between that and our Christian walk.

We have not received the promise yet. We don't have eternal life. One of our brothers is in the hospital recovering from a heart attack. A lot of us have ailments and illnesses and aches and pains. They wandered in a barren wilderness, and they ate manna. They didn't have feasts like we had last night. Well, we too have been liberated from the penalty of death and set free from the total domination of carnality and Satan over our human nature. But we have not yet inherited an immortal body. We're still subject to the pools of the flesh, aren't we? We still make a lot of mistakes.

Brethren, and that's why we need to review this every year, as I was getting ready for the Passover and examining myself and just looking at myself, and I hope you did this too. And if you didn't, the time is now to do it. And I found myself very, very short of where I needed to be. I hope that you can see that also, brethren, that this is a journey through the wilderness.

We're on a walk. We have a destination, and we have a goal, and it's a wonderful one. But we're not there yet. So don't get comfortable with where you are, with who you are. Not yet almost there, for some of you. But you're not there yet. Anyone who draws a breath is not there yet.

We still have doubts and fears, and that still pulls against our faith. We'll talk about faith quite a bit in just a minute. Paul describes the journey that we're on and the state that we're in in the book of Romans. Let's hop over to the book of Romans, and notice how this ties in to the Days of Unleavened Bread. Romans 8, verse 20. Romans 8, verse 20. For the creation was not subjected to frustration, not by its own choice. I'm reading from the NIV, by the way. So it'll be a little different than what's on your screen. But by the will of the one who subjected it in hope, that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay, and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. That freedom is our goal. That's what we're reaching for. But we don't have it yet. He goes on. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as it pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly. We do, don't we? We do. Wait eagerly for the adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope at all. Yeah, we don't have it yet. That's why we have hope, because we haven't attained the goal yet. Who hopes for what he already has, Paul asks, verse 25. But if we hope for what we do not have, we wait for it patiently. It's long suffering, this walk that we go through. It's a walk through the wilderness. It's not a walk through paradise. That's why it requires patience.

Are we waiting patiently, brethren? Because human nature abhors patience. We just do. We want to gripe and complain. It's significant that among the children of Israel, there were people who were quick to criticize and complain. It's a very significant point for us today. These people incited discontent among their brethren, which bred resentment against their human leaders and rebellion against God. Numbers 11 talks about Korah's rebellion. In verse 4, it says this, Now a mixed multitude were among them who yielded to intense craving. How were your lusts, brethren? How were you controlling your cravings? So the children of Israel also wept again and said, Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now our whole being has dried up, and there's nothing at all except this manna to eat before our eyes. All we have is what God gives us, is the complaint.

What is the everlasting battle cry of the discontented complainers? It is the way we had it in the past is so much better than the way we have it now. We look back to the past with rose-colored glasses. What are we saying to God when we do that? Well, let's look at what God, how God took it. Let's look at how God reacts to our nature. Our looking back to the past with rose-colored glasses. Our looking back to the way it was when things were easier, because when you're baptized and when you walk this Christian walk, external trials become easier to handle over time. They're not easy to handle, they become easier to handle. But the internal conflict, that war that goes on inside us, becomes more intense. And when that battle goes on, sometimes we can say to ourselves, oh, I long for the good old days. All we have to eat is this manna, essentially.

My condition that I'm in right now, is that the attitude we're to have? No, brethren. We do it, though. James, Chapter 1. We all remember this. We know this should be our attitude. It's good that we have the Days of Unleavened Bread, the object lesson to go through every year to remind us to quit our griping and complaining and to realize what's behind it, what's inside those complaints and those gripes, and why it's such a big deal to God. That we don't complain. That we don't look back to the past, to our old, sinful ways, and say it was so much easier back then.

James, Chapter 1, Verse 2. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, when you walk through the wilderness of life, when you have manna to eat, instead of meat and cucumbers and leeks and garlic. The good life, where you could keep the same holidays as everybody around you. You didn't stand out like a sore thumb. You weren't weird like you are today, keeping God's law.

Don't you believe in the sciences, people? You're just weird, and you go through this wilderness journey. Count it all joy, James said, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. So that the day when your head hits that pillow and you breathe your last, and you transition from life into death, you are complete. And I am complete. None of us get out of this world alive. It's the next life we're looking forward to. That's our goal. What are we complaining about all the time? Oh, and do we complain? When we have the biggest reward imaginable ahead of us, we look back.

If any of you lacks wisdom, verse 5, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach. He's so ready to help you, and he will not beat you up for asking for growth. He won't do that. And it will be given to him, it says. But let him ask in faith with no doubting. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. It is faith that's the issue during the days of 11 bread. Complaining and sickering and rebellion is nothing less than a lack of faith in God. And it is an insult to what Jesus Christ did for us. When he was beaten, his flesh was shredded, a crown of thorns slammed on his head, he was mocked and spat upon, and then nailed to the post and bled out completely. I mean, what a complete sacrifice that was. And then we bicker and complain about the past. We do it. We all do it, every one of us. And we insult him every time we do that. It is a lack of faith.

Verse 7, For let not a man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is double-minded and unstable in all his ways. The discontented complainer lacks faith. We'll revisit that issue in just a minute. He's constantly looking to the past with rose-colored glasses. He doesn't appreciate what he has, what he has been given, and where he's going. But on the Days of Unleavened Bread, we remember that. What we've been given, what we have, and where we're going. Paul explains this in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. We'll read verse 1, and then we'll skip to verse 5 and read through verse 12. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1. For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers. Again, this is the NIV. That our forefathers were under the cloud, as they passed through the sea. This is talking about the Exodus, and comparing the Exodus to our Christian walk. Verse 5. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them. Their bodies were scattered over the desert. Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters. For some of them, as it was written, the people sat down and ate and drank and got up to indulge in pagan revelry. We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day 23,000 of them died. How are we doing on that issue, brethren? What are you watching on TV?

I say that because when I have the clicker in my hand, I'm appalled at the shows that normally you would watch. It's a regular old cop and robber show. You know, I just want to watch a good cops and robbers show. And now they've got to throw sexual immorality in there, and revenge, and malice, and... It's not just good guys versus bad guys anymore. Let's be careful not to fall back into the old ways that we repented of, that old man, the leaven, that we put out.

We have to move forward. Do not commit sexual immorality, and don't even watch it. Turn that show off. Don't even go into the movie. Oh, I didn't know. I didn't know. It was just on the screen. Read the reviews before you go.

We have a walk through the wilderness. It's not easy. That stuff is all around us. And Paul is equating sexual immorality with idolatry, because that's what idolatry led to. That was the whole point of idolatry, was to make a buck and fulfill your lusts. That's idolatry. Throughout the history of mankind, that's what they did with idolatry. They'd set up a pole somewhere up on a hill, and they'd go dance around and have an orgy. And Paul's warning us on this Christian walk. Don't even think that way.

Verse 9, we should not test the Lord as some of them did, and were killed by snakes. And do not get this, how he equates sexual immorality with something else, at the same level. Do not grumble as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. That was in Numbers 11 that we just read. It's talking about Korah's rebellion. When Korah stood up against Moses and said, you know, you're not our leader anymore, we're going back to Egypt. So God wiped out Korah. And then the next day, this is amazing to me, but this is human nature. This is us. Don't condemn the Israelites. They didn't even have God's Spirit. Okay? We do. Right? They saw a miracle right in front of them. The ground opened up. Korah and all who were with him fell in, and they were buried. Boom. These are the same people who watched the Red Sea open, and they walked through on dry land. And then they saw the most powerful military in the world, the Egyptian army, with those chariots that were gold embossed with metal spears coming off of the sides. It was an awesome, glittery sight to see. Just get crushed by the Red Sea. They saw the hand of God every day, with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. And yet, the very next day, after Korah's rebellion, all the people came to Moses, and they blamed him for opening the ground and burying Korah. What? How could Moses have possibly pulled that off? That was obviously the judgment of the Great God. So God said, that's it! And he sent an angel of death that, ironically, passed over them back in Egypt, when the blood was put on the doorposts. But now it didn't pass over them. It went right through them, and thousands of them died. And as that plague was going through the people, Moses fell flat in his face, prayed to God. Aaron ran as fast as he could into the crowd, and jumped in front of the angels, and the angels stopped. And that's why the entire congregation of Israel wasn't killed. And God would have just started over with those who were left. We're still in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Verse 11. Why did those things happen? Why was all of that recorded? This is impressive to me. God does things on such a huge scale. This is so impressive. Verse 11. These things happened to them as examples, and were written down as warnings for us.

Wow! They were the type. You are the reality. They died in the wilderness, every single one of them, except for one. We'll get to that in a minute. Three, actually. But one out of the congregation. All of them died in the wilderness, except for one.

But they're going to be resurrected again. Brethren, we're the real deal. When you're baptized, you've got one shot. This is it. So God did that huge example of destroying the most powerful nation in the world, bringing a group of slaves out with a high hand, passing them through the Red Sea on dry land, and teaching them all of these lessons, including judging them and letting their bones drop and rot in the desert for you and me. That's what Paul says, written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

It's the Christian church who's supposed to remember the Exodus. A lot of people ask, are you Jewish? No, I like the Jews very, very much. But we are Christian, and we keep the days of Unleavened Bread. Why? Because that was written for us. That's amazing to me. Verse 12. And what conclusion do we draw from that example? This is a warning. So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall. Wow. As soon as the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, as soon as they got through the other side, they sang a song. They cheered. They celebrated. Who wouldn't? I mean, that's better than winning the Super Bowl. They got their freedom, and there was no way anybody was going to chase them down. The most powerful army on the planet was just destroyed right in front of their eyes. And then what happened immediately after they were baptized in the Red Sea? What happened to them? Let's go back. Exodus 15. Pick it up in verse 22.

Is this you and me, brethren? Sometimes it most certainly is. Exodus 15.

So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and then they went out into the wilderness of Shur, and they went three days into the wilderness and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they couldn't drink the waters of Marah, because they were bitter. That's what Marah means. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah, and the people complained against God. Does it say that? No. Who did they complain against? The minister.

They complained against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? How did God take that? How does God take that? Personally, we'll read that in just a minute. So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, and when it was cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them. Brethren, once the seeds of discontent are sown, they grow. And oh, do they grow, like the fastest growing Texas weed you can imagine. What's the fastest growing weed that you've ever seen in Texas? I have one in mind. I don't know which one you have in mind. I'd like to hear Mr. Havelow's opinion on that. But my nemesis is Johnson grass. Wow. One seed in your backyard, and you will fight the rest of your life, that Johnson grass. Just goes like wildfire. Fire. Wow. I am tired today. Just goes like wildfire. And that's how discontent is. Once that seed is planted, wow, we are fertile ground for discontent, aren't we? Well, we just are. Paul expressed that during this time of year. This is the time of year to look at that, brethren. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 6 through 8. What's behind it? It's a lack of faith. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, starting in verse 6. Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump. What's the old leaven? What is our old carnal selfish way? How does it manifest itself? Very, very commonly. For indeed Christ is our Passover, with sacrifice for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with the old leaven, our old sins, our old idolatrous ways, fulfilling our lusts. Just whatever we want we do. That was the old way. That's supposed to go away. Nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness. Oh, it's not just complaining about church officials or the churches of God. We like to complain about that. All of us do, myself included. I can't point the finger at you without including myself. These scriptures are written to all of us. But they're written, and we need to follow them, and not shy away from them. We must not have the leaven of malice and wickedness, of getting at each other, biting at each other, gnawing. What is that? What is that? It's a lack of faith. We're looking back, and we're not looking at what we've been given, and what we have, and where we are going. We're looking back at the good old days, and saying, where I'm at right now is horrible. God takes that very personally for very good reason. It's bad for us. But with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, that's what we need when you feel yourself getting angry inside, wanting to say something about somebody else.

Ask yourself if you lack faith. Ask. Examine yourself. They are probably doing something bad. I'm not saying that other people don't do bad things. I'm not saying that the ministry doesn't make mistakes. Of course they do. The only perfect one is Jesus Christ. Of course they do. What's the problem with just saying something's wrong here and something's wrong there? Rumble, rumble, rumble.

Is we're insulting God by saying, I don't like where I'm at. I don't like what you've given me. All I have is manna to eat. I don't like that. And we forget that He hung on a tree, don't we? I don't like where we're at. We forget that the gift of eternal life, the penalty for sins was paid. You're going through trials. I know that. People are mistreating you. I know that. And you need to deal with it, too. I'm not saying don't deal with those people. I'm just saying don't deal with them with malice and wickedness. Don't grumble and complain.

Malice and wickedness and rebelling, looking at the past and complaining about the present, is a lack of faith. Exodus 15. Let's get back into the Exodus. Exodus 15. We'll read through chapter 16 and verse 4. Exodus 15.

Okay, so they were complaining about water. Where are they now?

Are they still grateful for passing through that Red Sea and not having slavery anymore? Are we? Verse 27, Great! They have water now!

They are the pots of meat, and we ate the bread to the full. Oh, the past was so easy. We look at the past through rose-colored glasses, and we forget when we do that everything we repented of and said, I'm sorry for. You're taking your repentance back when you grumble and complain. It's a huge lack of faith. It's huge! It's like looking back to Egypt after being delivered from slavery and desiring the slavery because you had pots of meat, which is equivalent to all the nice things in life, and nobody thought you were weird. Nobody thought you had an odd religion. You're the odd man out. Oh, and those were the good old days. For you have brought us out, they said to God, into the wilderness to kill us, and the whole assembly with hunger. We just can't stand the persecution that we're under. Really?

Were you flogged, had a crown of thorns stuck on your head, spat upon and slapped, nailed to a cross and bled to death? No.

He did. Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will reign bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day. Why did they have to do that? Why do we have to do this walk? Why is it seven days picturing our entire life? Why can't it just be baptism and then we're done? Verse 4, cutting in the middle, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. The life we go through is just a test. It's not the reality. The reality is the kingdom where we're headed, when there will be no more pain, when we will help other people coming to the kingdom. That will be an awesome day.

When you roll out of bed and your muscles don't creak and your joints don't ache, that will be the day. Right now, we're patient without grumbling. Instead, we're thankful that we can roll out of that bed. We're thankful for what God did for us. We're thankful, not complaining, because we have faith that we're going somewhere.

Why does God test us? Because He's mean. No. Do we trust Him? Will we walk in His law or not? As God was testing them in order to give them the wonderful gift, they returned the favor by testing God. Brethren, we do that, too. Don't push against God. Don't tempt Him. Don't put Him to the test. Numbers 14. Not long after the Corps' Rebellion, God had had enough. Numbers 14 and verse 20. Let this never be said of us. We have a momentum going right now. The night to be much observed was just full of energy. Brethren, let's keep that momentum going. Let's not fall back on our old ways and start grumbling and complaining. Numbers 14 and verse 20. Then the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word, but truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, because all these men who have seen my glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness have put me to the test now these ten times and have not heated my voice. They had a heart of stone, brethren. God's Spirit gives us a soft heart, moldable and shapeable, and we've got to remember that, because when we lack faith, our heart stiffens, our neck stiffens, and we refuse to turn the way God wants us to turn. We become stiff clay instead of moldable clay that the potter can shape into the perfect vessel that he's creating in us. And complaining and grumbling and gnawing at each other hardens that heart. That's why it's so critical that we don't do that. Verse 23, and they certainly shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor any of those who rejected me see it. But my servant Caleb, because he was different, had a different spirit in him, and has followed me fully. And I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. Of Israel, who was called out of Egypt, who had the right spirit, besides Moses and Joshua, who was his assistant, who in the congregation had the right spirit. One guy, one man, Caleb, out of millions of people. One guy! That's very significant that he was mentioned in Numbers 14. Who among us, who are called to be sons of God, have maintained a sinless life? Not one of us. Not me, not you. Only one man, Jesus Christ. That's it. He is our Savior. He is our leader. He's the head of the church, and we follow Him.

His role in our salvation is at the utmost of importance. And when we grumble, and we complain, and we look back, we forget that. How important is he to us? Colossians chapter 2. I'm sorry, chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, verse 18. Colossians 1 and verse 18.

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning of the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have preeminence. He is our leader. Thankfully, He is. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself. And we're part of that reconciliation, brethren. We're part of the reconciliation of all of mankind back to God. We have to do our part today, and we have to remember this every year as we go through the Dayzil 11 bread. We have to look back, remember the Exodus, remember that grumbling and complaining, and then examine ourselves and make sure that we are not there.

Whether things on earth or things in heaven having made peace through the blood of the cross, and you who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by the wicked works, yet now He has reconciled. Why? So we can look back and grumble and complain? No. In the body of His flesh through death, verse 22, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight. If indeed you continue in the face, grounded in the steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. Ancient Israel was a type of us, but we are the main event. They were there as an example for us. God does things in big ways. You want an example and a type? Well, He'll just destroy the most powerful country on the planet and save a group of slaves, walk them around through the wilderness, and teach them about everything that they did so that you and I might learn. God does things in big ways. Yes, we have one shot. We stay close to Jesus Christ. Those people who died in the wilderness will be resurrected, and they will have their shot.

But if we don't stay close to Jesus Christ, if we grumble, if we don't remember the lessons from the Days of Unleavened Bread, if we get tired of doing this year after year, if we start to say to ourselves, you know, I'm a more mature Christian now, and as I've grown in my Christian walk, I see that we really don't need to keep the symbols, you know, the physical symbols of the Days of Unleavened Bread. I've done this for years, and you really lack maturity if you do that. Whoa! I have heard that over the years in the church. Year after year, somebody says, you don't really need to do all of that. Oh, brethren. Yes, we do. Why? Because we're human. Creatures of habit. It's just an object lesson. I realize that. It's just an object lesson. You put leavening out. You put new leavening in. But we have to do it every year, and every year we have to go through this story of the Exodus. I know, I know Moses and the Exodus gone.

Why do we do that? Because we're creatures of habit, and once we get into a habit, we start to forget everything else we were supposed to do.

So, God brings us back every year, shakes us up, dusts us off, makes us straighten our jackets and whatnot. Look forward and keep on marching. Because if we don't, John 15, we read this at Passover. This may have even been read in the sermonette.

If we don't, brethren, John 15, verse 1, Jesus said, I am the true vine. John 15, verse 1. And my father is the vine dresser. Every branch that's you and me, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes. Those are trials. Those are tests. That we may bear more fruit. The trials are not because God's mean. He's not. He's very loving and gentle and kind. So why do we have trials? I personally don't like trials. Nobody likes to be pruned.

Why do we go through them? So we'll get better, so that we'll grow more, so that we'll become like Jesus Christ.

Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit.

Look at the positive side of your trial. That's what we read in James. Look at the positive side of it. You're going to bear more fruit. You're going to be in the kingdom of God. Don't look back. Don't grumble. Don't complain. It's not always pleasant walking through the wilderness of our Christian walk, but something great is being done in us.

Verse 3, You are already clean because of the world which I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you, unless you abide in me. There was one man who lived a sinless life, Jesus the Christ, our Lord. We abide in him, which means we follow him. We do everything he tells us to do.

I am the vine, he says. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they are gathered and they are thrown into the fire that they may be burned. It's pretty serious. It's pretty serious. Jesus Christ is saying, you got one shot.

But he's going to get you through. Verse 7, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire. And that word desire means what you will or you determine. It means the things that you put thought into and then ask God about, he will give you. It doesn't mean desire like every whim that you have. That's not what he was saying. It's not a whimsical thing that he's talking about. This is reality. If something's important to you, Jesus Christ is saying, if it's important to you and you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask it in my name and God's going to give it to you. You're going to make it. Yeah, you have one shot, but you're not alone. That's encouraging. And it shall be done for him, it says at the end of verse 7. And then verse 8, by this my father is glorified.

God is so happy when we bear fruit. He's not being mean. He doesn't hate us. He loves us. In fact, he's on our side. He's rooting for us. When we go through a trial and we pass it, we don't have to have that trial anymore. He cheers that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples. Okay, at baptism, God plants a seed of eternal life in us, but it's got to be cultivated and grow to maturity. Baptism is just the beginning. It's not a destination. That's what the seven days of the Days of 11 bread picture. Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 1.

Ephesians chapter 2. We'll read through verse 10. And you, he made alive, who are dead in trespasses and sins, in which you were once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. We were all that way at one time, among whom also we once conducted ourselves in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. We're not just brute animals, brethren. We do this with intent when we sin. And we're by nature the children of wrath, just as others. But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love, with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. We are going to be an example to other people in ages to come. So God is making sure that we get it right today. So yeah, brethren, it's not always easy. One of the tests we go through is, are we going to take it patiently or are we going to grumble?

Verse 8, For by grace, not by something you deserved or earned. I didn't earn it, you didn't earn it, it was freely given. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is a gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast. None of us can brag that we're sitting here today. None of us are better than anybody else. We have been recipients of the grace of God. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. But once we receive that grace, we are now to do good, to follow Him, to have His words live in us, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Brethren, we must believe that we will never be forsaken. Don't look at the past with rose-colored glasses and complain about your situation today. Know that God is with you, walking with you on your Christian journey through this wilderness life. Please don't become bitter and disillusioned, and then begin to turn on each other. We've got some momentum going. Let's keep it going. Don't long for the sinful life of Egypt, saying to yourself, it was so much easier back then. Yeah, but it's so much better where we're going. You were dead back then.

You're alive today because of what Jesus Christ did to you. Don't insult that and put God to the test. Be loyal to God and walk the walk that He has prepared for you, and become the vessel that He is shaping, that He wants you to become.

Hebrews 3, verse 7. I find Hebrews to be very encouraging, and so I want to leave us with this encouraging message today. Hebrews 3 will start in verse 7.

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, today if you will hear His voice and do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me, tried me, and saw my works for forty years, therefore I was angry with that generation, and said they always go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways. And how did God know that they always went astray in their heart? Well, He sees their heart, for one thing. But what was the test that He used? Complaining. That was their lack of faith. That was it. Verse 11. So I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest. Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief. Grumbling and complaining is unbelief. It is a lack of faith. In departing from the living God, but exhort one another daily, don't complain and bite each other. Encourage each other. Lift each other up. While it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Brethren, if we complain, sin is right there, waiting for us, like a snake in the grass waiting to bite us. Stay away from the bushes. Walk on the straight path. Verse 14. For if we become partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said, today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion. For who have heard rebelled? Is that us? I hope not.

Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses? Brethren, the concern that I have something my father always used to tell me. You can tell a self-righteous man that he's wrong all you want. He won't believe you because he knows he's right. Let us not be that man. That's what the daisels and leavened bread are about. When we see others make mistakes, huge mistakes, especially our leaders. Remember King David? Consider King David. He saw Saul. Saul was a man completely absent of faith in God. He went to soothsayers at the end of his life.

But David wouldn't allow his men to touch a hair on Saul's head, and they could have killed him not once but twice and ended it for Israel. David didn't touch them. Didn't allow them to touch him. And then he went on to become a great leader. He had Uriah the Hittite killed because he committed adultery with his wife. He made all kinds of huge mistakes, brethren.

My mother told me one time, I remember I was in college, a lot of really bad things were going on in the church with the leaders at the time, and she came for a visit to college. I think it was a ministerial conference or something. And we were walking along the path, and I remember where we were on the Pasadena campus of Ambassador College, and she turned to me, and she said to me with the most serious look on her face, Rod, when you see your leaders sin, I said when, not if. Don't let it throw you. And we continued on the walk. What does throw you mean? It means cause you to lose faith in God. We have one Savior, that is Jesus the Christ. And there is no such thing as a crisis in the church that can pull us away from faith in Jesus Christ. That's what Paul is saying here. That's the point he's trying to get across. There's one Savior. And we remember that at the Passover, at the night to be much observed, and for seven days during the Days of Unleavened Bread. How could we not keep these days? What an awesome encouragement it is for us to keep going towards the goal, to not get in that rut where we're tempted to look back at our old life with rose-colored glasses, which will destroy us. Thank God for the Days of Unleavened Bread.

Back to verse 16. For having heard rebelled, indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses? Now with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter because of unbelief. But Paul's not finished there. Let's go to chapter 4 and verse 1. Therefore, since the promise remains of entering his rest, he's saying, but you still have that promise. You guys are still on the journey.

Let us fear, lest any of you seem to have come short of it. For indeed, the Gospel was preached to us as well as to them. But the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. And that is the difference. That we have confidence in God, confidence in Jesus Christ, that they're going to get us through. It was God's might and power that brought the slaves out of Egypt. So you don't have to worry. It's not your strength, or my strength, that's going to get us there. It's God's strength and the strength of Jesus Christ that's going to get us there. So you're going to make it. Have faith. That's what will pull you away. Root out the complaining. Worship God in sincerity and truth. Obey to good works and don't rebel. God is testing us over a lifetime to see if we have faith. Continuing on in Hebrews, we're going to pop down to chapter 11, the faith chapter. Specifically about the days of 11 bread, we're going to go to verse 23. Hebrews 11 and verse 23. For by faith, when Moses was born, hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king's command. By faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasure of sin. Esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasure in Egypt, he looked to his reward. Look ahead, brethren, not behind. By faith, he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Is Jesus Christ real, or is he just some invisible idea? By faith, he kept the passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he be destroyed, the firstborn should touch them.

By faith, they passed through the Red Sea, as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, and they were encircled seven days. By faith, the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did, but believed when she had received the spies with peace. And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, and turned to fight the armies and the aliens. Why? Because they had faith in the one who had the strength to pull it off. And so do we. Let's keep that momentum going. Let's not look back. Still others, verse 36, had trials of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted and slain with the sword. We have trials too.

Nobody gets out of this life alive.

They wandered in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute and afflicted and tormented, of whom the world was not worthy.

What a compliment. They wandered in the deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. Oh, the settings around you, the environment around you may not be what you want it to be. That too is a test of faith. That too is a test of faith. It's the destination that we need to keep our eye on.

And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise. And how encouraging is this next statement? God have been providing something better for us that they should not be made perfect apart from us. You and me. We're part of it too. And we count just as much as those who went before.

God is not finished with His work. He's waiting for us and those who will follow after us to make our exodus out of sin. When we grumble and complain every step of the way, we're testing God.

Will we die in the wilderness because of our stubbornness and our rebellion? Will we be moldable and shapeable in sincerity and truth, marched through life's wilderness, having faith in God and Jesus Christ to pull us through? Do we trust them? Do you trust them?

That's how we will make it. Faith. God will never let us down. Deuteronomy chapter 36, I'm sorry, 31.

Deuteronomy 31 verse 6.

This is at the end of Moses' life. Joshua is about to take over.

And this is the encouragement that we all received. Be strong and of good courage. Do not fear nor be afraid of them. Who's them? It's every trial that you could possibly face in life.

For the Lord your God, He is the one who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land in which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them. And you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, He is one who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. God's got this, brethren! What we need to have and what we need to remember through the days of Unleavened Bread is trust Him. Have faith. Don't grumble and complain and insult the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but rather trust Him and He will see us through all the way to the end.