The Israelites leaving Egypt, Spiritual Manna and Admonition for US Today

 

Last Day of Unleavened Bread

 

The Israelites leaving Egypt,  Spiritual Manna and Admonition for US Today– Bill Bradford

 

April 6th ,  2018

 

 

 

1. The Holy Days picture the Process of Salvation and within the Days of Unleavened Bread are extremely important Lessons for us today.

  

1. God put the accounts of the Israelites into his WORD for us to have spiritual nourishment and understanding to help us in our own Journey as we come out of this World and as we set our feet firmly moving forward onto the road to Salvation and into God’s Glorious everlasting Kingdom as Sons and Daughters.

 

1. Today in the message we will review the account of Israel coming out of Egypt and identify spiritual food  or we might say  for today Spiritual unleavened Manna put in God’s word to spiritually feed us and strengthened us on our journey to the Promise Kingdom of God.

 

1. Let’s begin by looking at the Passover in Exodus 12

 

1. Passover which we observed on the night of the 14th of Abib the first month of the religious calendar pictures Christ as our Passover.  

 

1. Interestingly the word Abib means young green fruit or an ear of corn.  Somewhere after the time of Ezra, the first month of the religious year was referred to Nisan so you may hear either the 14th of Abib or Nisan in regards to the night of the Passover. 

 

1. We observe that night as a memorial of Christ willingly giving His Life for us.

 

1. For Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:7 For Indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us.

 

1. The Israelites as we read in Exodus 12:21 were instructed to put blood of a male lamb without blemish on the lintel and on the two door posts.   Let’s turn and  read this in Exodus 12 starting in verse 21.

 

1. Scripture Exodus 12:21 - 21 Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 And you shall take a bunch of hyssop,    

 

(hyssop a plant regarded as having purifying qualities….David in Psalm 51 as we sang in the hymn at the end of Passover says purge me with hyssop, and I will be clean…so the hyssop would in sense not pollute or contaminate the blood with any impurities)  

 

dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer  (word destroyer here means to “go to ruin”)  to come into your houses to strike you. 24 And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25 It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. 26 And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped

 

1. The first step in the process of leaving Egypt and the slavery and bondage was first putting the blood of the lamb on both door posts and the lintel. 

 

1. This was the first step in the process before coming out of Egypt….otherwise the one that can bring ruin, the destroyer or as we sometimes refer to it as the death angel would not Passover that house. 

 

1. Our first step in leaving the captivity of this world is to accept Christ as our Savior and it is only possible by His blood being shed….our wages of sin…being covered by the blood of Christ AND redeemed back.

 

1. As Paul states so eloquently in Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His Grace.

 

1. The Blood of Christ makes it possible for us to be forgiven….To be reconcile to God .

 

1. Leviticus 17:11 says .. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls (or life); for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul or life.

 

1. Our life was bought back by the perfect sacrifice. The precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:19)

 

1. Our life was not bought back with gold or silver or some other corruptible things.

 

1. It was bought back with the precious blood of God’s own begotten son.

 

1. For all us…every one of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s Glory…but God presented Christ as an atoning sacrifice so that our sins that we committed could be passed over. (Rom 3:25)

 

1. Christ is our Passover and allows us to no longer be slaves to sin and to be freed from the clutches of the Pharaoh of this world.

 

1. The Israelites could now be freed…to leave bondage and begin their journey to the Promised Land but they were commanded to always remember this event as we read in verse 24 of Exodus 12.

 

1. Exodus 12:24 24 And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. 25 It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. 26 And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped

 

1. On a continual basis our prayers include our thankfulness for our deliverance and once a year on the night of the Passover baptized members participate in a solemn and yet joyful memorial… remembering what God and Christ did for us so that we could have life and begin our journey out from Egypt!

 

1. The Lesson or the first piece of spiritual manna for our nourishment in this message is to remember that our Journey to the Kingdom begins with the Blood of Christ being shed for the remission of our sins…so the death penalty could Passover us and with that comes also the continual assurance and faithfulness of God’s love that he has for you and I.

 

1. Let’s go to the next event in the Israelites leaving Egypt found in the next chapter, Exodus 13.   The next day or the 15th of Abib the Israelites began to leave Egypt. 

 

1. It must have been quite the scene to see the tribes of Israel …the masses of old and young all begin to move out of Egypt…It is a Special day that God wanted remembered.

 

1. SCRIPTURE:  EXODUS 13:3-10 3 And Moses said to the people: "Remember this day in 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. 4 On this day you are going out, in the month Abib. 5 And it shall be, when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. 6 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. 7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days. And no leavened bread shall be seen among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. 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 up from Egypt.' 9 It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord's law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. 10 You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year.

 

1. When we eat unleavened bread for 7 days during the Days of Unleavened bread there is some things we should consider.

 

1. It is something you have heard said before…

 

1. Unleavened bread has an incorruptible aspect to it.  

 

1. Removing leavened bread represents the removal of sin and pride and being transformed by the Bread of Life represented in the unleavened bread. 

 

1. Puffed up leavened bread quickly goes moldy.  Leavened bread doesn’t last long.

 

1. However matzos seem to last forever.  Matzos probably would taste the same 10 years later.

 

1. Eating unleavened bread is a sign, a reminder, a message we just don’t stop eating leavened bread but we put in its place God’s righteousness.

 

1. Unleavened bread is associated with putting the Lord’s Law into our mouth.  Sin is the transgression of God’s Law. (1 John 3:4) So we remove sin…but we don’t leave a vacuum...We feast on God’s law…with Sin being removed righteousness should fill it’s place.

 

1. David said in Psalm 119:97…Oh how I love your law….and a few verses later in verse 103 David said how sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.

 

1. All of Psalm 119 is about praising God’s Laws, commandments and judgements…. A steady diet of God’s laws….verse 163…David says I love your Law, seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgements.

 

1. In Jeremiah 31:33 as well as other places God says through Jeremiah.

 

1. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people

 

1. Having God’s law in our hearts and minds means it is truly internal and the foundation of our thoughts and emotions. 

 

1. Those with God’s laws in their minds and hearts are called by God…as ..My People…

 

1. God’s law is spiritual and it shows the outward concern and Love to God and others.

 

1. Paul said in Romans 13:8 …he who loves another has fulfilled the law….

 

1. Paul expressed it in Galatians 5:14 by saying the entire law is fulfilled in a single statement; Thou shall love your neighbor as yourself”

 

1. John says in 1 John 4:21 he who loves God must love his brother also…later in chapter 5 he says By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.

 

1. Keeping God’s laws shows Love to God and Love to our neighbor and brethren.

 

1. This is eating the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

 

1. God’s law, loving God and loving your brother are never separate or stand-alone actions but fully meshed together in action and thoughts. They all go together!

 

1. We remove sin as reflected in the attitudes of:

 

1. Selfishness
2. Hate
3. Spite
4. Envy
5. Pride
6. Or as Mr. Armstrong coined…”the get way of life”
7. None of which leads to peace with God or others
8. Unleavened bread pictures being a new man or being.

 

1. Eating Unleavened bread reflects the commitment to being a new lump ..….not the old man with a selfish orientation, not carnal minded and against God’s law but spiritually minded that leads to life and peace.

 

1. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5:7  Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

 

1. This scripture was used by Mr. Kansa quite well but let me build on what he presented last on the First day of Unleavened bread.

 

1. Let’s focus on the aspect of truth as it relates to God’s law and outward Love.

 

1. Christ said in John 17:17 …sanctify them through your truth; your word is truth….

 

1. We eat of the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth

 

1. We are set apart as God’s people.

 

1. That means apart from this world…the two don’t mix…if you love the World the Love of the Father is not in him….

 

1. We are No longer a part of Egypt and bondage to sin…

 

1. Not taking our direction from the Pharaoh of this World…the prince of the power of the air who works in the sons of disobedience….we have been called out of this world…

 

1.  We are sanctified or called out through the Truth…the word of God….both in the form of scripture as we live by every word of God and by having Christ…the word of God living in us…

 

1. This is how the saints of God become a new lump….we become holy from the inside…..t

 

1. We are to be Holy as God is Holy…

 

1. Scripture 1 Peter 1:13 -16 - 13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

 

1. We are not conformed to the ways of this world…not held in slavery to the lusts of this world,  the lusts of the eyes, the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life as John defines in 1 John.

 

1. We are obedient children who are called to be Holy as God is Holy.  Only God can make something Holy….

 

1. Let’s talk about that for a moment….Christ made an incredible statement on his last night before he died.

 

1. We read this at Passover but it is really an incredible statement made. Let’s turn to John 14

 

1. John 14:19 – 23 19 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

 

1. Keeping Christ’s word….the truth…what sanctifies us or sets up apart….what makes us Holy as God is Holy?

 

1. Jesus Christ says WE will make Our home in that person…both Jesus Christ and the Father.

 

1. Through the sacrifice of God’s only begotten son and the blood that was shed…upon repentance…which means turning around and going the other way we are made clean….

 

1. We clean our homes of all leaven….but do invite God in and let God and Christ rearrange the furniture…

 

1. Christ said He and Father want to make their home in us…

 

1. Maybe along with a clean house a new couch is needed…the old well worn couch needs to go out…

 

1. Maybe some rearranging…of to make the house a better placed to live in.

 

1. Maybe a new dining room table…and the old and well used beat up table needs to go.

 

1. What am I talking about?

 

1. Letting God and Christ make the changes in your life …you were bought with a price…in sense they own the home…God’s invested his Spirit in you..

 

1. Are you letting them make the changes ….are we willing to let them move the couch to a new location?

 

1. Something to think about as we eat unleavened bread.

 

1. God’s Spirit that he puts in us is God living in us…His divine nature is in us to one day be brought to full glory but it takes Christ living in us…and that brings us back to the bread…the bread of life…what we have to be eating…sin may go but something has to replace it.

 

1. When Jesus said in John 6:48…I am the bread of life…he meant something that is very life changing…

 

1. Let’s read this in John 6:56 - 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

 

1. The bread of life…Christ the Word lives in us with the God’s Spirit we eat daily, hourly of the bread of life…the words of Christ…the Word of God…we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 

 

1. We do that and God and Christ will put the furniture in the right place.

 

1. God will have sons and daughters that reflect Him…who are holy….because He and Christ will make their home in them…we just need to make sure we are willing to let some furniture to be moved around in the way they think makes the most sense.

 

1. Let me sum up this spiritual Manna for our nourishment.

 

1. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17 …if anyone is in Christ he is anew creation: old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.

 

1. Eating unleavened bread represents eating…the bread of life … Christ living in us by living by the words of God and Christ and reflecting God’s righteous character by  seeing God Holy Laws in action.

 

1. Demonstrated by love to God and others. The give way.…with God’s spirit in us we move from being conformed to this world to being transformed by the renewing of our mind as we become Holy as God is Holy discerning what is good, pleasing and the perfect will of God. (Rom 12:2)

 

1. …let’s never skip a meal of eating bread of life..

 

1.  Let’s move on in the account of the Israelites leaving Egypt as we identify spiritual manna foe us to partake of .

 

1. SCRIPTURE:  EXODUS 13:17-22 17 Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

 

1. I think this is an interesting comment made by God that is inserted in the scripture.

 

1. Later God would allow them to interact with Philistines and other enemies of the Israelites but at this point God did not put them into that situation. 

 

1. God knew where they were at and didn’t put them in situation they were not ready to handle.

 

1. Interestingly Paul in using the Israel coming out of Egypt as an example for the Corinthians says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 …God who is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

 

1. This is very reassuring….for us that God is not going to put us in a trial or situation that we are not able to bear.

 

1.  18 So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt.19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

 

1. The movie the Ten Commandments puts in a poignant scene showing the bones of Joseph being carried out of Egypt.
2. God was true to his servant Joseph and to his Great, Great, Grand father Abraham.

 

1. 20 So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. 21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.

 

1. Let’s pause here for our next spiritual manna food stop and see what God has put on the table for us to eat.

 

1. Notice it was not Moses that lead them it was God…himself.

 

1. This was the wilderness and the hot sands of Egypt.

 

1. The cloud was a covering and a guide by day.

 

1. The pillar of fire gave them light…so they could also travel at night when it may have been cooler and a better condition to travel.

 

1. God was leading the way out of Egypt…all eyes had to be on the cloud or fire to know how to proceed.

 

1.  God showed the way

 

1. Scripture John 15: 5 -6 5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

 

1. The Way is Jesus Christ…he is the one we follow

 

1. Christ…who in Hebrews is 2:10 is called the captain of our salvation

 

1. A captain in an Army is out there in front…not back far away from the front line in a safe place but out front leading.  A captain has been there in the trenches and leads by example….

 

1. Christ is the Way…He has been out front…he has shown us the WAY….he is the firstborn of God who knows the Way forward.

 

1. A Captain and a Shepherd are very similar…and Christ is called the Chief Sheppard helping the sheep move to the right pastures and to where they need to be.

 

1. Let’s turn to John 10:1-5 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

 

1. Christ is the Way…he is the Shepherd who goes before his own sheep and knows each one by name.

 

1. Christ living in you…that means he knows you pretty well he knows your name..

 

1. The question we ask…do we know Christ as well as we should…?

 

1. We have to know HIS voice…and we recognize a false shepherd’s voice…a false teaching.

 

1. We are not out of this world yet and many false shepherds will try to enter into the sheepfold and trick the sheep into following him.

 

1. Brethren if we are close to God….Close to Christ…immersed into the Word of God…growing in God’s Spirit…letting Christ and God dwell in us we will never be tricked by an imposter’s voice

 

1. Christ’s voice is clear and distinct…

 

1. John 10:7 -16 -Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

 

1. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

 

1. Let’s go to verse 27

 

1. 27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”

 

1.  Let pause and lets summarize the spiritual manna from this part of the Exodus.

 

1. Christ is the Way …the Good Shepherd…that is who we follow on our way towards God’s Kingdom.

 

1. He is the head of the Body

 

1. We follow ….we know his voice…we know his teachings…we live our lives based on those teachings

 

1. The Israelites kept their eyes on the Cloud and Fire as they left Egypt.

 

1. We keep our eyes on Christ our Shepherd … he knows the way and we are safe as sheep in his fold.  He is the Captain of our Salvation.

 

 

1. Let’s continue on in the account of the Israelites leaving Egypt. Let’s pick up in Exodus 14:1.

 

 

1. SCRIPTURE:  Exodus 14: 1- 18 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal Zephon; you shall camp before it by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ 4 Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. 5 Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

 

 

1.  6 So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. 7 Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. 8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness. 9 So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.

 

1. Here we see something…. Pharaoh never stops wanting the Israelites back in bondage…to serve him.

 

1. Pharaoh and his servants don’t change….they didn’t want Israel to serve the true God but stay in bondage

 

1. That was Pharaoh’s nature…he wasn’t going to change.

 

1. 1 John 3:8 says the devil has sinned from the beginning….Satan’s nature isn’t going to change.

 

1. The reality is that the Pharaoh of this world is the same and will always want to entice someone back to the slavery of sin.

 

 

1. SCRIPTURE: 1 Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant (or alert); because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

 

1. Satan is pictured as roaring Lion, an adversary…who is looking to see who he can devour.

 

1. That is Satan’s nature….be  diligent and alert and close to God…don’t be outside the camp…or away from the good shepherd.

 

1. In Ephesians 6:11 says we put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able stand against the wiles of the devil.

 

1. The Pharaoh of this world the Devil is out there

 

1. Part of our armor is to have the Shield of faith which helps us quench the fiery darts of the wicked one

 

1. What is are those darts that test our faith?

 

1. Doubt
2. Discouragement
3. Division

 

1. How do we deal with these attacks?

 

1. James 4:4-8 gives us the answer…let me summarize.

 

1. Submit to God.

 

1. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.

 

1. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

 

1. Submit or put yourself under God’s protection…his power…

 

1. Resist means don’t go near the temptations of Satan…

 

1. Draw near to God means getting close through prayer, study and fasting.

 

1. Eating abundantly as we covered earlier the bread of Life

 

1. Satan is a wily and God’s protection and power is always there to deal with Satan and his tactics but we have to rely on God and stay close to God….Our Strength is God…

 

1. Christ overcame the Satan’s temptation by being close to God and relying on God’s strength and power…that is our example…the example of the captain of our salvation.

 

1. The Spiritual Manna for us eat from this section is that the Pharaoh of Egypt wanted Israel back in bondage…The pharaoh of this Age will try many tactics to tempt us back into the slavery of sin…but with God’s power and staying under His authority,  trust in God and through a close relationship we have the God’s power to resist those temptations.

 

1. Let’s go to the next section found in Exodus 14 and pick up with Pharaoh coming in on what appears to be the trapped Israelites.  In the timeline we are now at the 7th day of unleavened bread.

 

1. SCRIPTURE Exodus 14:10 10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt?

 

1. Again, when danger was present, the Israelites claimed  to prefer servitude in Egypt over God’s promise of freedom.

 

1. 12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”13 And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

 

1. Standstill, or stand firm. (don’t panic)

 

1. This was their last step to exit from Egypt. 

 

1. Once over the Red Sea, they were out of Egypt!

 

1. 15 And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. 16 But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. 17 And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

 

1. The message …the lesson …is the same…The Children of GOD must be Going Forward!

 

1. We can’t look back look back at Egypt but we have to move forward to the Kingdom that God has promised us.

 

1. Going forward at times may have it trials and difficulties…

 

1. Paul encouraged the disciples in Acts 14:22 to continue in the faith…strengthening them…but also stating clearly that we must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.

 

1. We move forward to the Kingdom and don’t look back to Egypt as the solution.  We don’t consider the blue pill as an option…for those who understand that reference from the  movie the Matrix.

 

1. Paul always kept moving forward…even in difficult times.

 

1. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul says he was given 39 stipes by the Jews on 5 different occasions

 

1. Beaten with rods 3 times

 

 

1. Shipwrecked for a day in half

 

1. In Perils of waters, peril of robbers, in perils of the Jews and Gentiles.. and many other trials

 

1. Paul kept going forward, he didn't look backwards he pushed forward.

 

1. Scripture: Philippians 3:12-14 2 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

 

1. Paul had unbelievable drive to move forward !  He didn't’t look backwards… he viewed his unconverted past as rubbish…nothing to uphold.

 

1. He reached forward the things which are ahead….

 

1. We have to keep moving forward….to the Kingdom….holding fast so no one steals our crown…pressing forward

 

1. That is the direction we go…just like God told the Israelites …we go forward…and we will see the salvation…and never see the Egyptians again..

 

1. The manna for us in this section is we keep moving forward and we don’t look backwards in our journey out from this world to the Kingdom of God….

 

1. Satan will always want you to take a glimpse back…to think maybe life back there wasn’t so bad….maybe the things of this world are worth being part of….don’t look back …press forward because God has a glorious future for his sons and daughters that don’t compare to anthing that this world has to offer.

 

1. Our journey is not that different from the Israelites…the lessons are there for us….to learn from on our journey to the kingdom. In fact Paul states that very clearly in 1 Cor 10:1…

 

1. Let’s read in 1 Corinthians 10:1

 

1. Scripture 1 Corinthians 10:1 – 11 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
2. 6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. 7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” 8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; 9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; 10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

 

1. Brethren let me make few last comments before we conclude on the Last Day of Unleavened Bread service.

 

1. Very few people have been called out in this age as Paul calls it a Holy calling…an invitation.

 

1. Let’s really cherish and hold on to what we know and keep growing….keep learning and growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ…

 

1. Keep overcoming

 

1. God’s Church …the called out ones…the Ecclesia have a very special purpose…

 

1. God is creating for himself a very precious people…and God will  dwell with his people…He will have a family of holy children.

 

1. Don’t ever minimize how special that is…whether trials, tribulations or challenges in this age because anything that happens in this age doesn’t compare to the Glory God has for those who love Him.

 

1. God gives us the hope and the promise to raise us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Jesus Christ. In a twinkling in a moment…mortal to immortality.

 

1. To be kings and priests….

 

1. Continue praying for one another….help each other and encourage each other, love one another…we have a loving congregation…let’s continue to increase in love to one another.

 

1. Stay close to God hold fast what we have been taught.  We live in interesting times and Satan’s deceptions are out there…

 

1. Keep moving forward eating the bread of life.

 

• Let me end with this passage from Ephesians 1…as these 7 days of unleavened bread end at sunset tonight and we will be back here tomorw.

 

1. As Paul told the Ephesians he prayed for them…let’s all pray for each other….

 

1. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of our understanding being enlightened; that we may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe,