It Takes Faith to Walk Out of Egypt

That was very beautiful. And if you were hearing the words or many important concepts that we think about and consider this time of year, a shepherd that guides and leads us, a God that brings us through the wilderness, through various challenges and trials that we can look to in faith and trust and the fact that we can never turn back or look back in fear.

I appreciated Mr. Will's comments as he wrapped up. He left off and wrapped up kind of where I want to take off from. He commented on fear and that we move forward in faith. It's faith that we're moving forward with what God has opened the way for us and provided. And very much faith is at the core of these holy days. Every year we come around to the Days of Unleavened Bread, we rehearse the account of Israel's exodus out of Egypt. And sometimes we go, well, we're going to go through that story again.

Almost every year in our house we watch the Ten Commandments movie. I think this is maybe the first year in 20 years we haven't actually watched the Ten Commandments movie. I think we just got really busy.

But Charlton Heston and Yule Brenner, Hollywood has tried to reproduce this. And in my mind, that's still the best movie that goes along the lines of the Ten Commandments. And yet, even it falls short compared to the Bible and what the reality of these things were. But we walk through this account every year because it does teach us lessons, how we were to live our spiritual lives before God, how He's working with us, where He's brought us out of, where He's taking us to.

As was mentioned, we eat the unleavened bread and we put out the leavening. And these things remind us again how we're to live our lives before God spiritually. Last night was the night to be much observed that kicked off this holy day. And we all gathered in various places and enjoyed meals together with family and friends and remembered what God did for bringing His people out of bondage. And it commemorated that God brought Israel out of Egypt by night.

Exodus 12, verse 42, and Deuteronomy 16, verse 1, tell us that God brought Israel out of Egypt by night. That started last night, the night to be much observed, the night following the Passover. And again, today what we observe coincides with the timing of Israel's exodus from Egypt as well, as they continued their trek out of that land. God had won their delivery by strength of hand through the Passover. And the bonds of oppression were broken. Pharaoh said, Get out. And they walked free, liberated as they were a free nation for the first time in their life.

After having been slaves from birth and having known nothing else but slavery, they were free. Or were they really? Were they really? 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 11, tells us that all these things happened to them, happened to the Israelites as examples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

And so the story of the Exodus and all of Israel's experiences are laid out for us as a learning and a testament that we would look at what they walked through, what it was that they had laid before them, how they responded, and then we would take it and learn from it for ourselves, that we would apply the lessons that they should have learned into our lives today. And so that story is more than just a historical accounting. It is an education and an exhortation to us as well.

We can see the effects of blessings and curseings as we watch what the nation of Israel walked through coming out of Egypt and up to the Promised Land, and even what God promised would be beyond that, if they either obeyed or disobeyed. We can see the effects of serving God or not serving God, and the effects of walking by faith or walking by fear, because the outcome of those two choices would indeed be very different. Some walked by faith and some walked by fear. They walked by sight. And again, the end results of those things are very different. These are part of what we're to examine and to learn from and to build our lives upon as we walk through this Holy Day cycle year after year.

On this first day of 11 bread, we're going to go back and look at some of the examples, again, that were written for our admonition, what the Israelites went through as they came out of Egypt. And we'll come to see that true freedom involves looking to God in faith, as our shepherd in the wilderness, as the one who goes before us, our rock and our shield, as the song was singing about. We'll look at that today, looking, putting God first in faith.

And we'll also look at the consequence of not putting faith in God and actually looking in fear and considering the fact that bondage to sin, as well as bondage to what they endured from physical Egypt, was not going to be released apart from faith. And so the title today is It Takes Faith to Walk Out of Egypt. It takes faith, but we have a choice. One will lead to the promised land of this choice, faith.

The other leads back to bondage in Egypt again. And the story was written for our admonition that we might understand the consequences of these choices. Let's begin by beginning with the command to keep these days. Mr. Wills was in Exodus chapter 12, so I think I want to go to the next re-accounting of this command.

Let's go to Exodus 13. Let's do that. And we have it lined out for us here as well, repeated after the Passover events of Exodus 12. We'll do Exodus chapter 13 and verse 3. This is the command that kicks off the days of Unleavened Bread historically. Exodus chapter 13 and verse 3. It says, 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. It says, No leavened bread shall be eaten. On this day you are going out in the month of Abib, and it shall be when the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, 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. It must be something that they did year after year after year.

Verse 6, it says, Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast unto the Lord. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days, and no leavened bread shall be found among you, nor shall leaven be seen among you in all your quarters. And shall tell your son in that day, saying, This is done because of what the Lord did for me when I came up out of Egypt.

And it shall be as a sign to you on your hand, and 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 the land of Egypt, you shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. And so God said, Remember this day, year by year by year, and when your children ask you, you're going to tell them about what these things represent.

For ancient Israel, remembering this day involved recalling what God did for them when he brought them up out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. How he broke those bonds, how he broke the power of Pharaoh and he brought them out as free men. That generation of Israelites, again, they spent their entire life in captivity. They didn't know anything beyond brick and mortar and their taskmasters and what it is that was laid before them in that life.

It was what they were born into and is what they died in, actually year after year after year. So this grouping of people who came out, that was their complete understanding. That was their day-to-day life. And to think of being set free, well, that's now a completely different experience, and they would have to learn how to deal with that as well. But these days remind them of their lifetime of slavery in Egypt, and they cried out to God because of their bondage. And their cry reached God's ears. And he sent Moses and Aaron along with him to go to Pharaoh and deliver a message, which was, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

And Pharaoh said, I don't know the Lord. Who's this God? I am God around here. I don't know the Lord. Neither will I let your people go. And so the follow-up to that then, God sent plagues on the land of Egypt. He laid the land waste. And when Pharaoh still refused, God in one final punishment then destroyed the firstborn.

And there was such a cry in Egypt that, surely then, they let the Israelites go. Pharaoh said, Get out. And they went in haste. These days, again, as they would keep the days of the eleven bread, reminded them of these things. This was a high point in their history. And when Israel kept the feast, they remembered.

What do we remember today, you and I, as we keep these days of unleavened bread? Well, we remember the historical account. We go constantly right back to certain places in the Bible, Exodus 12, Exodus 13. We go to 1 Corinthians 11. Now, as we come forward to application of the Passover in our lives, we come to various Gospels accounts. But for us today, we do remember the historical things that God did for the people of Israel.

But we also remember what He has done to bring us out of spiritual bondage as well. Slavery unto sin and death. The fact that before our baptism and the coming under the Passover sacrifice of Christ, that was our experience. That's what we knew. But God has liberated us through that Passover to walk in newness of life and to serve Him. And the question is, how do we carry forward from this point? Are we going to be like the Israelites? And we'll look at their story here in a moment, but are we going to respond to God and to our freedom as they did?

Or are there lessons that we can learn, written for our admonition? Indeed, there are lessons as we keep these feasts who must remember the physical and spiritual lessons God has for us today. And that's why the Exodus is so important because it's our story too. It happened to the Israelites. It was a type of which is a spiritual fulfillment in our lives, and it is our story as well. And just as we'll see with Israel's example, it takes faith to truly walk out of Egypt and to follow where God leads.

Because fearful things can spring up in the way, and doubt and fear and confusion can rule the day. Those things lead to bondage again. But we can respond in faith and truly walk out of Egypt and follow God's lead. Psalm 105 reveals an incredible miracle that God performed as He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt.

And it's one of those that, I don't know, over the years in the Church, I've heard it maybe touched on once or twice, but it's not one of the big flashy miracles like the plagues were or the parting of the Red Sea. So sometimes it tends to get passed over. But to me, this is pretty incredible, something that's important for us to keep in mind as we're considering following God in faith.

Psalm 105, verse 37, just this one verse, we're going to find the miracle here, it says, He also brought them out with silver and gold, and there was none feeble among His tribes. So did you catch the miracle? It's pretty profound. It's not riches. It's not the silver and gold. Well, what's incredible about this miracle is it says, again, verse 37, the second half, there was none feeble among His tribes. You know, there was no one who didn't have the strength and the ability to walk out of Egypt when God called them to do so.

When He said, the way is open, you may proceed. It wasn't like somebody said, well, I've got this limp and I can't walk, or I'm too worn out from my years of bondage. I can't move forward. And that's incredible to think about it. The account in Exodus 12 tells us that there were approximately 600,000 men besides women and children who walked out of Egypt, plus a multitude, a mixed multitude that went up with them, two and a half to three million people. And this just says, there was none feeble among their tribes. There was no one out of that multitude that didn't have the ability to make it to the Promised Land if they followed God and faith, if they moved forward as He called.

So it's not like He said, all right, I know you're at the last breath of your life and I'm going to bring you out and you're going to perish somewhere along the way, but the rest will make it. No, His purpose was that all whom He brought out of Egypt would make it to the Promised Land, none feeble among their tribes.

And to me, this is an incredible lesson for us today, that when God calls someone out of spiritual Egypt, He gives them what they need to succeed. He gives them what they need to make it. Philippians chapter 1 and verse 6 says, being confident of this very thing that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. That is a promise. So God isn't calling us through destruction.

He doesn't bring us out of spiritual bondage only to allow us to not have what we need to make it. He performs the same miracle in our lives today if we look to Him in faith. That among the church, there can be none feeble among our ranks who can't make it by what God gives us.

And the reason if we don't make it, it is because of our own choosing. Are we going to follow in faith? Are we going to turn back to bondage again in fear? So God delivered Israel on this day, and He brought them out. And He brought them from the land of Egypt. And they were excited to be free. You know, there's this promised land they'd heard about. It was handed down generation to generation. You know, promised to Abraham 430 years earlier, your descendants are going to inherit this promise.

And yet, for a time, it seemed like their ancestors were going to head there, but then they're in bondage. They're in slavery. Now they've been set free, a land flowing with milk and honey. And you know what? If we stopped reading the Bible account at this point, we would think they lived happily ever after. Right? Profound miracles. God brought them out. They are free. And it'd be nice. Almost we say, well, close the book. Imagine a fairy, fairy tale ending. But it didn't quite go that way for this generation of Israelites.

Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. Verse 1. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 1. Paul says, Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware. All our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea. All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed or accompanied them. And that rock was Christ. Verse 5 it says, But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. We might think, what happened? What happened between there was none feeble among their tribes to the bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Because it seemed like such promise by which they left Egypt. Such hope, such, you know, the promised land was set before them. God was leading them. And they could make it by what He had given them if they followed in faith. But we see that with most of them God was not well pleased. And their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. It's a sad testimony. Why didn't most of that generation make it? What happened? What was the root cause of their failure? Well, verse 6 says, Now all these things became our examples to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.

Okay, so sin entered the picture. And do not become idolaters as some of them were as it is written. The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. Nor let some of us commit sexual immorality as some of them did, and in one day 23,000 fell.

Nor let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpents. Nor complain as some of them also complained and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples. And they were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the ages had come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. So their example was written for us that we may learn from what they did and learn not to do what they did. It says they lusted after evil. They committed idolatry and sexual immorality, which those things were so often tied together as a package.

It was worship of false gods in which sexually immoral practices were mixed into what you did in the worship of those gods. It says that they tempted Christ. It says that they complained.

What's at the root of all these things? Lust thing after evil, idolatry, sexual immorality, tempting Christ, complaining. The root cause of these is a lack of faith. A lack of faith. Israel's repeated failures stemmed from a complete lack of faith and trust in God that he would indeed fulfill what it was that he promised and that they had what they needed to make it to the end as he had promised.

Again, a lack of faith. As a result, God was not pleased, and many of them perished in the wilderness. For the remainder of the message today, I want to examine three events that took place during Israel's journey between Egypt and the Promised Land. I want to see examples from there that show that the lack of faith, how that played the critical point of their downfall. But we're also going to see fear contrasted with faith. And what the attitude is, we must have to succeed as opposed to return to bondage as they did.

And so hopefully this examination will serve to reinforce again for us the importance of faith. It shows the damaging destruction that fear plays and the lack of faith in God. So event number one, as they came out of Egypt, we're going to look at the crossing of the Red Sea. Exodus chapter 14. This was Israel's first challenge as they departed Egypt. Exodus chapter 14. They had a golden opportunity here, and God was going to show them clearly what His power was.

He had already been showing them. They should never have doubt again, but let's just see how they respond to this first test. Exodus chapter 14 and verse 1. He says, Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn and camp before a high high wrath between Migdahl and the sea, opposite of Baal's ephon, you shall camp before it by the sea.

Alright, verse 3. For Pharaoh will save the children of Israel. They are bewildered by the land, and the wilderness has closed them in. It's like they're just out there wandering about. Poor slaves. Alright, they no sense of direction. They don't even know where they're going. And you know, if you're looking at this from a completely military standpoint, Israel's in a position of vulnerability, because where they're entered in now, they're boxed in by the mountains and the sea.

And Pharaoh says, I'm just going to swing around and close that gap, and we'll trample right over the top of them. So God hardened Pharaoh's heart. We know the story. Okay. And he pursued Israel in order to destroy them. Verse 9 says, So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea beside Thy High Roth before Baal Zephon.

And Pharaoh drew near, and the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them, so that they were very afraid. Right? Fear is an enemy of faith. They were very afraid. And the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. And 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 the land of Egypt? You know, Moses, why do we even follow you here?

We've seen what Pharaoh's chariots can do. We've seen what his battle horses can do. They're heavy, they're strong, and they just trample right over the top of whoever their victims would be. Why did you bring us here to die? Again, fear was their response, not faith, because they're looking at the might and the power of Pharaoh as supreme, as opposed to looking to the might and the power of God.

And they cry out, is this liberty or is this bondage? And indeed, this is bondage. And it takes faith to walk out of Egypt. Verse 12 says, Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? So it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than we should die in the wilderness? Just kind of bring it forward to our time.

Can you imagine saying to God it would be better that you never called me out of the world than to face a Red Sea experience for following you? That's what Israel is doing. God, it was better not even to leave Egypt than it was then to meet this fate. And if you're living in fear, you're not looking to God in faith. I guess I could see how someone could come up to this perspective. But for you and I, we can never afford to do this.

God has called us to succeed, to reach the Promised Land, and turning back in fear is never an option. So, verse 13, Moses says to the people, Don't be afraid.

This is your problem. Don't be afraid. Stand still. See the salvation of the Lord, which we will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians, whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. For the Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. And that's the answer. Stop living in fear. It says, Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. See the saving grace of God, what He'll accomplish for you. Wait for Him. Look on Him. Put your trust in Him. Not looking at the power of Pharaoh and his chariot and his armies.

Look to the power of God, because you've seen His miracle in your life time and time and time again. So that's the answer. Fear and faith are opposites. Fear and faith are enemies. Faith is not of the adversary, is it? Fear is of the adversary. Faith is of God. So what Pharaoh was looking to accomplish was, let's put fear into the heart of the Israelites.

They'll beg to be slaves. They'll turn. They'll run. They'll scatter. You know, a little fear can drive people away from this God.

I've seen it. I've heard it expressed. I've heard it taught. Fear, anger, bitterness, it drives people away from God, turns them into another direction. Pharaoh knew the consequence that just seeing his army would have on the people.

Faith is of God. Fear is of the adversary, and is what his tool is unto destruction.

Verse 15, and if you and I are going to face a Red Sea moment, we stand still, and we look to the salvation of the Lord. Verse 15, and the Lord said to Moses, Why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. He said, 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. He says, And I will indeed harden Pharaoh's heart, and the heart of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh, and over all his army, his chariots, his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, I am God, truly. Pharaoh's not a god. I'll know I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for myself, over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. And it says, And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them. Remember, there was a rock that was accompanying them.

Also the pillar of cloud went from before them, and stood behind them. So it came to pass that it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of the Israelites. And thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all that night. Verse 21, The Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

You know, this wasn't just a little marshy area with a few reeds in it that the Israelites crossed over. You know, maybe just barely got their ankles wet as some would say, well here's a shallow spot, that's probably where they went. No, it says the water was a wall to them as the sea was divided, wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Fear in humans can tend to lead to the fight or flight response, and neither of which may be appropriate for the circumstance. But true faith is active in a proper way, because it is moving forward in response to God. As in, stand still, see the salvation of the Lord, and when He opens the way before you, you move. You step forward and you step out on faith. It is fear that turns you back to bondage again. It is faith that allows you to step forward unto life. Verse 23 says, the Egyptians pursued, okay, and they're going to come down now. We're going to show these Israelites. They think they can just, what, walk through the sea? We can go through the sea.

Pursued them, went after them into the midst of the sea. Are O Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, his horsemen, and it came to pass in the morning watch, that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud, and He troubled the army of the Egyptians. He took off their chariot wheels, which would be troubling, I would say. So that He drove them with difficulty.

This is a pre-industrial age flat tire. The Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians. Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your hand over the sea in the waters, that they may come back upon the Egyptians on their chariots and on their horsemen. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and when morning appeared, the sea returned to its full depth, while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. So the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Then the waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen, and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them, and not so much as one of them remained. But the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore, and thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt, so the people feared, in a proper way, the Lord. And they believed the Lord and his servant Moses.

So an incredible deliverance this day. It took place by the hand of God, and it's commonly accepted that this took place on the last day of Unleavened Bread. In Israel, they walked out of Egypt. Now they've reached the Red Sea, and that crossing came on the last day of Unleavened Bread. But this was a lesson in faith. It was a lesson in the proper fear of God. It was a lesson that should have stuck in the mind of the Israelites throughout their entire journey. Whenever they faced an obstacle, you know, think back to the Red Sea. Think back to Egypt. Think about of all the miracles that God has accomplished for us, and how he has brought us out, and has delivered us time after time after time. This should have been an object lesson that they never forgot.

And yet it wouldn't be long, wouldn't be long, before they faced another circumstance that challenged their ability to look to God in faith. But they should have held this up as their automatic response, right? Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Unfortunately, they quickly forgot. Event number two, the waters of Mara. I've kind of condensed two events into one here because of their proximity in Scripture. The waters of Mara and the demand for food.

Exodus chapter 15 and verse 22 just come down the road a very short ways.

Exodus chapter 15 and verse 22 says, Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shear. And there they went three days in the wilderness, and they found no water. And you know what? That's a big deal in the desert, right? It's a big deal when you have your flocks and your herds with you. Big deal when the children are thirsty and they're crying.

Three days in the wilderness, found no water.

Last week, as I've been thinking about this, I think, you know, whenever I start to grumble about being stifled by a face mask, I think, compared to three days in the wilderness with no water, I'll take it. If it means I'm following God where He's leading, sometimes we're walking through the environment where we live, right? Israel went through the desert, and they experienced their environment, but they were still following God. Exodus 15 verse 23, Now when they come to Morah, they cannot drink the waters of Morah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it is called Morah, and the people complained against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? Again, what's their problem? Well, they're thirsty. Isn't that a normal physical condition? And sometimes we, I think, we tend to be a little hard on the Israelites. We look at them and we think, Why are they complaining?

Again, there was a lack of faith here, but there's a real concern if you're walking out there in three days and you find water and it's bitter. But their response, obviously, wasn't looking to God in faith. That was the problem. Their circumstance, though, was real, and their need for a miracle from God was real. But Israel, at this point, really only trusted in what they could see with their eyes, rather than trusting in God. And they walked by sight, not by faith. See, we've got to flip that around. We walk by faith and not by sight, but they complained. They complained. Verse 25, So he, Moses, cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. And then he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them. It's an interesting point. There he tested them. God said, I need to know what is in your heart. So this was a test, three days across the desert, bitter waters. He says, I need to see what's in your heart. By the way, none feeble amongst their ranks doesn't mean no tests, no trials, no looking to see what's there in the person's character. When God calls us out, he gives us what we need to succeed, but we have to do our part, and we have to have the heart for it. And God tests us along the way. He allows us to see and face things so that he can see how we'll respond. With Abraham, he had to see his heart, and he tested him in the thing that was most important to him, his son Isaac. And what did he say when Abraham was stopped short of sacrificing Isaac? He said, now I know. I know about you. He needed to know about the Israelites, and he needs to know about each and every one of us as well. Do we trust him? Will we follow him? Are we willing to give up maybe what's most important to us in this world to go where he is leading? And there are tests of the heart we all face along the way. They're different for each of us, but the response God is looking for is the same. He's looking for us to step in faith, not to turn back in fear of loss.

He wanted to see what was in their heart. Verse 26, he says, if you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, and give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you. It says, then they came to Elam, where there were 12 wells of water and 70 palm trees, and so they camped there by the waters. So again, God provided he opened the way for them.

By the way, just as an interesting parallel, 12 wells match 12 tribes of Israel. Okay, 70 palm trees, interestingly, are the number of elders that God gave his spirit to later on in the account.

So, coincidence? I don't think so.

God's showing his people his presence in his work, and he's seeking a response in faith, not fear.

If we carry on, then, in chapter 16, chapter 16, verse 1, says, and they journeyed from Elam, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of sin, which is between Elam and Sinai on the 14th day of the second month after they had departed the land of Egypt, one month now after the Passover. It says, and the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And again, we have this repeated cycle of complaint. God provides, they're sustained for a time, they face an obstacle, they complain. There's a psalm, Psalm 55, 22, it tells us, cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you.

He will never permit the righteous to be moved. In Psalm 55 and verse 2, and those are comforting words, do we believe them? Cast your burdens on God. If you're feeling overwhelmed, cast your burdens on him, it says, and he will sustain you, and he won't permit the righteous to be moved. Israel had a hard time seeing that and truly believing it. So they complained against Moses, against God, once again. The whole congregation of Israel, verse 2, complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, O that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt. When we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full, for we have brought out this whole, brought out into this wilderness, this whole assembly, you know, to kill us. God, you just want to kill us! Wasn't it enough? There were graves in Egypt. No, you've brought us out to kill this whole assembly with hunger. Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will bring bread from heaven for you. The people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

Israel was constantly making comparisons between God and Egypt, God and Egypt, and they kept looking back because although he had brought them out of Egypt, they really never let that nation go.

They never really walked out of bondage and until God would perform some great miracle, they were discontented and it was unbelief. Again, that was the root cause, unbelief, lack of faith, and because of that unbelief, they actually limited God's ability to work with them.

Let's go to Psalm 78. Psalm 78, verse 12.

If you and I are unbelieving, you know, we may have come through the Passover. We may have taken the steps to walk out of Egypt, but if we're lacking faith, we're still dragging Egypt with us, and if we are unbelieving, we are limiting God's ability to work with us, what he seeks to accomplish to his full end. Israel is limiting God, and you and I must be cautious never to do that. Psalm 78, verse 12. It's a history of the overview of Israel's journey, and we'll read up to a point, but you can carry on and see their experiences even in the Promised Land. But 78, verse 12, here says, Marvelous things he did in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan, says he divided his sea and caused them to pass through, and he made the water stand up like a heap. In the daytime, he also led them with the cloud and at night with the light of fire, says he split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink in abundance like the depths. He also brought streams out of the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers, but they sinned even more against him. They rebelled against the most high in the wilderness. They tested God in their heart, asking for the food of their fancy. Yes, they spoke against God.

They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, he struck the rock so that waters gushed out and streams overflowed. They said, Can he give bread also? Can he provide meat for his people? Therefore the Lord heard this, and he was furious. So fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel. Lack of faith and trust in God is a dangerous thing, and it was Israel's downfall. Because this wasn't just a matter of walking out of Egypt. This was a matter of following God in faith, because they can't get where they were going on their own. And when you face obstacle and trial and challenge on things that are beyond your physical control, the response is either look to God in faith or turn back to Egypt in fear.

God says, I don't accept fear. Verse 40 says, How often they provoked him in the wilderness, and they grieved him in the desert. Yes, again and again they tempted God, and they limited the Holy One of Israel. It says they limited him. They said, well, God can do anything he wants.

Well, he is limited when we do not respond in a way that allows him to work in our lives.

What he could do with Israel was limited when they did not respond in a way that was faithful to him. You have to be a faithful participant to allow God to work with you for his purpose to be accomplished to the full. Israel wasn't. We must be careful ourselves. Do not live in doubt and fear. You limit God's ability to accomplish what he seeks to accomplish in you. You and I can allow God to lead us out of Egypt just like Israel did, and we can allow God to bring us where it is he wants us to go. We can desire that in our heart, the promised land, just as Israel did, and we can possess the God-given ability to make it there, as in non-feeble among your tribes. But because of fear and doubt, we can limit God's work, and we can fall short. Not because God falls short, but because we limit, again, his ability to work in us. It takes faith to walk out of Egypt, brethren, and unfortunately the majority of that nation of Israel was lacking. And the lesson for us, as we read their account, is we must not. We must not. Due to time constraints, we're going to jump past the golden calf incident. Let's go to Israel's approach of the promised land, up to the border, because God brought them up to the brink, and it was theirs for the taking. In event number three, Israel's refusal to enter the promised land. Let's go to Numbers 13.

Numbers 13, verse 1, says, The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Send out these spies, right? We know there were twelve, one from each tribe, went into the land. Send out the spies in the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers, ye shall send a man, every one a leader among them. Verse 25 says, They returned from spying out the land after forty days. Now they departed, and they came back to Moses and Aaron, all the congregation of the children of Israel, in the wilderness of Peran and Kadesh. And they brought back word to them, and all the congregation showed them the fruit of the land. I imagine they said, at least ten of them probably said, What do you want first? The good news or the bad news?

They said, Well, it's been a long journey through the desert. How about the good news? Well, the grapes are the size of ollie balls. It's a fruitful land, right? And this is their fruit.

Verse 28, Nevertheless, the people who dwell in the land are strong. The cities are fortified and very large. Moreover, we saw the descendants of Amok there. The giants. You don't want to mess with them. Verse 29, The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south, the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan. They said, We saw trouble there. We saw things that were distressing. We saw things that made us quake in fear. Cities walled up to heaven. Giants. Oh, it's a beautiful land. It's an abundant land, but it's a dangerous land. It's a perilous land. And we're in trouble. That was the response of 10. Verse 30, And then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and he said, Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it. What did Caleb see that the other 10 spies didn't see? What did Joshua see that the other 10 spies didn't see? Did they see a different land? Did they see a different opportunity? They saw the same place, but they walked by faith and not by sight. And the 10 spies that gave the negative report walked by sight and by fear, as opposed to faith. Caleb knew what God had promised his people, and he understood the power by which God delivered them from Egypt and brought them through the sea and gave them water in the wilderness and manna in the wilderness, the power that brought them to the border. And he understood what God would do for them in the land. And he said, We can do this. Others wanted to turn and run, but Caleb said, We are well able to overcome it. Verse 31, he says, But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we. And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land, which they had spied out, saying, The land through which we have gone as spies is a land which devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw are men of great stature. There we saw the giants, the descendants of Aenek, again, the giants.

And we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, so we were in their sight. They said, You know, we went into this land and looked around, and when we looked at ourselves, we were like grasshoppers in our own sight. We were small in our own sight, and this land is big, and it's full of giants. And they were looking to themselves as small, rather than looking to the power of God who made them big. They were looking in fear. Chapter 14, verse 1, All the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night, and all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, If only we had died in the land of Egypt, if only we had died in this wilderness. Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? This is what walking by sight looks like, and what lack of fear does. It turns you back to bondage again. Let's go back to Egypt. Would it be better to die in the wilderness?

Faith, on the other hand, responds to what God is doing. And Caleb could see it, and Joshua could see it. God is bringing us into the land. He's giving it to us. We can take it. We can move forward.

We will not be victims. But again, one causes you to falter and draw back, and the other allows you to move forward in confidence. Verse 5, Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel. But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jafuna, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes. And says, They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, The land we pass through to spy out is in an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into the land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. The protection is departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them. This is what faith looks like. It's absolute confidence in God to fulfill what he has promised to fulfill. And it's allowing yourself to be an instrument in his hands. And it's not drawing back in fear. Verse 10, it says, All the congregation said to stone them with stones. Guess they didn't like their message very much. The glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, How long will these people reject me? And how long will they not believe me with all the signs that are performed among them? I will strike them with the pestilence, I will disinherit them, and I will make a view a nation greater and mightier than they. Of course, Moses, very humble man, pleaded for the people. So God, please give them opportunity. Verse 21, 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, and have put me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded my voice, they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected me see it. See, lack of faith in God is a rejection of God. And fear turning back to bondage is rejection to what God has called us to succeed in. The other one has a place in our spiritual lives. Verse 24, But Caleb, my servant, because he has a different spirit in him, and he has followed me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. Verse 29, The carcasses of you who have complained against me shall fall in this wilderness, and of all of you who were numbered according to your entire number for twenty years old and above, except for Caleb, the son of Jafuna, and Joshua, the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. He says, But your little ones, the ones whom you said would be victims, I will bring them in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear the brunt of your infidelity until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness.

According to the number of days in which you spied out the land forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know my rejection.

After all God had done to bring Israel out of Egypt by strength of hand, to open the sea, and to provide, and to bring them up to the brink, after all He had done, they rejected God, and as a result, God was rejecting them. They spent forty years wandering. As 1 Corinthians 10 said, their carcasses were scattered in the wilderness. But that doesn't mean God quit working with them. For forty years He continued to work with them, and He worked with their children. And the ones that they said would be victims because of fear are the ones that actually went in to possess the land.

Hebrews 11 verse 6 reminds us that without faith, it is impossible to please God.

It's impossible.

For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. It takes faith to walk out of Egypt. It takes faith to move forward at the Red Sea Crossing. It takes faith to whatever obstacle we encounter to keep moving forward. It is fear that returns us to bondage again. It takes faith to walk out of Egypt, brethren.

Acts chapter 7 sums up very succinctly what occurred with Israel. What their fate ultimately was, at least this generation. What their fault was. Acts chapter 7 and verse 35.

This is Stephen's defense shortly before his stoning.

Acts chapter 7 and verse 35. Stephen says, This Moses whom they rejected, saying, Who made you a ruler and a judge, is the one God sent to be a ruler and to deliver by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness forty years. He says, This is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren, him you shall hear. Speaking of Jesus Christ.

This is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, whom our fathers would not obey but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt.

In their hearts they turned back. Israel may have physically come out of Egypt, brethren, but they never truly left it behind. And in their hearts they turned back. God brought them out of slavery, delivered them by great power. They went out with a high hand, but they were never truly free because they never truly let go of Egypt. They were never truly unleavened.

Question for us as we walk through these holy days is, are we? Are we truly unleavened? Have we left these things behind? Through these days of unleavened bread, we're called to walk in newness of life apart from sin, apart from spiritual Egypt. And in that process we draw close to God, but not apart from faith and not including fear. We walk in newness of life, putting our faith in him, putting our faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and understanding that if we truly do our part, there will be none feeble among our ranks because God has set the kingdom of God before us. And it is the spiritual promised land that we can achieve.

Jesus comforted his disciples in Luke chapter 12 and verse 32 when he said, Do not fear, little flock. We are a little flock. He said, Do not fear, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Brethren, that's God's promise. That's God's guarantee. He has said it before us, it will be so. He's given us the strength to walk out of spiritual Egypt. He's provided the sacrifice. He's given us the spirit. He's opened the way before us.

And he says, Go up and possess the land. But remember, there's going to be obstacles. Along the way, there's going to be tests. God needs to know our heart. He needs to know our desire to truly possess it. Brethren, never show fear. Never draw back. Never yearn for Egypt. It takes faith to walk out of Egypt. And it takes confidence in God continually to see the promised land. And if we walk through these days on leavened bread, putting out sin, and taking on Jesus Christ, indeed, we will have what we need to make it.