103: Jason Robinson - A Wilderness Attitude

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   Welcome to the Good Christadelphian Talks podcast. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. Thank you so much for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help each one of us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post at the start of each week for you to listen with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to hear. And now let's hear more about this week's talk. This week's class is by Brother Jason Robinson from Thousand Oaks, California, and it's called A Wilderness Attitude. Jason gave this class on one of the online Bible schools this summer and it was suggested by a couple people to me. I really enjoyed this class and I'm very excited to share it this week. I think beside it being just a very interesting study on the attitude of the people as they wandered in the wilderness, and he takes a lot of time in just contrasting their failures in ways that we can fail also in our own journeys. That's the idea of having a good wilderness attitude. So besides this, again, it's a great class. I think why I enjoyed this is I really think Jason captured, I think, what is turning out to be like how to be the most effective Zoom presenter, because it's very hard if anyone else has had a chance to present on Zoom. It's difficult. It's not like a normal class that we're giving in our halls. I think it is much more of a, I think, the better classes come out when you have the attitude of kind of being like a radio show.

2. 1:44

   And Jason really does that. He has a really great animation you'll hear through this class and uses a lot of kind of humor and I think makes this class very accessible and this study very easy to follow along with because he does such a good job vocally. There are slides to this class, which we obviously aren't including for the podcast. And also he has Nehemiah 9 read before.

3. 2:14

   I've cut that and some of the intro here to get into the class. So we're getting right into Jason Robinson from an online Bible school this summer, Wilderness Attitude. So our topic for today is a wilderness attitude. Now I can remember in my early years of Sunday school, as a family doing readings growing up and even studies as a young brother, being astounded at the blatant ignorance, as it were, of the children of Israel. God's miracles were obvious. They were prominent. How blind would you have to be to miss something right in front of you time and time again?

4. 2:56

   How ungrateful would you have to be to have such a selfish attitude to complain? Why was there doubt? Why was there fear? Why was there a distrust in Yahweh? Well, I got a little older. Life taught me a few lessons. My readings became perhaps a little more introspective. And I realized that people will be people. The flesh will be flesh. We haven't changed much since the wanderings in the wilderness. And this has become so much more obvious, I think, in just the past few months. God is clearly, undeniably at work in our world. This is evident now, as it was for those in the wilderness. But if you observe those in the world, and even in our community, there are doubts. There are fears. There's distrust.

5. 3:52

   Our hope of entering into the land promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob hangs by a thread. Another question seems to be, well, how obvious does God's hand have to be for us to take notice, for us to remove these doubts and fears? Is this wilderness attitude something that is in our ranks more than we possibly imagined before? The stories about fear, doubt, only days, not weeks, after miraculous signs from Yahweh, will those all of a sudden seem feasible in our lives. So, brothers and sisters, let's put on our sandals. Let's follow the children of Israel through the wilderness wanderings. And let's discover the attitude that they unfortunately developed, so that we may, by God's good grace, learn how to avoid that attitude in our own lives.

6. 4:49

   So, we've departed Egypt. We've left our sins drowned in water, washed up dead on the shores of our baptism. Not a single one remained, not much as one of them. But if the wilderness wanderings are any sign, now comes the struggle, seeing signs from our Father and still falling into this wilderness attitude on our way to the promised land. So, let's walk the sandy steps of the children of Israel.

7. 5:21

   Let's glean from their murmurings. Let's observe their mistakes and ensure that we don't fall into this same attitude. So, our outline for today is three main topics. We're going to be looking at our literal journey to Sinai. Why Sinai? Why is this such a hot word when talking about the judgment seat? We're going to look at Israel's wilderness attitude. A big chunk of our time is obviously going to spent here in section number two. And we're going to see, is our attitude actually more similar to Israel's than we possibly could have thought before? And I love this chapter in Nehemiah. I think it does a fantastic job of really showing these events that were miraculous, that were orchestrated by Yahweh.

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   And as we go through this, try to look inwardly as we study together this Ecclesia in the wilderness. And finally, we'll wrap up our section this evening with our journey and our attitude. We stand at the door of the kingdom. It's right on the other side. We're there, brothers and sisters. How does our attitude compare with those who are wandering in the wilderness? I'm very excited for the study.

9. 6:30

   Um, and so if you would turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus 14, we're going to be taking a majority of our, of our beginning section in Exodus chapter 14. And as you're turning there, why should we be studying Sinai? Well, our brother Khan actually mentioned this briefly on his, in his class on Monday, he mentioned that Sinai will be the location, um, of the judgment seat. Now, brothers and sisters, this judgment seat, where, where we will all meet together, guaranteed each and every one of us will be there together, is going to be the biggest event of our mortal lives, hands down. Every life decision we've ever made will matter when we stand at Mount Sinai. So why study it? Well, brothers and sisters, we are all going to meet at the foot of Mount Sinai very shortly. Picture this, just, just picture it. Such an exciting thought standing together with brothers and sisters from the past 6,000 years. Mount Sinai. That's where we're going to be meeting. We were going to live at the foot of Mount Sinai shortly. I don't know where, I don't know what we'll live in. I don't know who will be my neighbor, but we'll live there.

10. 7:45

    We're going to be judged at the foot of Mount Sinai very shortly. The biggest event possibly in this planet's history, when multitudes of saints are given immortality and are perfected servants of their heavenly father. This is why we study Mount Sinai. We're going to be sent forth from the foot of Mount Sinai. Christ is going to give assignments and will be sent forth from here. And it's going to be the first step in Yahweh's ultimate plan to fill the earth with his glory, as is quoted oh so often in our community from Numbers 14, verse 21, a verse, which we will see pop up over and over in this study.

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    It's going to spring forth from Sinai. And this is why it is such an exciting study. But why? How do we know it's Sinai? Well, it's strongly implied in scripture. It's never given word for word, but it's a strong implication that the judgment seat will be at Sinai. And our brother Grant Jolly actually brought this up in his point when he referenced Habakkuk 3, and he spoke of saints.

12. 8:56

    They're coming from Teman, and this is the same region of Sinai. And the first verse, we're going to go through these fairly quickly, is Deuteronomy 33. It's up on the screen for you. It says, and this is the blessing where with Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death.

13. 9:12

    And he said, Yahweh came from Sinai and rose up upon Mount Seir unto them. He shined forth from Mount Paran, and he came with 10,000 of saints. It goes on and says, yea, he loved all the people. All his saints are in thine hand, and they sat down at thy feet. Everyone shall receive thy words.

14. 9:29

    This is a clearly millennial reference. It talks about multitudinous Christ, it talks about saints, and it talks about them departing from Sinai. Now, in order to depart from Sinai, you have to be there. Another great verse is Psalm 68. It says, the chariots of God are 20,000, even thousands of angels. The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. The Jerusalem and the Companion Bible do a little more justice to this verse, and they say, the Lord among them hath come from Sinai unto his sanctuary.

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    Again, messianic and a millennial psalm, same exact context as Deuteronomy 33. And the final verse that we can use is Song of Solomon 3, verse 6. It says, Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness, like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant? Multitudinous Christ from the wilderness into Jerusalem.

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    These are the verses that we usually show to prove that our journey is from Sinai at the judgment seat. And so if we are traveling in this day and age to Sinai, brothers and sisters, we can be assured that this wilderness attitude is dangerous for us. So that's the Sinai. Now I want to also take a look at the Exodus, because this is what springs forth this attitude. This was an exit out of the land of Egypt, and the name of the book is Exodus, and it's perfect for what the theme is. But before we really get into the attitude, let's look at how the scriptures introduces to us this book of Exodus. It introduces it to us by concluding Genesis, by saying, so Joseph died being 110 years old, and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. And brothers and sisters, that is how the spectacular first book of the Bible, the foundation book for the rest of its pages ends.

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    A coffin in Egypt. That's Genesis. That's the conclusion. And that's what Egypt brings, brothers and sisters. It brings death. Joseph, the man without a sin recorded of him, ends in a coffin in Egypt.

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    So to save his people from this death, Yahweh has to separate them from Egypt. And there are two key verses that we can look at. One of them is in Exodus, and you don't have this marked as the key verse of Exodus. I definitely suggest doing so. Exodus 3, verse 8. I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. The other is found in Acts, and it's James quoting the words of Peter. He says, God at the first to visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. What is the theme of the Exodus? Of course, it's to deliver them out. It's to take them out. So as we expound on these verses, we're going to look at this general theme. This is going to be the backbone to this wilderness attitude. The goal of God is to take them out. And this is this pattern. And you'll find this breakdown that we're about to explain in many Christadelphian works. This is not new, but this is the breakdown of Exodus. In Exodus 4, we're told that Yahweh visited the children of Israel. In Exodus 12, he puts an invitation out, and Moses brings this invitation to the elders. And then he calls on separation. Remember this day, Exodus 13 says, in which he came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage. He then calls for sanctification. And he, as referenced in Exodus 19, verse 5, he says, ye shall be a peculiar treasure

19. 13:51

    unto me above all people. And finally, he calls for dedication. And this is when he says, you shall have no other gods before me. This is it, he says. And so we look at this theme, and this is really the pattern that is set forward in Exodus, and it's brought up many other times in scripture.

20. 14:10

    Now, in our own lives, and in the children of Israel at this time of the wilderness, they have been visited. You can check that box off. It's done. They were also invited, so have we. We have been invited by our Heavenly Father to journey to our promised land. Now, sanctification and dedication are still to come. For us in our lives, we have not been dedicated fully to our Heavenly Father. We still, for some reason, find other gods. And so the box we're left with is, this box of separation. This is where we are at in our lives, brothers and sisters, and this is where the children of Israel find themselves throughout this wilderness attitude. So this is what we're going to be taking a look at. This is our goal. Let's break open and explore this idea of separation.

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    This idea of separation, by the way, was a definite theme from my brother Matt Jackson's class on Tuesday. If you haven't heard it, I definitely recommend it. He showed us that separation really is something that's failing in our community. And so what God did is he led them out. And we're told this in Exodus 12, 13, and 14. He brought them out of Egypt, and he was bringing them to a promised land. This was his goal. I want to separate you. Egypt brings nothing but death. So I will take you out. Now, it relied on them separating. When this did not happen, brothers and sisters, God told them that they were going to wander. And they would wander for 40 years in the wilderness.

22. 15:56

    This was the promise that God gave them, and they did, until a new generation was able to enter into the land. So Israel's attitude in refusing to separate was what kept them out of the promised land. We have recorded for us in an extremely familiar location, the very words that God uses when he tells Moses that the people will be held back from entering into the land. It's in Numbers 14. And again, I have these verses up on the screen. This is Moses, and he's talking to God, and he says, Yahweh is long-suffering and of great mercy. He's going through his character. He forgives iniquity and transgression, and by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. And he says, pardon, I beseech thee the iniquity of this people, according unto the greatness of thy mercy, as thou hast forgiven this people from Egypt until now. This is where Moses is pleased to Yahweh. Forgive them. The meek man Moses always had the hope of Israel. The very next verse goes into Yahweh's response.

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    It says, I have pardoned according to thy word. He listens to Moses, and he says, but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Yahweh. Because all those men which have seen my glory and my miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice, surely they shall not see the land which I swear unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it. And this is the context to one of our favorite verses in Numbers 14, 21.

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    It's the murmurings, the grumblings, and the complainings of the children of Israel, the fruit of their wilderness attitude. Now there are certainly, or more than likely, more or different times of disobedience by the children of Israel recorded for us. But it's interesting to note that these ten times, that there actually are ten unique instances when the people certainly tested God in just over a year of wandering. For our study this evening, we're going to be taking a look at half of them. We have the fear of Pharaoh's army, bitter water at Marah, hunger in the desert of sin, testing God's rule about manna and storing it, testing God's rule about manna and collecting on the Sabbath, thirst at Rephidim, golden calf at Sinai, complaints at Tibera, Kibberath at Tava, they longed for meat, and the rebellion at the promised land.

25. 18:56

    And so for our study this evening, we're going to be taking a look at just five. We're going to see how murmurings, fear, and doubt plagued this ecclesia in the wilderness all too easily. We're going to look at the fear of Pharaoh's army at the shores of the Red Sea. We're going to look at hunger in the desert of sin, thirst at Rephidim, the golden calf at Sinai, and we're going to conclude right back here in Numbers 14 by looking at the rebellion at the edge of the promised land. So let's go on a journey together, brothers and sisters, and let's follow the children of Israel and their ecclesia in the wilderness. For the sake of the class today, we're going to be using one of the many possible exodus routes taken by the children of Israel to simply demonstrate and to help us gain a little bit of insight and realism into their journey.

26. 19:51

    So the children of Israel, they journey from Egypt and they come to the shores of the Red Sea. And on their journey, they pass many Egyptian guard posts who have nowhere near enough soldiers or guards to conquer the two million Israelites. Instead, they send word back to Pharaoh and they say, what are you doing? You're letting all these Israelites go.

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    Chase them. It says they're entangled in the wilderness. And certainly they were, brothers and sisters. This particular route has them absolutely tangled and lost in the wilderness. And they come out at the Red Sea. And they stand behind them is the Egyptian army and cliffs. In front of them is a vast Red Sea. And so, brothers and sisters, we have our first complaint in Exodus chapter 14. They complain at the Red Sea. And it's only just over two weeks after they've left Egypt. Now, while two weeks is really a short time period, it really goes to show how much a heart can change in just two weeks, depending on life circumstances. For us in Southern California, two weeks ago, restaurants were reopening. My wife went and got a haircut. Life was different. Now, two weeks later, everything is going back. Everything's shutting down again. Change is the new normal. And their complaint is, did you take us out of Egypt to die because Egypt had no more graves? And their second complaint is, it would be better to serve the Egyptians than die here in this wilderness. And there's the complaint just two weeks after they've left Egypt. And interestingly enough, they direct their complaints, none other than Moses in verse 11.

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    They bring their complaints. They skip over complaining to Yahweh, and they complain directly to Moses. Now, the response that Yahweh gives through Moses is fascinating. He says, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will show you today. For the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall see them again no more.

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    Yahweh shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. His response is, just watch and just wait. Salvation is coming. Now, we get an amazing bystander insight into the true hearts of the children of Israel from a couple Psalms. You don't have to turn these up, but it's definitely worth jotting them down in your margin next to these events in Exodus. Psalm 106, starting at verse 7, gives us this insight. What's going on in the heart and in their attitude?

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    Our fathers understood not thy wonders, Psalm 106 says in Egypt. They remember not the multitude of their mercies, but provoked him at the Red Sea. Provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea. Nevertheless, he saved them for his namesake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up. So he led them through the depths as through the wilderness, and he saved them from the hand of him that hated them. It goes on and ends saying, then believed they his words. They sang his praise only for a couple days before they fell back into complaint again. But this, this is the insight that we have. They remembered not the multitude of his mercies. They provoked him at the Red Sea. Brothers and sisters, this is the wilderness attitude.

31. 23:46

    It's dangerous, and it's real. They crossed the Red Sea. They watched the Egyptians wash up on the shore, all of them dead. And they left, and they sang a song of praise. And they only made it three days after crossing to Mara, where they complained again, because the water was bitter. And then they journeyed to our next stop together at the Desert of Sin, a name which I think is so ironic. And in this Desert of Sin, they hungered.

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    And they complained to Moses about their hunger. Now, this was in the Desert of Sin, past Mara, and it had been just about a month since they left Egypt. Now, their complaint is, we wish we died in Egypt when we sat by the flesh pots and had bread. And look what they tell Moses. You brought us into this wilderness to kill us all with hunger, they say. And again, they direct their complaints at Moses and also at Aaron.

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    And the response of Yahweh is, of course, mercy. Behold, he says, I will rain bread from you, from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day. But then he says that I may test them, says the New King James, whether they will walk in my law or not.

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    This is why he would send them manna as a test. God was bringing manna to test the people, but we just read in Numbers 14 that they actually used this manna on two different occasions to tempt or to test God. First, they gathered too much. Secondly, they gathered on the Sabbath. They failed outrightly this test that God gave them with the manna.

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    So even in this mighty act of mercy, even in obvious sign, the newness wore off. The novelty faded. Flesh is only flesh after all.

36. 26:12

    When we sat by the flesh pots and had bread in Egypt, they couldn't separate themselves from Egypt. And the Psalms in Psalm 78 say it again perfectly. Therefore Yahweh heard this and was wrath. So a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel. Because they believed not in God, they trusted not in his salvation, though he had commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven and had rained down manna upon them to eat.

37. 26:49

    And had given them of the corn of heaven. Man did eat angels' food, it says. He sent the meat to the full. Again, this insider insight we get from the Psalms. Well, then we travel together to Rephidim, where we are thirsty the second time. We travel from the desert of sin, we make it to Rephidim.

38. 27:12

    And Rephidim is just about as dry as the desert of sin. And this is the second time we complain about water and it will not be the last. I have to admit, it's actually funny at first to think of the children of Israel in these same exact circumstances, complaining again and again, but I think I do the exact same thing.

39. 27:34

    God's hand provides far more than I need, but I can murmur all day about things I don't have. And brothers and sisters, this was the children of Israel. This is unfortunately the wilderness attitude. So we're in Rephidim and we're in Horeb just about 40 days after our exit from Egypt. The complaint, why did you take us out of Egypt?

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    Did you want to kill us, our children and our animals with thirst? And guess who they complained to? Of course, it's Moses. They can't bring their complaints to God for some reason. And the response, behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb. Thou shalt smite the rock and there shall come water out of it that the people may drink.

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    Yahweh's mercy extended again to his people. You wouldn't guess. There's of course a Psalm. Again, Psalm 78. He claved the rocks in the wilderness. He gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock. He caused water to run down like rivers. And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness.

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    It's a dangerous attitude, brothers and sisters, but it's all too easy to have. So then we travel to Exodus 32. Mount Sinai. Brothers and sisters, the place where we will all meet one day very soon, the plain at Mount Sinai. And here is where they're going to construct this golden calf in the desert plain at the foot of the Mount of God.

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    It's only been about three and a half months. And well, we are certainly aware of how much our lives can change in only three and a half months. Have our beliefs, our practices, our motives changed as well? And their complaint is, Moses left us, Aaron. So make us gods. These gods brought us out of Egypt, says Aaron.

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    There also bring us back, the people say in verse one. Now they direct this complaint not to Moses because of course Moses is not there, but they direct it to Aaron. But the complaints are entirely about Moses. They're losing sight of who Moses was. Moses is just a leader to them, almost like a bad guy who brought them out of Egypt.

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    And God's response as he tells Moses in the mountains, they have turned aside quickly out of the way. Three and a half months certainly is a quick time. This is a key word for the wilderness attitude. Once an attitude starts, it catches on quickly. Unfortunately, very unfortunately, I personally know of three individuals in our little area who have walked away from the truth so far this year.

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    God is trying his people. These times are trying. These times are testing those who remain. Yahweh did the same thing with the children of Israel. He told Moses that that's what the plan was. I will do these things to try them. He will bring many signs and many miracles to the sight of the people to see whether they would walk in his ways or not.

47. 31:36

    In the case of Israel, the wilderness molded their attitude and it became a prison that kept them out of the land. And God says this happens quickly. I'll read for you a verse from Acts. Acts 7, the words of Stephen. He says in verse 39, to whom our fathers would not obey but thrust him from them and in their hearts turned back again to Egypt saying unto Aaron, make us gods to go before us for as for this Moses which brought us out of the land of Egypt we want not what has become of him.

48. 32:21

    It was in their hearts that these people had already turned back to Egypt. He also says to Moses, his second response is let me destroy these people and I'll start over with you Moses. I'll start over a new nation descending from you and Moses intercedes for the people and he begs God not to do that.

49. 32:40

    God says I will blot them out of my book but go lead them to the land I will visit their sin upon them and plague them. And Moses pleads with God and says don't destroy them. What would the Egyptians think? You brought them out of the wilderness just to kill them there and he ends up interceding for the people again a demonstration of his meekness.

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    Psalm 106 again references this. It says they made a calf in Horeb they worship the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They forget God their Savior which had done great things in Egypt wondrous works in the land of Ham and terrible things by the Red Sea.

51. 33:22

    Therefore he said that he would destroy them had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach. and so brothers and sisters we come then to our final stop on our journey to the promised land following the footsteps of Israel and it's at the border it's at the edge it's right as we enter and they've traveled from the plain at Sinai and they come then to Kadesh and while at Kadesh they send in spies twelve men one from each tribe into the promised land think of the excitement you're at the edge of the promised land you're there you're so close to the land we're in the exact same circumstances aren't we?

52. 34:10

    the exact same circumstances ten of them return with rumors of fear and doubt and distrust in God and they greatly greatly out voice Joshua and Caleb ten voices against two and so we're in Kadesh brothers and sisters just over a year after leaving Egypt the complaint it's familiar we wish we died in Egypt or even in the wilderness rather than die in this land and then they say we should choose a leader who can bring us back into Egypt and they direct their complaint of course to Moses and Aaron it says in verse 2 and Joshua and Caleb are outraged at this they know that God will work with them that God can lead them that it wouldn't be their own strength that would defeat the land but it would be God's and so what does Joshua and Caleb say they say if the Lord delight in us then he will bring us into the land and he'll give it to us a land which floweth with milk and honey only he says rebel not against the Lord neither fear you the people of the land and he says something funny he says for they are bread for us their defenses depart from them and the Lord is with us fear them not a different translation and some help from your margin clears it up and I love the way they put it he says only rebel not to you against the Lord neither fear you the people of the land for they are like our manna and the shadow is departed what happened brothers and sisters when the manna fell in the wilderness and the shadows

53. 36:02

    left the face of the earth when we're told in Exodus 16 21 that when the sun waxed hot it melted and this is Joshua's parable to the people he's saying these people will be like the manna when the sun comes up they'll seemingly disappear just as miraculously as our manna does Joshua and Caleb had such faith but it was far out voiced by those of the ten and this chapter brothers and sisters will continue and we'll see that it was this action it was the listening to those people and the nine other mistakes in the wilderness sometime in the short span of a year that convinced Yahweh they did not deserve places in the promised land they couldn't separate themselves from Egypt Psalm 106 continues of course it says yea they despised the pleasant land they believed not his word but murmured in their tents hearkened not to the voice of Yahweh therefore he lifted up his hand against them to overthrow them in the wilderness to overthrow their seed also among the nations and to scatter them in the lands they despised the land brothers and sisters they didn't believe his word and they murmured in none other but their tents we're all stuck in our tents brothers and sisters what will the record the written record of us say did we murmur in our houses at the edge of the promised land we were so close brothers and sisters can we get ourselves to separate the children of Israel made themselves a prison with their attitude but Psalm 78 continues but he being full of compassion forgave their iniquity destroyed them not yea

54. 38:02

    many a time turned he his anger away and did not stir up all his wrath for he remembered that they were but flesh God remembered they're just flesh a wind that passes away and cometh not again how oft did they provoke him in the wilderness and grieve him in the desert the Psalm says but it doesn't stop there it goes on yea they turned back and tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel they turned back brothers and sisters God tried his hardest to separate them to put a distance between them and all they wanted to do was turn back there are an infinite amount of ways that we can put limits on our God the children of Israel seemingly invented new ones daily it's a dangerous yet scarily familiar situation the once mighty acts of God the instant courage and faith that smacks you into obedience quickly become normal numb and unremarkable Yahweh's mercy is certainly abounding but when we turn our hearts to Egypt when we fail to separate when we hold on to that wilderness attitude we test our God and it's with this wilderness attitude brothers and sisters that the ecclesia in the wilderness watched daily as more and more of their brothers and sisters collapsed dead in the wilderness psalm 106 also goes on and says save us oh Yahweh our God and gather us from among the heathen to give thanks unto thy holy name and to triumph in thy praise blessed be Yahweh God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting and let all the people say amen praise ye Yahweh what does the first line say gather

55. 40:21

    us from among the heathen this should be our prayer to God separate us God we can go to Yahweh with our complaints with our needs Yahweh wants to assist us in our separation in order to dedicate and sanctify us and so as we now turn to how does this attitude affect us in conclusion we will look at three main points the wilderness attitude is quick quiet and contagious it's easy to miss Yahweh's hand in all of these things and it's mutualistic it's symbiotic as it were this attitude and these are all verses that we've looked at already to murmur means to be obstinate to growl and to grumble in numbers 14 we learned that it was really 10 people in the land of Israel it only took 10 people without cell phones without social media without news cameras to discourage dissuade and disrupt the entire nation who went totally on the stuff that they heard can we believe this we absolutely can believe this it only takes one or two people brothers and sisters doesn't it to start murmuring before an entire ecclesia or even an ecclesial community can be disrupted imagine what those 10 could have done if they had sided with Joshua and Caleb they would have marched right into the land and captured it entirely with God's mercy and God's help if they had banded together but God says because they murmured they should not come in from land they turned aside quickly brothers and sisters murmuring is fast but ecclesial unrest in their days and hours walking away from the truth spreading doubt to our own brothers and sisters doesn't happen

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    behind a podium it happens quietly small conversations which erupt into a wilderness attitude it can happen even in tents and in our houses and this is the danger of the wilderness attitude in our day and age well we also see how they showed all these things as as coming almost from man and not from God they completely missed going to God in exodus 14 look what they tell Moses we told you in Egypt to leave us alone so we could serve Egypt exodus 16 you brought us into the wilderness to kill us exodus 17 did you bring us out of Egypt to kill our families they always direct their complaint to Moses God wants us to go to him for these things there were so many impossible to miss signs but unfortunately brothers and sisters they all almost all became attributed to Moses the good and the bad they saw him as some sort of magician the land did you bring us out of Egypt to kill our families it was God that brought them out of Egypt exodus 32 the golden calf look at what name they've developed for Moses Moses the man that brought us out of Egypt is what they call him how do we know that well Acts says the same exact thing this is what Stephen says saying unto Aaron make us gods to go before us for as for this Moses which brought us out of the land of Egypt this is the name Moses the man that brought us out of Egypt let's make gods that can bring us back but they couldn't make up their minds because Aaron

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    retrieves the gods the idols from bringing them out and then finally since Moses won't let's make ourselves a captain who can lead us back into Egypt let's undo the separation that God has built and in our reading before the talk we read in Nehemiah 9 we found out they did elect a leader they did elect a captain to bring them back into Egypt and so Moses here completely takes takes all the blame and all the credit from the people when it should have gone entirely to God and Moses didn't want it Moses the meekest man wanted them to go to their father and it's mutualistic brothers and sisters this attitude is because the complaint that we heard over and over again is it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians well guess what brothers and sisters the Egyptians thought the exact same thing why have we done this the Egyptians say next is 14 that we've let Israel go from serving us and the Egyptians pursued after them the Egyptians wanted the Israelites back and the Israelites wanted Egypt back God will not be as blunt with us it's very easy for us to return to Egypt whenever we want some of us may pop in and out of Egypt daily weekly God kept the Israelites in the wilderness for just over a year but their hearts were truly saturated with the things of Egypt and they resisted separation they wanted death in the wilderness and so that's what God gave them and as we come close to the conclusion brothers and sisters we see one individual who understood it all here is the

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    five complaints that we've looked at this evening together the Red Sea the Desert of Sin Rephidim the Plain of Sinai and the edge of the land and we see that there's one word common in all of them of course it's Egypt how they longed to be back in Egypt their hearts belonged to their brothers and sisters just like Lot's wife they couldn't tear their hearts from it they wanted to undo God's separation God brought them out they wanted back in their goal get back to Egypt but brothers and sisters there was one man who understood the entire plan of Exodus he got it brothers and sisters and we've looked at his words already Genesis 50 it was Joseph look at the words Joseph says he said to his brethren I die and God will visit you and bring you out of this land what an introduction to the book of Exodus he will bring you out of this land unto the land which he swore to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob Joseph got it didn't he brothers and sisters he knew what would happen generations before the Egyptians let them leave he stated it in his final words the same words used in Exodus 3 the same words used in Acts 15 he knew it would require separation and so his attitude was one of courage trust and faith but we look at the complaints together brothers and sisters their first complaint at the Red Sea that we looked at Egypt had no more graves here's a person brothers and sisters who was placed in a grave in Egypt and all he wanted to do

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    was get out of there the same request made by his father Jacob in Genesis 47 he was in a grave in Egypt he says I don't want to stay there our second complaint we looked at we wish we died in Egypt Joseph did die in Egypt and all he wished brothers and sisters was that he would die in the land so much so that he wanted his bones brought there so at the resurrection he knew there would be a resurrection so at the resurrection when he sees his father his mother and his brethren he can greet them again Israel wish they died in the land of Egypt the complaint of Ephodim why did you take us out of Egypt Joseph knew that the gods so Joseph knew that one day brothers and sisters his entire family would leave as a whole as a unit from that land Israel they made their goal to get back there they spread anger they spread fear they intended to stone their leaders more than once they elected captains all in the hopes of returning back to Egypt Joseph said God's going to bring you out in the plain of Sinai they said these gods brought us out of Egypt Joseph knew the god that brought them out he knew the gods of Egypt were useless and he says God Elohim will visit you he will be the one Israel wanted to get back so badly they recreated Egypt's gods in hopes of returning into Egypt under their control and finally at the edge of the promised land they said we will make ourselves a captain that can lead us

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    back Joseph foresaw that under God's hand they would get out of Egypt not under any one man's hand Israel in their desperation to get back into Egypt forsook God and actually elected themselves a leader and these bones of Joseph brothers and sisters we find in Exodus 13 left Egypt we find in Joshua 24 they were buried in Shechem these bones a testament to a land promised a testament to the sureness of a resurrection were carried by the Israelites they sat at the camp by the Red Sea they sat in the camp during the idolatrous dancing at the golden calf they sat in the camp when Israel elected a leader to bring them back to Egypt brothers and sisters so too the death of our savior we have in our camp it's with us we remember this weekly and yet how easy brothers and sisters it is to fall into the same exact wilderness attitude a wilderness attitude refuses to separate their hearts from Egypt Acts says that to whom our fathers would not obey but thrust him from them and in their hearts turned back again to Egypt their heart our heart is invisible to our brothers and sisters it's invisible to our family and friends we can occasionally expose our heart interactions but we're skilled deceivers brothers and sisters where is our heart we journey together towards Sinai hand in hand brother and sister ecclesias together in the hope of a resurrection and a gift of immortality and while ten people may cry one thing two people may stand up and cry another be sure brothers and sisters we hearken to the words of the

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    faithful we are standing on the edge of the promised land the most important decision of our lives are made now when fear and doubt are spread by murmurings when old ways of ease are craved when idols of our own hands find their way into our lives when leaders rather than Yahweh are credited ask yourself am I on the Lord's side and we'll conclude with a few verses out of Hebrews and Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward but Christ is a son over his own house whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end therefore as the Holy Spirit says today if you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion in the day of trial in the wilderness when your father tested me tried me and saw my works 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 so I swore in my wrath they shall not enter into my rest beware brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God but exhort one another daily while it is called today lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin for we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence said fast to the end while it is said today if you will hear his voice do not harden your

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    hearts is in the rebellion for who having heard rebelled indeed was it not all who came out of Egypt led by Moses now with whom was he angry for 40 years was not with those who sinned whose corpses fell in the wilderness it says in chapter four let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience brothers and sisters may we continue in faith and hope of our Lord's soon return I greatly look forward to a time in Sinai much like this image shows when our wanderings will be over we'll meet each and every one of us in real life with our true Messiah from Egypt's bondage now and forever free and lo before him we will gladly bend the knee to dwell in Abram's land forevermore so let us each the truth possessing bear its fruits and run the race may our Lord refresh us traveling through thank you for listening to the good Christi Delphine talks podcast please subscribe for new episodes and leave a review on Apple podcasts or whichever service you are listening from to help people find the show when they search for it if you enjoyed this talk share it on social media so other people can find it too for show notes and links to the talk that you just listened to visit our show page at anchor.fm slash gct we want to encourage everyone to share their thoughts from the talk this week on Facebook or Instagram where we are at good Christi Delphine talks or on Twitter where we are at gct underscore podcast if you know of

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    a great talk we want to know about it too send a suggestion to good Christi Delphine talks at gmail.com or message us on any of our social media platforms thank you for listening God bless and talk to you next week and be you