Martyn Lawrence – Paradox of Liberty – Class 2 – From the House of Bondage

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Our first speaker this morning
is Brother Martin Lawrence from

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the Cleckheaton, UK Ecclesia.
The theme for Brother Martin’s

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classes this week is Paradox of
Liberty.

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Today’s class is entitled From
the House of Bondage, Brother

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Martin.
So yesterday morning we

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channelled our inner founding
Fathers and we were trying to

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begin a journey about
understanding what it means to

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be free in a post Christian,
almost anti Christian world.

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And, and we began our journey
with well, a series of series of

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questions, really trying to
understand what it looks like

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fighting and and challenging our
discipleship everyday that we

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live.
And we worked, if you remember,

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through some of the background
in the Garden of Eden, we moved

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into the incidents around Noah
and the way in which the, the,

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the Noah and well, Noah and the
flood.

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The story points us both
backwards towards the creation

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account and also forwards to the
release from bondage, which

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comes later on.
And we finished up with the

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Tower of Babel.
And again, just some of the

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threads that began to teach us
about what would come.

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These, if you remember, if you
can make it out on the screen,

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were our, our, as our agenda for
the week.

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We’re, we’re in session 2 and
we’re thinking pretty obviously,

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as you’ll guess in the title,
about liberty coming from Egypt

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today.
These were the principles that

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we tried to tried to capture
yesterday.

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This list is going to grow over
the course of the week, by the

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way.
So if you’re writing them down,

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by all means use ink rather than
pencil.

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But they are going to get bigger
as we go on down through the

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through the week.
God’s freedom is wide, but it

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has guardrails for our benefit.
And and we don’t like God’s

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freedom and we don’t like his
guardrails and all of.

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Those other challenges as we saw
coming out through the Garden of

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Eden.
Genesis chapters 4 through to 11

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are interesting because they’re
really focused towards the east.

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It’s all about coming out of the
garden and going away from what

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God had promised.
And it’s only where we finished

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right at the end of yesterday’s
session with the introduction of

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Abraham that we begin to move in
the opposite direction.

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When Abraham comes from of the
Coles and begins to travel

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westwards towards the land and
all of the ways in which we

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described yesterday, that he
gives up things that he owns,

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whether he gives up his past.
Gives up his.

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Present or gives up his future
in the promise of his son in

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order to show his dedication to
his heavenly Father.

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And in this session, we’re going
to see first a series of, and

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this is a phrase I need to have
with caffeine inside a series of

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mini exoduses, which will
anticipate the great Exodus

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where God leads his people to be
servants to himself.

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So if you want to put in one in
a particular way, brothers and

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sisters, Genesis is going to
prepare us for the book of

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Exodus.
And you know this even if you

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don’t think you know this,
because you know the incidents

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that we’re going to talk about.
So Abraham, as we’ll see in

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detail in just a moment, is
going to go down into Egypt

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where there will be plagues and
he’ll come out.

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And then he’ll go down into
Egypt again in Genesis chapter

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20, slightly different, with the
same kind of patent.

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And then Jacob will have a mini
exodus.

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Because if you remember, he
comes out fleeing from his

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brother and the sunsets on his
old life when he has his dream

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of the ladder that reaches up to
heaven.

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And he’ll go and work 14 years
for, well, originally for a wife

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and then for a second as well.
And then we’ll come back.

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And at the moment when he
wrestles with the Angel to the

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break of day, the very point
that the sun rises is the point

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where he gets his.
New name.

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It’s almost as if the night has
fallen and then the sun has come

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up again.
So he himself has had a little

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exodus and he comes back to his
people after that, and then

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Joseph.
Will go, would you believe it,

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down into Egypt as a forerunner
of the people.

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And his family will follow him
voluntarily because, you know,

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we like going places where we’re
not free.

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So they go down to because of
the famine and the whole family

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go down there.
And there, of course, they

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multiply.
And just in case we haven’t got

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the picture by now, when we open
up the beginning of the book of

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Exodus, Moses will have a mini
Exodus.

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In fact, Moses will have two
mini exoduses, which is not a

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phrase I can say particularly
easily just to make sure we

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don’t miss the point that God is
telling us something about

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freedom.
That everything that we

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understand the great exodus from
Egypt to be is not just one

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random, one off incident as
great and spectacular as it was,

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but that it’s something that has
been already foretold in the

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lives of the Fathers.
As well, let me bring you to

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Genesis chapter 12 and to look
at the first Abraham incident

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and look at the Moses incident
as well before we get into the

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Exodus itself.
So Genesis chapter 12.

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Because really, all I’ve just
said for the last two minutes is

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a quick overview and it’s, and
it’s helpful to have a look at

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some of the detail.
Genesis chapter 12, you know it

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incredibly well.
Abraham’s turned his back on his

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family.
He’s come into the land and in

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verse 9 of chapter 12, he’s
going to go on southwards and

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there’s a famine in the land.
Would you believe it?

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It has a habit.
It has a habit of repeating and

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Abraham went down into Egypt to
sojourn there for the famine was

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grievous in the land.
And then there is this incident

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with Pharaoh, isn’t there?
Where where Pharaoh takes a

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liking to Sarai and all sorts of
complications happen.

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And in verse 16, Pharaoh
petitions Abraham or petitions

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Abraham for his wife and gives
him sheep and oxen and donkeys

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and servants and everything
else.

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But as a result of this, of
Abraham going into Egypt and,

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and all the complications with,
with his wife, there are plagues

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on Pharaoh and on his house
because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife

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and Pharaoh.
I, I can’t think of a better

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word, throws Abraham out of
Egypt.

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Look at all the trouble that
you’ve caused me.

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He says, what is this that
you’ve done to me?

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Why did you not tell me she was
your wife?

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If you why did you say she’s my
sister?

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I might have taken her to be my
wife.

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And he sent Abraham away and his
wife and all that he had.

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Just think about the way in
which this pattern begins to

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work.
Brothers and sisters down into

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Egypt because of a famine.
Protected.

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Can you see that you can’t see?
I’m going to tell you what it

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says.
Need to make sure I get these

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slides darker for tomorrow.
Sorry about that.

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He’s protected and he’s
delivered from plagues and he

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comes out right at the end of
verse 20 with everything that he

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has.
It’s an anticipation of the

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Exodus.
It’s going to, it’s telling us

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that what’s happening to Abraham
is exactly the same as what’s

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going to happen to the nation
again.

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He’s having an exodus before the
Exodus.

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And then, just in case we
haven’t taken the hint properly,

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when you come into chapter 13,
the story is going to continue

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because he meets or he comes
with lots and there is a strife,

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isn’t there, between Abraham’s
servants and Lot’s servants,

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Chapter 13, verse 8.
And they divide the land.

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Just as the nation will do when
they come into the land later on

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and the land is divided between
the 12 tribes.

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And so Lot decides that where he
wants to go is the land that

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looks like the Garden of Eden.
And so he travels verse 11 of

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chapter 13.
Eastwards.

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Which is probably a little
foreboding, but Abraham of

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course dwells in the land of
Canaan.

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Lot dwells in the cities of the
plain and pitches his tent

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towards Sodom.
So they’ve gone into Egypt,

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they’ve been, there have been
plagues, they’ve come out of

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Egypt, and now they’re dividing
up the land.

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And if you remember what happens
next, of course there’s going to

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be a conquest.
And Brother Steve told us about

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that in our exhortation on
Sunday morning.

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Because of course, the conquest
is going to take place in

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Genesis 14 with the Battle of
the Kings, where Abraham is

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going to be having been the
Moses before the Moses.

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He’s now going to be the Joshua
before the Joshua.

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And he’s going to lead his 318
men trained in his own house,

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who are going to carry out this,
this conquest of the kings,

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which is a great anticipation of
latter day events.

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But which is also, of course, a
great anticipation of the exodus

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to come.
And he’s going to go all the way

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north, all the way to the very
point where the children of

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Israel.
Will defeat the Giants of the

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king of Baishan.
You remember that journey that

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they take up the east side of
the Jordan.

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They come to the place where the
Deuteronomy is given.

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Then they go another 40 miles
north to to fight the battle

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against the giant to make sure
that that generation know that,

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you know, giants are not
anything to worry about.

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And then they come back down
again.

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And it’s the exact same journey
that Abraham is doing in chapter

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14 to anticipate all the events
that will take place later on.

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It’s a dress rehearsal for the
Exodus from Egypt and everything

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about Abraham’s journey,
everything about these incidents

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within these chapters, and I’m
conscious that you can’t quite

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make out the text that I’ve got
on the screen there.

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Everything about Abraham’s
journey is telling us that

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something greater is going to
come, something bigger is going

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to happen.
Come and have a look at the

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example of Moses beginning of
Exodus if we can, because long

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before Moses leads his people.
Let me just get back that main

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slide for you so you can at
least see some of the some of

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the text long before Moses leads
the people from Egypt.

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He’s going to have not merely
one, but two exoduses of his

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own.
And in just the same way that

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the Abraham Exodus was telling
the later readers of that book

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that God was able to work in the
lives of of all of his people,

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so too Moses was learning the
same.

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So he’s going to have an exodus
when he’s saved by water as a

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baby, and he’s going to have
another exodus when he kills

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that Egyptian and goes off into
the wilderness for 40 years.

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And they are little, little
trailers.

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Not suggesting that you go to
the cinema, but if you were to

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go to the cinema, you always In
the UK, if you go to the cinema

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you turn up about 40 minutes
late.

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Because if you turn up any
early, you have to see all the

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trailers in the adverts and
stuffs.

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But you know what those are
like.

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And they’re this, these are the
trailers before the main, before

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the main event.
Just telling us about what’s

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going to happen next.
So where have I got you to?

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We’re in Exodus, aren’t we?
And Exodus chapter 2, we’re

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actually going back to chapter
one in a few minutes, but I

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bring you to chapter 2, that
there went a man of the House of

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Levi, took to wife a daughter of
Levi, and the woman conceived

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and bear a son and saw he was a
goodly child and hit him three

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months.
It’s, of course, against the

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backdrop of what Pharaoh is
going to do with the baby boys

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in Egypt.
And when she could no longer

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hide him, she took an ark of
bulrushes and dogged it with

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slime and with pitch, and put
the child there in, and put and

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laid it in the flags by the
river’s brink.

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And Miriam stood afar off to see
what would be done to him.

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Jochebed knows there’s something
special about this particular

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boy.
So she builds him an ark and she

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pitches it around, just as Noah
has done before, and she floats

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him off.
Well, the details are quite

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important, aren’t they?
She took an arc of bulrushes and

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put him right on the edge of the
river.

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She floats him off next to the
reeds.

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00:11:40,840 –> 00:11:43,200
Of course, when Israel come out
of Egypt, they’re going to go

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through what you and I call the
Red Sea.

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00:11:45,600 –> 00:11:47,520
And it’s not really the Red Sea,
it’s the Reed Sea.

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00:11:48,080 –> 00:11:50,000
So there’s a little connection
between what’s happening to

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Moses and what’s happening to
the people later on.

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00:11:52,760 –> 00:11:58,880
And Pharaoh’s daughter is the
one who hears the cry 1st 5 when

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00:11:58,880 –> 00:12:02,880
she comes down to wash by the
river, and she opens it and sees

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00:12:02,880 –> 00:12:05,720
the baby and he’s crying and has
compassion upon him.

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00:12:06,160 –> 00:12:08,200
Let’s see whether this slide is
any more visible than the last

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00:12:08,200 –> 00:12:10,480
slide.
Just a little bit more, that’s

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00:12:10,480 –> 00:12:13,400
useful.
So everything that’s going to

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happen to Moses is familiar.
We recognize it.

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There’s an ark, he’s saved by
water.

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00:12:21,280 –> 00:12:27,160
The cry goes up and he’s heard.
And then later on, when he

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becomes part of Pharaoh’s
daughter’s family, he is an

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Israelite slave adopted into the
royal lion.

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00:12:34,680 –> 00:12:37,240
It’s a little anticipation of
Exodus chapter 19.

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That you will be to me a Kingdom
of priests and the holy nation.

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00:12:41,200 –> 00:12:44,160
And Miriam sees everything just
as she does when she makes her

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00:12:44,160 –> 00:12:47,080
great song in Exodus 15.
When the actual Exodus has taken

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place, sing to the Lord, for he
has triumphed gloriously and

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00:12:51,880 –> 00:12:55,040
Miriam and the women sing that
great song of triumph and she’s

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00:12:55,040 –> 00:12:57,880
seen this just as she will see
the later event.

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00:12:58,120 –> 00:13:03,040
So Moses first Exodus is just is
just dropping little bread

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00:13:03,040 –> 00:13:05,920
crumbs down for us to make sure
we begin to follow a trail.

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00:13:07,200 –> 00:13:11,120
There is a great release from
Bondage coming, but we shouldn’t

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00:13:11,120 –> 00:13:14,840
be surprised when we get there.
Because all of these events are

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00:13:14,840 –> 00:13:17,640
already taking place, let’s have
a look at the other one.

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00:13:18,200 –> 00:13:22,320
Verse 11 of Exodus chapter 2
came to pass in those days when

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00:13:22,320 –> 00:13:25,320
Moses was grown, that he went
out to his brethren and looked

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00:13:25,320 –> 00:13:28,080
on their burdens and spied an
Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one

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00:13:28,080 –> 00:13:31,720
of his brethren.
And he looked this way and that

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00:13:31,720 –> 00:13:32,760
way.
And when he saw there was no

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00:13:32,760 –> 00:13:36,160
man, he slew the Egyptian and
hid him in the sand and went out

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00:13:36,160 –> 00:13:37,920
the second day.
And two men strove together.

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00:13:37,920 –> 00:13:39,640
And he said, why are you smiting
your fellow?

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00:13:42,040 –> 00:13:44,440
And the other man said, Well,
who made you a Prince and a

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00:13:44,440 –> 00:13:47,920
judge over us?
Did you intend to kill me just

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00:13:47,920 –> 00:13:51,200
as you killed the Egyptian?
And he flees, doesn’t he?

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00:13:51,200 –> 00:13:54,240
Now, sometimes we look at this
incident and we we think that

258
00:13:54,240 –> 00:13:56,800
that what’s happening is that
Moses has got God’s timing wrong

259
00:13:56,800 –> 00:13:59,280
and he’s trying to preempt
something that isn’t yet ready

260
00:13:59,280 –> 00:14:01,200
to happen.
The Exodus isn’t ready, but

261
00:14:01,200 –> 00:14:03,520
Moses is almost trying to kick
start it and do something too

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00:14:03,520 –> 00:14:06,800
soon.
But actually I don’t know if

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00:14:06,800 –> 00:14:09,720
that’s right, because the text
doesn’t say Moses is doing

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00:14:09,720 –> 00:14:13,200
anything wrong and and
everything looks remarkably

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00:14:13,200 –> 00:14:18,000
like.
The national exodus, which is

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00:14:18,000 –> 00:14:22,960
going to happen 40 years later.
There’s an Egyptian causing

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00:14:22,960 –> 00:14:27,760
injustice to an israelite.
Moses comes to bring relief.

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00:14:27,800 –> 00:14:30,160
The Egyptian is killed just as
the.

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00:14:30,160 –> 00:14:32,400
Egyptians will be killed in the
sea when they come through.

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00:14:32,400 –> 00:14:33,840
There is a departure into the
wilderness.

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00:14:33,840 –> 00:14:34,840
We’ve actually not read that
bit.

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00:14:35,600 –> 00:14:40,680
Verse 16 And then there is going
to be water provided in the

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00:14:40,680 –> 00:14:44,560
desert in verse 16 and 17 when
the priests of Midian’s

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00:14:44,560 –> 00:14:47,040
daughters come and are trying to
fill up their their water

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00:14:47,040 –> 00:14:49,120
troughs and Moses has to
intervene and help them out with

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00:14:49,120 –> 00:14:53,160
it everything.
Looks like the Exodus from Egypt

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00:14:53,640 –> 00:14:59,600
before the Exodus from Egypt,
and it really is just like a

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00:14:59,600 –> 00:15:02,720
trailer before the main movie.
We’re recognizing some of these

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00:15:02,720 –> 00:15:10,040
patterns and so when?
Moses has a son when Zipporah

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00:15:10,040 –> 00:15:11,640
has a son.
Let’s be more accurate than

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00:15:11,640 –> 00:15:15,120
that.
And Moses names him verse 22.

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00:15:15,120 –> 00:15:19,760
He calls him Gershom.
I am a stranger, a sojourner in

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00:15:19,760 –> 00:15:23,200
a strange land.
What Moses is telling us, and we

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00:15:23,200 –> 00:15:25,880
have to be careful to make sure
we don’t jump over it, is Moses

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00:15:25,880 –> 00:15:27,760
is saying I am living your
Exodus.

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00:15:27,960 –> 00:15:31,400
I am myself a sojourner in a
strange land, just as you

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00:15:31,400 –> 00:15:35,680
yourselves are, just as the
Abraham incident was, brothers

288
00:15:35,680 –> 00:15:38,680
and sisters.
So the Moses incident is another

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00:15:38,680 –> 00:15:41,120
dress rehearsal for what’s going
to happen next.

290
00:15:41,120 –> 00:15:44,040
They are proving to Moses what
God can do.

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00:15:45,120 –> 00:15:47,920
If you ever sit there in your
darkest hours and just go.

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00:15:48,080 –> 00:15:53,440
I know, I know the Bible is true
and but I just, there were just

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00:15:53,440 –> 00:15:56,560
too many things going on and I
just, it’s the day-to-day stuff

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00:15:56,560 –> 00:15:59,320
which wears me down.
And I wonder whether these are

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00:15:59,320 –> 00:16:01,680
the kind of things that we can
come back to for encouragement,

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00:16:01,680 –> 00:16:05,880
that God speaks to his, to his
great faithful men and women and

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00:16:05,880 –> 00:16:08,920
gives them little pictures of
what he will later do to

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00:16:08,960 –> 00:16:11,040
encourage them and to strengthen
them and to build them up.

299
00:16:12,360 –> 00:16:14,080
Because Moses isn’t a
revolutionary.

300
00:16:15,000 –> 00:16:16,880
This is not an old world.
Che Guevara.

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00:16:17,280 –> 00:16:19,080
Moses is an 80 year old sheep
farmer.

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00:16:19,720 –> 00:16:21,360
He’s not perhaps the best
poised.

303
00:16:21,400 –> 00:16:24,320
To lead the people out of Egypt.
And yet God is encouraging him

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00:16:24,320 –> 00:16:27,120
and showing him what God is
capable of doing with his

305
00:16:27,120 –> 00:16:29,680
people.
Why does that matter?

306
00:16:29,680 –> 00:16:30,960
Why is that connected to
freedom?

307
00:16:30,960 –> 00:16:32,120
Why?
Why do we need to go through

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00:16:32,120 –> 00:16:36,640
that particular process?
Because I think sometimes we can

309
00:16:36,640 –> 00:16:39,200
teach scripture in little
pockets.

310
00:16:39,880 –> 00:16:43,040
We silo up parts of Scripture
and say, right, this is the

311
00:16:43,040 –> 00:16:45,480
Abraham story there.
And it, we tie it up with a

312
00:16:45,480 –> 00:16:46,840
ribbon and stick it on the
shelf.

313
00:16:46,840 –> 00:16:48,400
And that’s the Abraham story
done.

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00:16:48,760 –> 00:16:50,920
And then we take the Moses story
and we go, well, here it is.

315
00:16:50,920 –> 00:16:53,720
And we put it there and we know
about them, but we forget that

316
00:16:53,720 –> 00:16:56,280
they’re connected together.
Or we take the Exodus event and

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00:16:56,280 –> 00:16:58,480
we know about what happens and
we stick it on that shelf.

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00:16:58,480 –> 00:17:00,160
And again, it’s not connected to
the other ones.

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00:17:00,160 –> 00:17:02,280
The.
Point I’m trying to make with

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00:17:02,280 –> 00:17:06,560
this, with this grand theme that
God is is revealing to us in his

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00:17:06,560 –> 00:17:08,960
word is that all of these things
leading to something else.

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00:17:09,319 –> 00:17:11,960
And it’s not just that, you
know, Genesis was about creation

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00:17:12,119 –> 00:17:15,160
and patriarchs and promises and
Egypt and Exodus is about

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00:17:15,160 –> 00:17:18,960
leaving the House of bondage.
It’s that that we are all

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00:17:18,960 –> 00:17:23,800
leaving a House of bondage,
whether we’re in the book of

326
00:17:23,800 –> 00:17:26,599
Genesis or whether in the book
of Nehemiah, or whether we’re in

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00:17:26,599 –> 00:17:29,240
our day and age, we are all
leaving a House of bondage.

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00:17:29,240 –> 00:17:31,440
It’s the same for the time of
the kings as well.

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00:17:32,400 –> 00:17:36,120
That’s why when Paul writes to
Corinth, he says, I would not

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00:17:36,120 –> 00:17:43,680
have you be ignorant, brethren,
that all our fathers were under

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00:17:43,680 –> 00:17:47,720
the cloud.
It’s your story too, he says.

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00:17:48,120 –> 00:17:51,280
It’s your exodus too.
You are part of it by adoption

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00:17:51,280 –> 00:17:54,160
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember how Joseph gave

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00:17:54,160 –> 00:17:55,680
commandment concerning his
bones?

335
00:17:57,400 –> 00:17:58,720
You ever thought how odd that
is?

336
00:17:59,440 –> 00:18:01,720
He’s anticipating the exodus.
He’s making sure that they come

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00:18:01,720 –> 00:18:03,560
back into the land.
But he could have used other

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00:18:03,560 –> 00:18:07,720
phrases.
He could have given commandment

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00:18:07,720 –> 00:18:10,560
or could have been described as
the fact he was giving

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00:18:10,640 –> 00:18:14,880
commandment concerning his his
remains given commandment

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00:18:14,880 –> 00:18:16,640
concerning his body.
There would have been some other

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00:18:16,640 –> 00:18:18,840
British euphemism that would
have kind of fudged the issue

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00:18:18,840 –> 00:18:21,320
completely probably, but
specifically told he gave

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00:18:21,320 –> 00:18:23,080
commandment concerning his
bones.

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00:18:23,080 –> 00:18:26,800
And then of course, the book of
Joshua picks this up and tells

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00:18:26,800 –> 00:18:30,840
us that he’s reburied in the
land because Joseph knew the

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00:18:30,840 –> 00:18:33,280
very same things that Abraham
knew and Moses knew that there

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00:18:33,280 –> 00:18:35,240
was a greater release for the
people of God.

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00:18:36,760 –> 00:18:39,640
But the reason that phrase is so
significant is because Ezekiel

350
00:18:39,640 –> 00:18:46,680
will then capture it in the
valley of dry bones and says,

351
00:18:47,000 –> 00:18:52,640
you know what Joseph saw?
He saw a time when another

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00:18:52,640 –> 00:18:56,920
people would be raised back to
life, when those bones would

353
00:18:56,920 –> 00:18:59,440
have flesh put on them and
sinews to bind them, and they

354
00:18:59,440 –> 00:19:04,560
would become a new people.
That every Exodus we read of in

355
00:19:04,560 –> 00:19:08,720
this session, every mini exodus
or major Exodus we think about,

356
00:19:08,960 –> 00:19:11,960
is anticipating the great
release that God will show to

357
00:19:11,960 –> 00:19:15,080
His people later on.
And it extends to us.

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00:19:15,720 –> 00:19:20,120
If we are prepared to spend time
in exile, if we are prepared to

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00:19:20,120 –> 00:19:22,960
walk away from the House of
bondage and follow the one who

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00:19:22,960 –> 00:19:27,320
leads us from captivity, come
back to Exodus chapter 1.

361
00:19:27,320 –> 00:19:31,840
Oops.
Too soon, Leave it there.

362
00:19:33,760 –> 00:19:35,880
Exodus chapter 1.
And it’s a bit of a gear shift.

363
00:19:39,960 –> 00:19:41,840
Let’s go in.
Where do I want to take you?

364
00:19:41,840 –> 00:19:45,000
Verse 7.
So after Joseph has died,

365
00:19:46,120 –> 00:19:49,080
children of Israel are fruitful
and they increased abundantly

366
00:19:49,080 –> 00:19:51,640
and they multiplied and they
waxed exceedingly mighty and the

367
00:19:51,640 –> 00:19:54,440
land was filled with them, which
is a pretty significant build up

368
00:19:54,440 –> 00:19:56,400
of phrases, isn’t it?
To make sure that we don’t miss

369
00:19:56,400 –> 00:19:59,440
the point that they are now
getting much more abundant as a

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00:19:59,440 –> 00:20:01,160
nation.
Verse 8.

371
00:20:02,960 –> 00:20:07,800
Now there arose a new king over
Egypt who knew not Joseph, and

372
00:20:07,800 –> 00:20:09,760
he said to his people, Behold,
the people of the children of

373
00:20:09,760 –> 00:20:12,080
Israel are more and mightier
than we.

374
00:20:12,360 –> 00:20:15,480
Come on, let us deal shrewdly,
widely, wisely with them, lest

375
00:20:15,480 –> 00:20:17,600
they multiply, which they
already have actually.

376
00:20:17,920 –> 00:20:20,200
And it comes to pass that when
there falls out any war, they

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00:20:20,200 –> 00:20:23,880
join also to our enemies and
fight against us, and so get

378
00:20:23,880 –> 00:20:25,920
them up out of the land.
This is what Pharaoh’s great

379
00:20:25,920 –> 00:20:28,280
fear is.
Pharaoh’s fear is that they will

380
00:20:28,280 –> 00:20:31,600
fight against the the Egyptians
on behalf of their enemies.

381
00:20:32,480 –> 00:20:38,280
And that they will escape, in
other words, and I take a deep

382
00:20:38,280 –> 00:20:41,640
breath when I say this out loud.
In other words, brothers and

383
00:20:41,640 –> 00:20:43,800
sisters, Pharaoh has an
immigration.

384
00:20:43,800 –> 00:20:48,200
Problem.
And you understand why I had to

385
00:20:48,200 –> 00:20:52,240
say it carefully.
So they set the taskmasters over

386
00:20:52,240 –> 00:20:55,840
them to afflict them.
And verse 12, the more they

387
00:20:55,840 –> 00:20:59,360
afflicted them, the more they
multiplied and grew and they

388
00:20:59,360 –> 00:21:02,720
made them serve Verse 13, with
rigor, and made their lives

389
00:21:02,720 –> 00:21:06,200
bitter with hard bondage in
mortar and in brick.

390
00:21:06,200 –> 00:21:08,240
Catch your Babel echo from
yesterday.

391
00:21:08,480 –> 00:21:11,080
And in all manner of service,
they made them serve with rigor.

392
00:21:11,680 –> 00:21:13,160
Just highlighted those on the
screen.

393
00:21:13,160 –> 00:21:15,200
For you, you can just see the
emphasis that that.

394
00:21:15,200 –> 00:21:16,880
Little section of Exodus chapter
1.

395
00:21:17,280 –> 00:21:19,880
Goes to to make.
Sure, we understand the way in

396
00:21:19,880 –> 00:21:28,440
which they were being treated.
Now, all of these verses seem to

397
00:21:28,440 –> 00:21:31,360
suggest that Israel were slaves
in Egypt.

398
00:21:32,440 –> 00:21:34,200
And God is going to bring them
out to be free.

399
00:21:35,160 –> 00:21:37,800
We are unconsciously thinking
that I suggest to you as we

400
00:21:37,800 –> 00:21:40,040
read.
Those verses through that, what

401
00:21:40,040 –> 00:21:42,880
we’re about to find out about is
that Israel was slaves in Egypt

402
00:21:43,240 –> 00:21:45,240
and God brought them out to be
free.

403
00:21:45,720 –> 00:21:48,120
In fact, one of the Passover
texts the Jewish.

404
00:21:48,120 –> 00:21:51,280
Passover texts actually says
that specifically that he

405
00:21:51,280 –> 00:21:53,400
brought us out from slavery to
freedom.

406
00:21:55,920 –> 00:21:58,440
And I just suggest you that
that’s not quite true.

407
00:21:58,440 –> 00:22:00,760
Don’t, don’t throw things at me
yet, but I just suggest you that

408
00:22:00,760 –> 00:22:04,960
that’s not quite true, that
those words verses 10 through to

409
00:22:04,960 –> 00:22:09,560
14, they certainly tell us that
the Israelites worked like

410
00:22:09,840 –> 00:22:14,720
slaves, but we are not told that
they came out to be free.

411
00:22:16,600 –> 00:22:17,800
And we’ll see what that means in
a minute.

412
00:22:17,800 –> 00:22:20,560
Let me just carry on that there
are a whole series of phrases

413
00:22:20,560 –> 00:22:22,120
built up.
We don’t, I’m not going to take

414
00:22:22,120 –> 00:22:24,280
you through all of them, but but
you can mark them if you need to

415
00:22:24,880 –> 00:22:28,800
that three times in chapter 1,
the Egyptians bring hard bondage

416
00:22:29,360 –> 00:22:31,400
on the Israelites.
And then if you just look at

417
00:22:31,400 –> 00:22:37,240
chapter 2 and verse 23, that
when that king of Egypt dies,

418
00:22:38,000 –> 00:22:40,640
the children of Israel continue
to sigh by reason of the bondage

419
00:22:40,640 –> 00:22:43,320
and cried and their cry came up
to God by reason of their

420
00:22:43,320 –> 00:22:46,280
bondage.
And then it’s only in chapter 3

421
00:22:46,280 –> 00:22:51,280
that things shift slightly.
God says when He appears to

422
00:22:51,280 –> 00:22:54,600
Moses at the Bush, chapter 3 and
verse 7.

423
00:22:55,040 –> 00:23:00,880
I have surely seen the
affliction of my people which

424
00:23:00,880 –> 00:23:04,360
are in Egypt.
I’ve surely seen the affliction

425
00:23:04,760 –> 00:23:08,480
of my people who are in.
Egypt, Israel cried because of

426
00:23:08,480 –> 00:23:11,000
their bondage, because they were
not free.

427
00:23:12,240 –> 00:23:14,320
God’s responses not specifically
to that.

428
00:23:14,320 –> 00:23:17,040
God’s responses to their
suffering is to their

429
00:23:17,040 –> 00:23:19,360
affliction.
In other words, the problem in

430
00:23:19,360 –> 00:23:21,080
Egypt was not that they had to
work.

431
00:23:22,880 –> 00:23:24,720
Work is fine, Paul says in the
New Testament.

432
00:23:24,720 –> 00:23:27,600
Work is OK.
The problem in Egypt was the

433
00:23:27,600 –> 00:23:30,240
affliction.
It was the hard bondage, it was

434
00:23:30,240 –> 00:23:33,200
the ruthlessness with which they
were treated.

435
00:23:33,200 –> 00:23:36,040
In fact there were there were
three challenges, I think, for

436
00:23:36,040 –> 00:23:37,320
the Israelites when they were in
Egypt.

437
00:23:37,320 –> 00:23:38,920
The first was that it was hard
labour.

438
00:23:39,040 –> 00:23:41,640
In other words, it was no longer
equitable for wages.

439
00:23:43,120 –> 00:23:44,920
It was what you and I would call
slavery.

440
00:23:46,840 –> 00:23:49,320
The second challenge was that
they were foreigners.

441
00:23:50,400 –> 00:23:52,800
In other words, the immigration
policy changed if Pharaoh wants

442
00:23:52,800 –> 00:23:54,320
to do something different with
the foreigners.

443
00:23:55,200 –> 00:23:57,000
And the third.
Thing was, and perhaps this is

444
00:23:57,000 –> 00:24:00,720
the most significant, was that
there was no escape mechanism.

445
00:24:02,200 –> 00:24:05,800
There was no there was no opt
out X is Israel couldn’t

446
00:24:05,800 –> 00:24:09,440
exercise freedom.
In other words, working in Egypt

447
00:24:09,440 –> 00:24:11,160
was not the problem.
The fact that they couldn’t not

448
00:24:11,160 –> 00:24:13,840
work in Egypt was the problem.
The fact that they had no

449
00:24:13,840 –> 00:24:16,800
choice, no opportunity to change
their circumstances.

450
00:24:17,960 –> 00:24:20,520
Which is just going to lead US
one step closer to making sure

451
00:24:20,520 –> 00:24:23,080
we know what freedom is actually
all about and to understand

452
00:24:23,080 –> 00:24:24,680
what’s going on.
I just need to take you back

453
00:24:24,680 –> 00:24:27,240
again just to make sure that we
understand the story.

454
00:24:27,240 –> 00:24:32,160
Genesis 47 coming back into
Exodus in just a second, but

455
00:24:32,160 –> 00:24:35,160
Genesis 47?
This is the bit of the Joseph

456
00:24:35,160 –> 00:24:40,280
narrative that we forget.
And if you’ve if you know the

457
00:24:40,280 –> 00:24:42,960
musical.
It’s after the after the first

458
00:24:42,960 –> 00:24:46,200
song and it’s after the after
the Technicolor Dreamcoat and

459
00:24:46,200 –> 00:24:48,760
it’s after the the dreams with
Pharaoh and it’s after Joseph’s

460
00:24:48,760 –> 00:24:51,040
come down into Egypt’s after and
in fact, it’s after the very end

461
00:24:51,040 –> 00:24:54,400
of the musical and the musical
wasn’t interested in this.

462
00:24:54,400 –> 00:24:56,880
But even though I think it’s the
most important chapter, so

463
00:24:56,880 –> 00:25:05,120
Exodus, Genesis chapter 47, this
is when Joseph has been has been

464
00:25:05,120 –> 00:25:11,600
raised to power before Pharaoh
in Egypt, and there is a famine

465
00:25:12,520 –> 00:25:15,640
once again in the land. 47 verse
13, there is no bread in the

466
00:25:15,640 –> 00:25:17,160
land, for the famine was very
sore.

467
00:25:17,560 –> 00:25:20,640
So that all the land of Egypt
and all the land of Canaan

468
00:25:20,640 –> 00:25:24,080
fainted by reason of the famine.
And Joseph gathered up all the

469
00:25:24,080 –> 00:25:26,120
money that was found in the land
of Egypt and in the land of

470
00:25:26,120 –> 00:25:27,720
Canaan for the corn which they
bought.

471
00:25:28,240 –> 00:25:30,600
And Joseph brought the money
into Pharaoh’s house.

472
00:25:32,440 –> 00:25:38,400
So what’s the first step in
relieving your burden?

473
00:25:38,880 –> 00:25:43,040
When there is a famine in the
land of Egypt, you buy corn with

474
00:25:43,320 –> 00:25:45,640
money.
That’s step one.

475
00:25:46,640 –> 00:25:52,120
But the problem is that you have
a finite amount of cash and at

476
00:25:52,120 –> 00:25:56,840
some point you spend all of your
money buying corn to relieve the

477
00:25:56,840 –> 00:25:59,880
problem.
And verse 15, the money runs

478
00:25:59,880 –> 00:26:03,360
out.
So when the money runs out in

479
00:26:03,360 –> 00:26:05,440
the land of Egypt, down in the
land of Canaan, all these the

480
00:26:05,440 –> 00:26:09,280
Egyptians came to Joseph and
said, give us bread, for why

481
00:26:09,280 –> 00:26:12,560
should we die in your presence?
For the money fails.

482
00:26:13,760 –> 00:26:18,760
And Joseph said, give me your
cattle and I will give you for

483
00:26:18,760 –> 00:26:22,800
your cattle if money fail.
So step one, in the famine you

484
00:26:22,800 –> 00:26:27,040
buy corn with cash.
When the cash runs out, you then

485
00:26:27,040 –> 00:26:30,040
buy corn with your animals.
You trade them in because that’s

486
00:26:30,040 –> 00:26:32,400
all that you have left.
Verse 17 They brought their

487
00:26:32,400 –> 00:26:34,960
cattle to Joseph, and Joseph
gave them bread in exchange for

488
00:26:34,960 –> 00:26:38,200
horses and flocks and cattle and
asses, and so on and so forth,

489
00:26:38,200 –> 00:26:40,560
and fed them with bread all that
year.

490
00:26:40,800 –> 00:26:44,040
Step one, Buy corn with cash
when the cash runs out.

491
00:26:44,200 –> 00:26:46,440
Step 2.
You trade in your animals well.

492
00:26:48,120 –> 00:26:52,160
What happens when the cash is
all gone and the livestock’s all

493
00:26:52,160 –> 00:26:54,360
gone?
What do you do next?

494
00:26:54,720 –> 00:26:57,720
What is the only thing?
Left that you can do next.

495
00:26:59,240 –> 00:27:01,680
Well, they came at the end of
year 2, verse 18 and said we

496
00:27:01,680 –> 00:27:04,200
won’t hide it from you.
All the money’s gone and you’ve

497
00:27:04,200 –> 00:27:06,040
got all of our animals and
there’s nothing left.

498
00:27:06,040 –> 00:27:10,880
What are we going to do?
Verse 19, Why should we die

499
00:27:10,880 –> 00:27:16,400
before your eyes by us and our
land for bread.

500
00:27:17,360 –> 00:27:21,440
And we in our land will be
servants to Pharaoh, and give us

501
00:27:21,440 –> 00:27:24,880
seed, that we may live and not
die, that the land be not

502
00:27:24,880 –> 00:27:27,880
desolate.
And so Joseph brought all the

503
00:27:27,880 –> 00:27:31,000
land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for
the Egyptians sold everyone his

504
00:27:31,000 –> 00:27:33,440
field because the famine
prevailed over them.

505
00:27:33,720 –> 00:27:37,720
Step 1 You buy corn with cash.
Step 2, You buy corn with

506
00:27:37,720 –> 00:27:41,560
animals.
Step three, you buy corn with

507
00:27:41,560 –> 00:27:45,320
yourself.
You give yourself as laborers in

508
00:27:45,320 –> 00:27:49,360
order to earn the food that you
need to feed your families.

509
00:27:50,360 –> 00:27:54,000
In other words, who are the
servants in Egypt?

510
00:27:55,360 –> 00:28:00,840
When the Book of Exodus starts?
It’s not the Israelites, it’s

511
00:28:00,840 –> 00:28:04,240
the Egyptians.
When the Book of Exodus begins,

512
00:28:04,240 –> 00:28:06,640
brother, the Egyptians are the
ones working.

513
00:28:06,680 –> 00:28:10,080
For Pharaoh, because Joseph has
set it up like that.

514
00:28:11,560 –> 00:28:12,960
And what are the Israelites
doing?

515
00:28:14,600 –> 00:28:19,360
Well, verse 27, Israel dwelt in
the land of Egypt, in the land

516
00:28:19,360 –> 00:28:21,200
of Goshen, and they had
possessions and grew and

517
00:28:21,200 –> 00:28:23,440
multiplied exceedingly.
Isn’t it interesting?

518
00:28:23,960 –> 00:28:28,040
The Egyptians are Pharaoh’s
servants and the Israelites are

519
00:28:28,040 –> 00:28:31,520
the land owners.
It’s completely backwards from

520
00:28:31,520 –> 00:28:37,800
what we think is going on.
And that’s why Pharaoh’s panic

521
00:28:38,320 –> 00:28:40,560
in Exodus chapter one, that the
people are going to do something

522
00:28:40,560 –> 00:28:42,360
completely different.
They’re going to rise up against

523
00:28:42,360 –> 00:28:43,680
us.
And here’s my immigrant problem

524
00:28:44,640 –> 00:28:48,800
is such a massive shift in
policy because he’s having to

525
00:28:48,800 –> 00:28:54,240
turn an entire structure upside
down because as the book of

526
00:28:54,240 –> 00:28:58,600
Genesis ends and Exodus begins,
the Israelites are not serving.

527
00:28:58,920 –> 00:29:01,240
They are actually the ones who
own the land.

528
00:29:02,600 –> 00:29:05,040
Isn’t it interesting?
Everybody in the book of Genesis

529
00:29:05,040 –> 00:29:07,240
is serving somebody.
There was a real trend.

530
00:29:08,160 –> 00:29:11,760
It runs all the way through.
Esau serves.

531
00:29:12,240 –> 00:29:15,440
Jacob shouldn’t have done, but
he did because he was hungry.

532
00:29:16,480 –> 00:29:22,560
And then Jacob serves Laban for
Leah seven years, And then Jacob

533
00:29:22,560 –> 00:29:25,480
serves Laban for Rachel another
seven years.

534
00:29:26,120 –> 00:29:31,520
And then Joseph, when he is
taken as a slave and goes down

535
00:29:31,520 –> 00:29:35,760
into Egypt, serves Potiphar.
And then after the dreams,

536
00:29:35,760 –> 00:29:37,960
Joseph serves Pharaoh.
And then as.

537
00:29:37,960 –> 00:29:40,680
We’ve just seen here the
Egyptians serve Joseph, while

538
00:29:40,680 –> 00:29:43,760
the Israelites are the
freeholders in Egypt.

539
00:29:44,320 –> 00:29:46,800
And it’s only when we get to
Exodus chapter one that the new

540
00:29:46,800 –> 00:29:50,880
Pharaoh with his new policy and
his new dislike of immigration

541
00:29:50,880 –> 00:29:55,320
issues, forces Israel into this
hard bondage, this hard labor

542
00:29:55,520 –> 00:29:58,080
come back into Exodus and come
to chapter 3, please again.

543
00:30:09,200 –> 00:30:12,520
So I think we did we don’t
didn’t quite do justice to this

544
00:30:12,520 –> 00:30:17,360
this incident with the burning
Bush Exodus chapter 3 and and

545
00:30:17,360 –> 00:30:20,320
this marvelous phrase that God
uses in verse seven.

546
00:30:20,400 –> 00:30:23,080
I’ve seen the affliction of my
people.

547
00:30:23,560 –> 00:30:30,120
I’ve heard their cry, I know
their sorrows, and I’m come down

548
00:30:30,120 –> 00:30:33,920
to deliver.
Them again, this is for the dark

549
00:30:33,920 –> 00:30:35,440
Knights of the soul brothers and
sisters.

550
00:30:35,480 –> 00:30:40,760
I’ve I’ve seen it, I’ve heard
it, I know it and I’m come down

551
00:30:40,760 –> 00:30:43,800
to deliver.
If you lose track of your faith.

552
00:30:43,800 –> 00:30:46,240
If you lose weight in your
journey.

553
00:30:46,680 –> 00:30:48,200
This is the God who speaks to
us.

554
00:30:48,200 –> 00:30:52,280
I’ve seen it, I’ve heard it, I
know about it, and I’m come down

555
00:30:52,280 –> 00:30:54,840
to deliver in the person of my
son.

556
00:30:55,760 –> 00:31:00,080
Come down to verse 11.
Moses said to God, who am I that

557
00:31:00,080 –> 00:31:02,880
I should go to Pharaoh and that
I should bring forth the

558
00:31:02,880 –> 00:31:07,880
children of Israel out of Egypt.
And he said, I will be with

559
00:31:07,880 –> 00:31:09,920
thee, and this will be a token
to thee.

560
00:31:09,920 –> 00:31:13,560
When I have sent thee, when thou
has brought forth the people out

561
00:31:13,560 –> 00:31:21,320
of Egypt, you shall serve God.
On this mountain, in other

562
00:31:21,320 –> 00:31:24,960
words, you’re currently servants
to Pharaoh, but when you come

563
00:31:24,960 –> 00:31:27,960
out of Egypt, you will be
servants to me and you will

564
00:31:27,960 –> 00:31:31,000
serve God on this mountain.
A phrase, incidentally, which is

565
00:31:31,000 –> 00:31:34,680
used more of Israel after they
come out of Egypt than it is of

566
00:31:34,680 –> 00:31:40,480
them before they come out.
So that trend of people serving

567
00:31:40,480 –> 00:31:43,000
other people through Genesis in
the beginning of Exodus actually

568
00:31:43,000 –> 00:31:46,320
needs another line because of
course Israel are going to leave

569
00:31:46,320 –> 00:31:49,000
Egypt to serve God at Mount
Sinai.

570
00:31:49,000 –> 00:31:50,920
They’re not coming out of Egypt
to be free.

571
00:31:51,200 –> 00:31:53,360
They’re coming out of Egypt to
serve again.

572
00:31:54,520 –> 00:31:56,800
In fact, they’ll go out in two
stages, you remember, because

573
00:31:56,800 –> 00:32:00,960
the first stage was to go 3 days
journey out and worship.

574
00:32:01,720 –> 00:32:03,600
That was how Pharaoh tried to
swing it, wasn’t it?

575
00:32:03,600 –> 00:32:05,880
When he realized that there were
problems brewing and he said,

576
00:32:05,880 –> 00:32:07,640
well, you could go out a bit and
come back.

577
00:32:08,320 –> 00:32:11,240
And Moses said no, we all going
to go together and we’re going

578
00:32:11,240 –> 00:32:13,800
to go properly.
Nobody is free.

579
00:32:14,680 –> 00:32:18,520
Everybody is serving or being
subject to somebody else.

580
00:32:18,520 –> 00:32:23,000
Even even Pharaoh is a servant
of the deities.

581
00:32:24,880 –> 00:32:26,520
Now we I.
Don’t believe in Egyptian

582
00:32:26,520 –> 00:32:27,720
mythology.
I don’t think you do either.

583
00:32:27,720 –> 00:32:30,600
But but, but in that, in that
time, in that way, Pharaoh is

584
00:32:30,600 –> 00:32:32,680
subject to what the deities are
saying.

585
00:32:32,680 –> 00:32:34,960
In other words, brothers and
sisters, Egypt is not painting a

586
00:32:34,960 –> 00:32:38,160
picture between slavery and
freedom.

587
00:32:38,720 –> 00:32:42,000
It’s painting a picture between
service in Egypt.

588
00:32:43,240 –> 00:32:47,440
And service to Almighty God.
And that’s the point I’ve been

589
00:32:47,440 –> 00:32:49,000
at pains to try to get you
towards that.

590
00:32:49,000 –> 00:32:53,680
That God is not interested only
in freedom from something, as we

591
00:32:53,680 –> 00:32:57,840
talked about yesterday, but that
he’s interested in freedom for

592
00:32:57,840 –> 00:33:02,440
something, for worship, for
growth, obedience or joy or

593
00:33:02,440 –> 00:33:07,320
glory.
Apologies for continually

594
00:33:07,320 –> 00:33:10,640
quoting non Christadelphians,
but I read widely and sometimes

595
00:33:10,640 –> 00:33:13,400
I underline passages.
David Foster Wallace gave a

596
00:33:13,400 –> 00:33:16,680
valedictory speech in 2005.
In the day-to-day trenches of

597
00:33:16,680 –> 00:33:20,120
adult life, there is actually no
such thing as atheism, he said.

598
00:33:20,120 –> 00:33:22,320
There is no such thing as not
worshipping.

599
00:33:22,560 –> 00:33:25,920
Everybody worships.
The only choice we get is not is

600
00:33:25,920 –> 00:33:29,080
what to worship.
That is not the dominant

601
00:33:29,080 –> 00:33:33,120
narrative of 2025.
That is not the dominant

602
00:33:33,120 –> 00:33:35,080
narrative that your kids are
picking up in school, where

603
00:33:35,080 –> 00:33:38,840
freedom is understood as freedom
from oppression or from

604
00:33:38,840 –> 00:33:41,720
constraint, where society says
you can do anything you want

605
00:33:41,840 –> 00:33:44,280
with whoever you want, however
you want, whenever you want.

606
00:33:45,880 –> 00:33:50,280
Everybody worships.
But I want freedom of speech.

607
00:33:51,120 –> 00:33:54,480
I want to be able to say what I
want however I want, even if it

608
00:33:54,480 –> 00:33:56,560
demeans and degrades you
because, well, you know, I’m

609
00:33:56,560 –> 00:34:00,240
free to say it, aren’t I?
Or I want freedom to bear arms

610
00:34:00,480 –> 00:34:02,040
regardless of the potential body
count.

611
00:34:03,200 –> 00:34:07,240
Or we talk about the free
markets and yet don’t talk about

612
00:34:07,240 –> 00:34:10,280
the consequences of unfettered
consumerism where everything is

613
00:34:10,280 –> 00:34:11,960
up for debate and I can buy
anything I want.

614
00:34:13,040 –> 00:34:17,480
Or I am free in my sexuality to
explore and sleep with anybody I

615
00:34:17,480 –> 00:34:20,199
want to, because, you know, who
cares about the consequences on

616
00:34:20,199 –> 00:34:22,480
other people.
And society is mature and

617
00:34:22,480 –> 00:34:25,040
progressive when that goes on,
and it’s traditional and

618
00:34:25,040 –> 00:34:26,760
backwards and limited when it
doesn’t.

619
00:34:28,880 –> 00:34:31,800
Everybody serves, Everybody
worships.

620
00:34:32,199 –> 00:34:34,520
The only choice you get is what
to worship.

621
00:34:35,719 –> 00:34:39,159
Scripture tells an altogether
different story of what freedom

622
00:34:39,159 –> 00:34:43,440
looks like.
God cares about what you say

623
00:34:44,600 –> 00:34:48,360
because His will, His words,
brought the galaxies into being,

624
00:34:50,280 –> 00:34:53,080
and He knows that certain words
can send people into counseling

625
00:34:53,080 –> 00:34:57,280
for the rest of their lives.
God cares about who we sleep

626
00:34:57,280 –> 00:34:59,720
with because He cares about the
people doing the sleeping.

627
00:35:01,320 –> 00:35:04,200
Freedom isn’t absence of
responsibility.

628
00:35:05,840 –> 00:35:09,800
It’s it’s not license.
It’s defined by responsibility.

629
00:35:09,800 –> 00:35:13,400
It’s defined by those very broad
guardrails that we talked about

630
00:35:13,400 –> 00:35:15,600
in Exodus in Genesis chapter 2
yesterday.

631
00:35:16,360 –> 00:35:21,240
Freedom principle number six,
service to no one is not an

632
00:35:21,240 –> 00:35:24,760
option.
Everybody serves.

633
00:35:26,160 –> 00:35:29,040
Whether you’re in Egypt serving
Pharaoh or whether you’re on the

634
00:35:29,040 –> 00:35:31,640
mountain serving God, everybody
serves.

635
00:35:31,640 –> 00:35:35,720
It’s what the Apostle Paul says
in Romans chapter 6.

636
00:35:36,360 –> 00:35:42,160
Thanks be to God that you who
once were slaves to sin have

637
00:35:42,160 –> 00:35:47,720
become slaves to righteousness.
And Scripture is is full of the

638
00:35:47,720 –> 00:35:51,000
consequences of our faith, the
fact that our faith demands us

639
00:35:51,000 –> 00:35:55,640
not merely to believe something,
but to live out our discipleship

640
00:35:55,640 –> 00:35:58,560
in trembling and in fear.
Need to get these slides

641
00:35:58,560 –> 00:36:00,080
slightly darker for tomorrow,
don’t I?

642
00:36:00,080 –> 00:36:03,640
But I’ll read the words to you.
Paul says in Ephesians 2, By

643
00:36:03,640 –> 00:36:06,440
grace you have been saved.
You’ve been created in Christ

644
00:36:06,640 –> 00:36:13,400
for good works, not just that
you have been saved, but that

645
00:36:13,400 –> 00:36:16,880
you have been created to do
something specific, to live out

646
00:36:16,880 –> 00:36:18,600
your discipleship in a
particular way.

647
00:36:18,800 –> 00:36:21,360
Paul says to the Corinthians,
the love of Christ controls us

648
00:36:21,360 –> 00:36:25,200
or constrains us.
The impact of his of his love

649
00:36:25,200 –> 00:36:27,080
makes us live in a particular
way.

650
00:36:27,080 –> 00:36:30,200
It makes us treat people in in
certain ways.

651
00:36:31,600 –> 00:36:34,960
Paul says to Titus, the grace of
God has appeared training us to

652
00:36:34,960 –> 00:36:38,920
renounce ungodliness and live
self controlled, upright, godly

653
00:36:38,920 –> 00:36:42,680
lives zealous for good works.
There is a consequence to what

654
00:36:42,680 –> 00:36:48,040
you believe.
To use a a bumper sticker

655
00:36:48,040 –> 00:36:50,280
expression doctrine is something
that you do.

656
00:36:51,240 –> 00:36:54,280
It’s not just something that you
believe, it’s something that has

657
00:36:54,280 –> 00:36:55,880
an impact on us.
What are the consequences,

658
00:36:55,880 –> 00:36:58,440
brothers and sisters, of
believing that God is 1, not 3?

659
00:36:58,440 –> 00:37:00,560
What are the consequences of
believing in the promises?

660
00:37:00,720 –> 00:37:03,240
What are the consequences of
believing that sin is my fault

661
00:37:03,600 –> 00:37:06,480
and not that I can outsource it
to somebody else and blame them?

662
00:37:09,080 –> 00:37:13,120
We are created in Christ for
good works.

663
00:37:13,160 –> 00:37:15,320
Don’t misunderstand me.
If Christianity, if the gospel

664
00:37:15,320 –> 00:37:19,520
is not freeing, then it’s
nothing, right?

665
00:37:19,520 –> 00:37:23,080
But it does not mean that
everything that our world calls

666
00:37:23,080 –> 00:37:26,320
freedom is what God calls
freedom.

667
00:37:27,680 –> 00:37:31,560
We’re not just talking about
individual, external stuff that

668
00:37:31,560 –> 00:37:34,320
might oppress you from the
outside, but understanding that

669
00:37:34,320 –> 00:37:38,240
there is something on the inside
from which we need to be freed.

670
00:37:39,840 –> 00:37:43,040
Who’s read the Narnia stories?
Thank you.

671
00:37:43,320 –> 00:37:44,240
Two people.
Yes.

672
00:37:44,280 –> 00:37:45,440
OK, You can.
It’s OK.

673
00:37:45,440 –> 00:37:46,720
There’s no shame here.
You can admit it.

674
00:37:47,440 –> 00:37:48,920
Remember the line, the witch and
the wardrobe?

675
00:37:48,920 –> 00:37:51,960
That that When?
When Aslan is taken by the witch

676
00:37:52,040 –> 00:37:56,440
and, and, and is bound to the
table and, and killed, and it’s

677
00:37:56,440 –> 00:37:59,800
the CS Lewis’s picture of death
and resurrection and it has its

678
00:37:59,800 –> 00:38:01,000
holes and all that kind of
stuff.

679
00:38:01,000 –> 00:38:03,840
But Aslan is bound to the table
because she thinks that the way

680
00:38:03,840 –> 00:38:06,400
you control it is, is by
limiting people.

681
00:38:06,880 –> 00:38:09,160
And she has no idea that there
is this deeper magic that comes

682
00:38:09,160 –> 00:38:11,880
from beyond the dawn of time,
that it’s not physical freedom

683
00:38:11,880 –> 00:38:13,160
that matters, it’s spiritual
freedom.

684
00:38:13,160 –> 00:38:15,600
There is something bigger than
just being tied down to

685
00:38:15,600 –> 00:38:17,600
something.
That’s why Moses comes to the

686
00:38:17,600 –> 00:38:21,240
people with one specific request
to let the people go three days

687
00:38:21,240 –> 00:38:24,240
journey to worship and then to
go out all together because

688
00:38:24,240 –> 00:38:26,960
Egypt is associated with a lack
of freedom to worship.

689
00:38:29,000 –> 00:38:31,520
You can’t do what God wants when
you are in Egypt.

690
00:38:32,440 –> 00:38:35,360
That’s why you have to come out
and serve on the mountain.

691
00:38:36,200 –> 00:38:39,520
This is freedom principle number
wherever we’ve got to seven.

692
00:38:40,040 –> 00:38:44,920
Freedom is not doing what you
want, it’s doing what you were

693
00:38:44,920 –> 00:38:48,640
called to do.
And all of those verses higher

694
00:38:48,640 –> 00:38:50,360
up on the screen just begin to
bear that out.

695
00:38:51,520 –> 00:38:55,280
Egypt is associated with a lack
of freedom to worship, not a

696
00:38:55,280 –> 00:38:59,200
lack of just doing whatever the
heck I please.

697
00:39:00,680 –> 00:39:06,280
And isn’t it therefore ironic,
deeply ironic, that all of the

698
00:39:06,280 –> 00:39:11,320
pleas from the Israelites to go
back into Egypt during the

699
00:39:11,320 –> 00:39:14,840
wilderness journey are all
couched in freedom language?

700
00:39:16,280 –> 00:39:19,520
Everything they say is about
going back in that way.

701
00:39:19,680 –> 00:39:22,120
Exodus chapter 14, They’re just,
they’re just to keep us moving

702
00:39:22,120 –> 00:39:26,640
through.
We wanted to serve in Egypt

703
00:39:26,840 –> 00:39:30,080
rather than to die in the
wilderness, which is a

704
00:39:30,080 –> 00:39:32,920
ridiculous expression.
But you and I say that in our

705
00:39:32,920 –> 00:39:37,400
deepest hearts every day, much
rather serve sin than die with

706
00:39:37,400 –> 00:39:41,000
God.
What a preposterous expression.

707
00:39:41,000 –> 00:39:42,920
And yet we hold to it far more
than we should.

708
00:39:43,400 –> 00:39:46,760
In Exodus 32, where we’ve got
the golden calf is incident.

709
00:39:47,280 –> 00:39:49,320
Moses comes down the mountain
and he breaks the tables of

710
00:39:49,320 –> 00:39:52,680
stone under his feet.
They are described specifically

711
00:39:52,680 –> 00:39:55,840
as having broken loose.
It’s freedom language again.

712
00:39:55,840 –> 00:39:57,200
They have.
They have tried to make

713
00:39:57,200 –> 00:39:59,520
themselves no longer servants to
God.

714
00:40:00,080 –> 00:40:02,720
They’ve tried to become free
under their own ways.

715
00:40:03,400 –> 00:40:05,840
I just threw it in and out It
came and it now it looks like a

716
00:40:05,840 –> 00:40:08,000
golden calf.
Numbers 11.

717
00:40:09,480 –> 00:40:12,640
When there is no water and the
people are hungry, we ate freely

718
00:40:12,640 –> 00:40:14,800
in Egypt.
We had the melons and the leeks

719
00:40:14,800 –> 00:40:16,400
and the onions and the garlics
and the cucumber.

720
00:40:17,040 –> 00:40:18,560
Didn’t eat freely in Egypt at
all.

721
00:40:20,400 –> 00:40:22,360
But that’s the way they’re
describing their past

722
00:40:22,360 –> 00:40:25,240
experiences.
And later on in Numbers 11, you

723
00:40:25,240 –> 00:40:30,240
remember that’s when the quail
comes down and it gets stuck in

724
00:40:30,240 –> 00:40:33,120
their teeth and they get sick.
Numbers 11 talks about the

725
00:40:33,120 –> 00:40:37,400
quails as having been gathered
without limits, and it’s almost

726
00:40:37,400 –> 00:40:40,120
as if we were meant to see a
contrast between the, the quail

727
00:40:40,120 –> 00:40:43,600
gathered without limits that
made people ill and the manner

728
00:40:43,600 –> 00:40:47,640
that had this specific quota.
You remember 2 owners per person

729
00:40:47,640 –> 00:40:49,280
per day.
It was a, it was a, it was a

730
00:40:49,320 –> 00:40:52,600
limit that they were to gather.
And by some miracle, everybody

731
00:40:52,600 –> 00:40:55,960
had precisely that amount.
In Exodus 16, when the people

732
00:40:55,960 –> 00:40:57,720
are left of their own devices
and they get to get what they

733
00:40:57,720 –> 00:41:01,960
want, everybody gets sick.
And all the way down in

734
00:41:01,960 –> 00:41:04,560
Nehemiah, when we’re told that
they appointed a Captain Cora, I

735
00:41:04,560 –> 00:41:07,760
think they were not just going
back to Egypt.

736
00:41:08,120 –> 00:41:11,920
They were going back to bondage.
We don’t like God’s guardrails.

737
00:41:12,400 –> 00:41:14,920
We don’t like being free in the
way that He describes it.

738
00:41:14,960 –> 00:41:24,680
Exodus chapter 4, please.
Exodus chapter 4 and verse 22.

739
00:41:26,120 –> 00:41:33,760
You shall say to Pharaoh, Thus
says the Lord Israel is my son,

740
00:41:34,840 –> 00:41:38,920
even my first born.
And I say to thee, Let my son

741
00:41:38,920 –> 00:41:43,800
go, that he may serve me.
And if I refuse to let him go, I

742
00:41:43,800 –> 00:41:46,480
will slay thy son, even thy
first born.

743
00:41:47,520 –> 00:41:49,320
We don’t like guardrails.
Not even Pharaoh likes

744
00:41:49,320 –> 00:41:52,000
guardrails.
Pharaoh’s big mistake, my

745
00:41:52,040 –> 00:41:56,360
brothers and sisters, was not
his immigration policy, it was

746
00:41:56,360 –> 00:42:00,280
not his HR policy, it was not
his employment policy.

747
00:42:01,640 –> 00:42:04,560
It was making somebody else’s
son work for him.

748
00:42:06,120 –> 00:42:11,320
When Israel was a child, I loved
him and out of Egypt I called my

749
00:42:11,320 –> 00:42:14,400
son.
Pharaoh is the son of Rah.

750
00:42:14,960 –> 00:42:17,160
When he when he died, he will
become divine.

751
00:42:17,840 –> 00:42:20,520
And all of the plagues one by
one are systematically

752
00:42:20,520 –> 00:42:25,000
undermining his his quote
sonship as one of the sons of

753
00:42:25,000 –> 00:42:28,560
the deities.
So at the end of the plagues, in

754
00:42:28,560 –> 00:42:31,440
the darkness of Passover night,
when Israel has been sorry, when

755
00:42:31,440 –> 00:42:37,200
Egypt has been uncreated and
left as the beginning of Genesis

756
00:42:37,200 –> 00:42:38,800
1, it’s like it’s without form
and void.

757
00:42:38,800 –> 00:42:42,160
There is blackness everywhere.
Suddenly everything has been

758
00:42:42,160 –> 00:42:45,040
turned back on itself again, and
the plagues are employed to show

759
00:42:45,040 –> 00:42:49,600
Pharaoh who has got dominion.
Is it the first born son of

760
00:42:49,600 –> 00:42:51,840
Pharaoh, the son of the Egyptian
God?

761
00:42:53,560 –> 00:42:57,880
Or is it the first born son of
Yahweh out of Egypt?

762
00:42:57,880 –> 00:43:02,360
I called my son John chapter 8
just to finish, please.

763
00:43:03,480 –> 00:43:11,480
John chapter 8 connects us up to
Abraham as well, doesn’t it?

764
00:43:11,480 –> 00:43:14,960
You remember we talked about
Mariah yesterday where Abraham

765
00:43:14,960 –> 00:43:17,920
goes to offer his son and and
the challenge for the challenge.

766
00:43:17,920 –> 00:43:21,120
That’s a silly word, the that
the great task that Abraham is

767
00:43:21,120 –> 00:43:24,200
given.
It’s not so much the sacrifice

768
00:43:24,200 –> 00:43:27,840
of his son, but the journey that
he makes knowing that he’s going

769
00:43:27,840 –> 00:43:31,920
to give his son back to God,
realizing that Isaac is not his.

770
00:43:32,840 –> 00:43:36,200
But gods, and that’s the
realization process that Pharaoh

771
00:43:36,200 –> 00:43:43,120
never comes to John chapter 8.
Where do I want to bring you?

772
00:43:44,320 –> 00:43:46,680
It’s going at verse 31.
Jesus said to the Jews who

773
00:43:46,680 –> 00:43:49,600
believed on him.
If you continue in My word, then

774
00:43:49,600 –> 00:43:54,280
you are my disciples indeed, and
you shall know the truth, and

775
00:43:54,280 –> 00:43:57,560
the truth will make you free.
And they answered him.

776
00:43:59,480 –> 00:44:01,720
They answered him.
We are Abraham’s seed.

777
00:44:02,720 –> 00:44:04,640
And we were never in bondage to
anyone.

778
00:44:05,520 –> 00:44:09,320
How can you say we shall be made
free?

779
00:44:10,000 –> 00:44:12,920
Did it make any sense?
And that dialogue is going to

780
00:44:12,920 –> 00:44:14,280
continue, isn’t it?
Truly?

781
00:44:14,280 –> 00:44:17,440
I say to you, the Lord says
whoever commits sin is the

782
00:44:17,440 –> 00:44:19,840
servant of sin, and the servant
does not abide in the house

783
00:44:19,840 –> 00:44:22,640
forever, but the Son abides
forever.

784
00:44:23,120 –> 00:44:27,000
If the Son therefore shall make
you free, you shall be free

785
00:44:27,000 –> 00:44:29,880
indeed.
I know you’re Abraham’s seed,

786
00:44:30,640 –> 00:44:34,600
but you seek to kill me because
my word has no place in you.

787
00:44:35,520 –> 00:44:42,320
I by contrast, speak that which
I have seen with my father, and

788
00:44:42,320 –> 00:44:45,560
you do things which you have
seen with your father.

789
00:44:46,560 –> 00:44:48,640
And they answered him and said,
well, Abraham’s our father.

790
00:44:48,640 –> 00:44:51,720
And Jesus said, if Abraham were
your father, if you were

791
00:44:51,720 –> 00:44:55,680
Abraham’s children, you would do
the work of Abraham.

792
00:44:55,960 –> 00:44:57,160
And he goes on to say, doesn’t
he?

793
00:44:57,160 –> 00:45:00,880
Verse 44 You are of your father
the devil, and the lusts of your

794
00:45:00,880 –> 00:45:04,360
father you will do.
We have never been in bondage

795
00:45:04,360 –> 00:45:07,400
before is the great lie that you
tell yourself.

796
00:45:07,520 –> 00:45:10,840
And I tell myself we have never
been in captivity.

797
00:45:11,200 –> 00:45:13,200
I have always been able to do it
myself.

798
00:45:13,480 –> 00:45:16,040
I do not need shackles.
I want to go out and do whatever

799
00:45:16,040 –> 00:45:18,240
I choose.
And I just suggest to you,

800
00:45:18,240 –> 00:45:20,960
brothers and sisters, if you
continue to insist it, and if I

801
00:45:20,960 –> 00:45:25,360
continue to tell myself that in
my private moments that then we

802
00:45:25,360 –> 00:45:30,040
haven’t repented.
Because I’m absolutely convinced

803
00:45:30,040 –> 00:45:32,000
that all of my sin is still
somebody else’s fault.

804
00:45:32,000 –> 00:45:34,480
I’m not mine.
And it goes to the very heart of

805
00:45:34,480 –> 00:45:37,160
our key doctrines, doesn’t it?
That we are sin prone and that

806
00:45:37,160 –> 00:45:40,840
we need redemption, Not that we
can be our best selves if only

807
00:45:40,840 –> 00:45:42,400
we can get everything else out
of the way.

808
00:45:44,080 –> 00:45:48,440
Not that my lack of ability to
be my authentic self is just the

809
00:45:48,440 –> 00:45:50,600
frameworks and the structures
and the other things that get in

810
00:45:50,600 –> 00:45:55,000
the way of me.
Because if the barriers are the

811
00:45:55,000 –> 00:45:58,120
only problem, then everything
must be right with me.

812
00:45:59,560 –> 00:46:04,800
And we know very well that that
is not the case. 2025 has got

813
00:46:04,800 –> 00:46:11,080
some, some real problems.
There is division in this

814
00:46:11,080 –> 00:46:13,600
country, there is division in my
country, there is division

815
00:46:13,600 –> 00:46:15,920
across most of the Western world
at the moment.

816
00:46:15,920 –> 00:46:18,880
It’s why things are so utterly
dysfunctional.

817
00:46:19,160 –> 00:46:20,600
So you can never get anything
done.

818
00:46:21,760 –> 00:46:24,400
And there was this conflict
going on between, or so it seems

819
00:46:24,400 –> 00:46:28,320
we are being told this between,
you know, me and my choices and

820
00:46:28,320 –> 00:46:29,920
the artificial forces of
society.

821
00:46:29,920 –> 00:46:31,720
And I am born good, so the
theory goes.

822
00:46:31,720 –> 00:46:34,560
But I am tricked by Big Pharma
and Big government and

823
00:46:34,560 –> 00:46:37,520
civilization itself and all of
these other issues into some

824
00:46:37,640 –> 00:46:39,800
living something short of my
best life.

825
00:46:40,720 –> 00:46:42,640
And all I need is to get these
things out of the way and I’ll

826
00:46:42,640 –> 00:46:44,880
be able to be who I should be.
Get rid of the external

827
00:46:44,880 –> 00:46:46,840
barriers, and success will
naturally follow.

828
00:46:49,160 –> 00:46:51,840
And it ain’t true.
That’s how dictators.

829
00:46:51,840 –> 00:46:54,160
Come to power, actually.
By saying that other people are

830
00:46:54,160 –> 00:46:57,760
to blame for the job market,
other people are to blame for

831
00:46:57,760 –> 00:47:00,360
the crime levels.
Because after all, if we’re Born

832
00:47:00,360 –> 00:47:02,160
Free, then the fault must be
somebody else’s.

833
00:47:02,360 –> 00:47:04,320
We are not Born Free.
Brothers and sisters, whatever

834
00:47:04,320 –> 00:47:06,640
you are being told, you are
literally not Born Free.

835
00:47:07,000 –> 00:47:09,800
You are literally born tethered
to somebody else.

836
00:47:11,760 –> 00:47:15,800
Everything from the very moment
of your birth tells you that you

837
00:47:15,800 –> 00:47:19,200
are not Born Free, even though
the narrative goes in completely

838
00:47:19,200 –> 00:47:21,360
the opposite direction.
Why is that so important?

839
00:47:21,360 –> 00:47:24,120
Because because any rehab
patient will tell you that you

840
00:47:24,120 –> 00:47:27,560
can’t get through rehab until
you realize what you are sick

841
00:47:27,560 –> 00:47:31,320
with.
You can only come through it if

842
00:47:31,320 –> 00:47:33,040
you’ve identified what the
problem is.

843
00:47:34,960 –> 00:47:39,040
We’ve only recognized our
discipleship and understood what

844
00:47:39,040 –> 00:47:42,320
God is telling us if we realize
that the issues with our freedom

845
00:47:42,320 –> 00:47:45,600
come from here.
Not that I can farm it out and

846
00:47:45,600 –> 00:47:47,720
somebody else and blame them.
I saw.

847
00:47:47,720 –> 00:47:50,240
I forget who I said this to on
Saturday.

848
00:47:50,880 –> 00:47:54,720
So somebody in my gym wearing,
not my gym, in the gym I go to

849
00:47:54,720 –> 00:47:56,280
randomly because I think I’m
unfit.

850
00:47:56,560 –> 00:48:02,400
Saw somebody in that gym wearing
AT shirt and it said I can’t

851
00:48:02,400 –> 00:48:04,000
hear you because of how epic I
am.

852
00:48:05,400 –> 00:48:07,680
And I thought if that does not
sum up everything I want to say

853
00:48:07,680 –> 00:48:09,120
in this series, I don’t know
what does.

854
00:48:10,080 –> 00:48:11,960
I cannot hear you because of how
epic I am.

855
00:48:12,480 –> 00:48:16,920
I need to fix me, and God will
take care of the stuff on the

856
00:48:16,920 –> 00:48:20,880
outside because He’s in control
of these things as He was for

857
00:48:20,880 –> 00:48:26,720
His people, as He was when He
called them to be His servants

858
00:48:26,720 –> 00:48:30,520
on a mountain, as He was when
the fire came down and Moses

859
00:48:30,520 –> 00:48:33,600
exceedingly feared and quaked
and all of that great power and

860
00:48:33,600 –> 00:48:35,160
glory was shown on top of the
hill.

861
00:48:36,200 –> 00:48:41,280
Our task is to make the exit,
the Exodus, louder in your life

862
00:48:41,280 –> 00:48:43,760
and mine.
Our greatest threat to freedom

863
00:48:44,680 –> 00:48:48,520
comes from us, which is why, I
suppose, when you think about

864
00:48:48,520 –> 00:48:53,240
it, delivering Israel from
Pharaoh took 10 plagues, but

865
00:48:53,240 –> 00:48:57,600
delivering that first generation
from themselves took 40 years

866
00:48:58,560 –> 00:49:01,280
because it was not as easy as
just moving from one physical

867
00:49:01,280 –> 00:49:04,440
place to another.
That’s why baptism matters,

868
00:49:04,840 –> 00:49:07,840
because it’s a memorial to
freedom on God’s terms.

869
00:49:08,640 –> 00:49:11,120
That’s why bread and wine
matters, because it’s a memorial

870
00:49:11,120 –> 00:49:14,320
to freedom on God’s terms.
That’s why the apostle Paul,

871
00:49:14,320 –> 00:49:16,360
when he writes to the
Corinthians, says where the

872
00:49:16,360 –> 00:49:21,560
Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom because he’s speaking in

873
00:49:21,600 –> 00:49:24,680
the context of Egypt and the
Exodus.

874
00:49:26,080 –> 00:49:31,000
The God of Israel sets us free.
The God of Exodus sets us free.

875
00:49:31,600 –> 00:49:35,280
Free from sin, Free from the
burdens of the law.

876
00:49:35,680 –> 00:49:40,800
Free to speak boldly, Free to
enter the veil without fear.

877
00:49:41,400 –> 00:49:47,280
Free, perhaps above all, to
serve in spirit and in truth.