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Voddie Baucham - Israel's Classical Education · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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Speaker 1: I have long been a fan of classical education, a
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Speaker 1: proponent of classical education, and even an exponent of classical education.
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Speaker 1: The whole idea of learning through the trivium, if you will,
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Speaker 1: the grammar phase and the logic phase and the rhetoric phase.
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Speaker 1: I have grown and deepened in my understanding and appreciation
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Speaker 1: for classical education in a historical sense. I've also grown
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Speaker 1: in my appreciation for it even as I consider other
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Speaker 1: things that I have to learn and come to understand.
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Speaker 1: I've often thought to myself, what would I do if,
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Speaker 1: at this point in my life I had to go
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Speaker 1: and learn how to do something else, and I would
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Speaker 1: go through the same thing. I would go through the trivium.
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Speaker 1: I would go through a grammar phase where I would
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Speaker 1: have to learn the basic lingo of whatever that field is.
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Speaker 1: I'd have to have a new glossary of terms, and
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Speaker 1: I'd have to memorize rules, regulations, policies, procedures. And then
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Speaker 1: after that grammar phase, I'd go to the logic phase,
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Speaker 1: where I would begin to apply those things, and eventually,
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Speaker 1: through time and effort and work, get to the rhetoric phase,
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Speaker 1: where I would then be able to adapt and to
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Speaker 1: improvise regardless of what we do. We go through this
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Speaker 1: same kind of process. When we learn how to read.
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Speaker 1: We start in that grammar phase where there is root memorization,
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Speaker 1: and we don't understand the memorization. We just memorize it.
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Speaker 1: We don't know what it's for, we just memorize it.
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Speaker 1: We don't like memorizing it, but we memorize it. And
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Speaker 1: the grammar phase we're learning the rules of grammar. We
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Speaker 1: don't like the rules of grammar, but we learn the
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Speaker 1: rules of grammar. We can't stand the rules of grammar,
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Speaker 1: especially when we find that there are certain things that
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Speaker 1: break the rules of grammar. Why has a what W?
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Speaker 1: But one doesn't have a W? That ain't right, amen, somebody.
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Speaker 1: But we learn the rules of grammar, and then we
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Speaker 1: begin to apply them, and we get to the logic phase.
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Speaker 1: And now, all of a sudden, in the logic phase,
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Speaker 1: we can read complex materials, and we can actually read
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Speaker 1: words that we've never seen before, because in the grammar phase,
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Speaker 1: we learn the rules that we can apply to any
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Speaker 1: word that we ever come across. Then we get to
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Speaker 1: the rhetoric phase, and now we cannot only read, but
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Speaker 1: we can write and make arguments in mathematics, we start
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Speaker 1: off in the grammar phase and we're learning our multiplication tables,
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Speaker 1: and we get sick and tired of learning our multiplication
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Speaker 1: tables over and over and over for again enough already,
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Speaker 1: I know these already. And then eventually we get from
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Speaker 1: the grammar phase to the logic phase, and now we're
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Speaker 1: actually using it and we're getting to do things like
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Speaker 1: arithmetic an algebra, and it's amazing. But eventually, if we
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Speaker 1: stick with it, we can get to the rhetoric phase,
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Speaker 1: and now we can do things calculus maybe. And then
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Speaker 1: when it comes to our faith, many of us in
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Speaker 1: this room have just now been introduced to this same
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Speaker 1: approach as it relates to discipling our children. We start
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Speaker 1: them off in the grammar phase, and in the grammar
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Speaker 1: phase we catechize them and they learn the Catechism, and
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Speaker 1: it's rope memorization. They have no idea what most of
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Speaker 1: it means, but they just learn it. It's been amazing
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Speaker 1: every time we start back over with the Catechism for
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Speaker 1: boys and girls. I love the way the room sounds,
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Speaker 1: because you know, when we're doing whatever it is that
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Speaker 1: we're reading, whatever it is that we're going through in
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Speaker 1: that time of the service. Usually hear a bunch of
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Speaker 1: adult voices, but there are certain small voices that can't
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Speaker 1: read yet that can't quite get in on it. But
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Speaker 1: when we do the Catechism for boys and girls, there're
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Speaker 1: kids who can't read yet, but they know the answers
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Speaker 1: to the questions for the Catechism of Boys and Girls.
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Speaker 1: So there's a whole nother layer of sound that comes
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Speaker 1: in to our responsive reading time because these children are
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Speaker 1: being taught that in the grammar phase, they don't know
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Speaker 1: what it means, but eventually they will and they'll get
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Speaker 1: to the logic phase. And then the logic phase they'll
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Speaker 1: be able to read scripture and understand and make connections
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Speaker 1: theological connections to the texts that they are reading, and
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Speaker 1: eventually you stick with it and you get to the
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Speaker 1: rhetoric phase, and now you can actually synthesize texts and
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Speaker 1: make theological arguments as you grow through this process. The
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Speaker 1: same could be said for redemptive history as a whole,
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Speaker 1: and what we're looking at here as we march through
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Speaker 1: Exodus is Israel in the grammar phase of their development.
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Speaker 1: You see, it's not that the Christian and the Jew
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Speaker 1: the new Covenant believer and the old Covenant believer have
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Speaker 1: completely different faiths. It's not that we worship different gods.
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Speaker 1: It is that God has revealed himself progressively throughout history,
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Speaker 1: and early on there was much less of an understanding
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Speaker 1: of God's redemptive plan than there is today. And what
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Speaker 1: we see in Exodus as we look at our texts
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Speaker 1: in Exodus chapter sixteen, is we see Israel in the
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Speaker 1: very early phases of their development, the grammar phase, if
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Speaker 1: you will. And eventually there's another phase that comes, and
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Speaker 1: I would say that that second phase that comes is
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Speaker 1: when Christ arrives on the scene. There is no New Testament,
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Speaker 1: yet we're still in that same phase of understanding, now
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Speaker 1: coming out of it to the phase where Christ is
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Speaker 1: the realization of all of these basic fundamental things that
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Speaker 1: have been taught. And then we move from that phase
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Speaker 1: into the rhetoric phase, if you will, which is where
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Speaker 1: we would be today. And it's unfortunate that many cannot
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Speaker 1: see that, and because of it, there are a lot
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Speaker 1: of people who've never worked through Exodus I six team
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Speaker 1: because you see an Exodus if you're a Christian that
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Speaker 1: sees a hardline division and distinction between Israel and the Church.
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Speaker 1: You may see some value in looking at the first
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Speaker 1: parts of Exodus and seeing the story of the baby
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Speaker 1: in the basket. You may see some value looking at
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Speaker 1: the plagues and Exodus and their deliverance at the Red Sea.
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Speaker 1: You may even see some value in going to Exodus
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Speaker 1: twenty and looking at the decalogue, although there are many
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Speaker 1: who wouldn't see value in that either. We'll talk about
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Speaker 1: that more when we get there. But there's very little
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Speaker 1: value in a text like the text that we're looking
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Speaker 1: at today unless you understand this connection of redemptive history.
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Speaker 1: There is an election inexorable link between us and the people, places, promises,
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Speaker 1: and events of Exodus sixteen. In fact, until we recognize this,
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Speaker 1: we will fail to see and depreciate the full scope
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Speaker 1: and magnitude of our own redemption because we won't fully
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Speaker 1: understand how God achieved it. We also won't understand certain
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Speaker 1: things in the New Testament, like, for example, when Paul
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Speaker 1: writes in Galatians three twenty three to twenty nine, Now,
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Speaker 1: before faith came, we were held captive under the law,
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Speaker 1: imprisoned until the coming Faith would be revealed. So then
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Speaker 1: the law was our guardian until Christ came in order
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Speaker 1: that we might be justified by faith. But now that
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Speaker 1: faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
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Speaker 1: For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God
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Speaker 1: through faith. For as many of you as were baptized
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Speaker 1: into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew
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Speaker 1: nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is
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Speaker 1: no male and female. For you are all one in
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Speaker 1: Christ Jesus. And that next line, and you are Christ's.
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Speaker 1: If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offsprings airs
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Speaker 1: according to promise. Paul says, if we belong to Christ,
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Speaker 1: then we belong to the people of Exodus sixteen. If
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Speaker 1: we belong to Christ, we are heirs of Abraham, not
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Speaker 1: just as much as people who are part of Abraham's ethnicity,
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Speaker 1: but more than people who are part of ethnicity but
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Speaker 1: don't share his faith. So when we look at Exodus sixteen,
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Speaker 1: it's important that we realize we're not reading someone else's story.
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Speaker 1: We're reading our own story. What I want to help
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Speaker 1: us see today is the thread that connects us. I
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Speaker 1: want us to see how Christ and his redemptive work
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Speaker 1: point us back to Israel and their redemption. I want
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Speaker 1: us to see how Moses and his mediatorial work point
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Speaker 1: us forward to Christ. In essence, I want us to
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Speaker 1: see how Jesus is the greater Moses, and how Moses
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Speaker 1: is in fact a type of Christ. I want us
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Speaker 1: to get an idea of what would have gone through
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Speaker 1: the minds of Matthew's first readers as he unfolded Israel's
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Speaker 1: redemptive history as he had come to see it in
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Speaker 1: the life of the Messiah. And I want you to
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Speaker 1: see that you and I are weak, frail, and needy
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Speaker 1: as Israel was in the desert, and that in our weakness,
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Speaker 1: and in our frailty and in our need, God has patiently,
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Speaker 1: gently and lovingly redeemed us in spite of us, and
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Speaker 1: not because of us. Amen, with that in mind, joined
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Speaker 1: me here in Exodus chapter sixteen, beginning at verse four.
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Speaker 1: We'll read the text first and then come back through it.
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Speaker 1: I want you to sort of get a sense of it.
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Speaker 1: And what I want to do is read beyond our
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Speaker 1: particular text, and you'll see why. Verse four. Then the
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Speaker 1: Lord said to Moses, behold, I am about to rain
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Speaker 1: bread from heaven for you and the people shall go
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Speaker 1: out and gather a day's portion every day that I
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Speaker 1: may test them whether they will walk in my law
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Speaker 1: or not. On the sixth day, when you prepare what
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Speaker 1: they bring in, it will be twice as much as
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Speaker 1: they gather daily. So Moses and Aaron said to all
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Speaker 1: the people of Israel. At evening you shall know that
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Speaker 1: it was the Lord who brought you out of the
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Speaker 1: land of Egypt. And in the morning you shall see
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Speaker 1: the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your
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Speaker 1: grumbling against the Lord. For what are we that you
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Speaker 1: grumble against us? Hold on to that phrase, by the way,
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Speaker 1: those two those friend you grumble against the Lord? What
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Speaker 1: are we that you grumble against us? Next verse and
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Speaker 1: Moses said, when the Lord gives you in the evening
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Speaker 1: meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full,
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Speaker 1: because the Lord has heard your grumbling. There it is
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Speaker 1: again that you grumble against him. What are we? Your
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Speaker 1: grumbling is not against us, but against the Lord. Notice
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Speaker 1: the same pattern. I think Moses a little bit tired, y'all,
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Speaker 1: just a little bit. Next verse, then Moses said to Aaron,
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Speaker 1: say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel,
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Speaker 1: come near before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.
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Speaker 1: And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation
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Speaker 1: of the people of Israel. They looked toward the wilderness,
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Speaker 1: and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
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Speaker 1: And the Lord said to Moses, I have heard the
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Speaker 1: grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them. At
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Speaker 1: twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you
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Speaker 1: should be filled with bread. Then you shall know that
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Speaker 1: I am the Lord your God. In fact, we won't
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Speaker 1: read on. We'll stop there. There are a number of
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Speaker 1: things that we find here that relate to Israel's story,
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Speaker 1: end to ours, and to the astute reader of the
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Speaker 1: New Testament. You recognized a number of themes here, and
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Speaker 1: I want to bring those themes out in order to
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Speaker 1: help you grasp this concept of redemptive history, also in
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Speaker 1: order to prepare us as we move toward a fuller
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Speaker 1: discussion of covenant theology and Baptist Covenant theology in particular.
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Speaker 1: We talk about this all the time, but we're going
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Speaker 1: to explain that in a more careful fashion as we
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Speaker 1: get here, because there are so many of us who
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Speaker 1: sort of take these things for granted and don't really
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Speaker 1: understand what is meant when we talk about covenant theology.
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Speaker 1: There are so many of us who are still mired
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Speaker 1: in other approaches to reading the text and other approaches
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Speaker 1: to looking at redemptive history, so much so that we
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Speaker 1: neglect some of these very truths and would look at
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Speaker 1: a text like this and not really see its value
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Speaker 1: to us as new Covenant believers. But it's valuable in
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Speaker 1: that it gives us four truths that are divided into
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Speaker 1: two halves, and both of them are the essence of
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Speaker 1: our relationship with God, just like they're the essence of
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Speaker 1: Israel's relationship with God. In the first half, we see
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Speaker 1: the God who speaks, and in the second half we
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Speaker 1: see the God who is there, the God who speaks,
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Speaker 1: and the God who is there, And this is our God.
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Speaker 1: This is how we know God. This is the only
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Speaker 1: way that we can know God, the God who speaks.
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Speaker 1: If God doesn't reveal himself, then we don't know him.
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Speaker 1: If God doesn't reveal himself, then we're like all the
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Speaker 1: other religions out there, trying to find a way to
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Speaker 1: explain the world in which we live and to explain
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Speaker 1: the one who is in control of the world in
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Speaker 1: which we live. Unless God speaks, then we're like people
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Speaker 1: who offer sacrifices to the volcano so that it will
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Speaker 1: be appeased and not irrupt anymore. Unless God speaks, We're
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Speaker 1: like the ones who sacrifice their children so that the
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Speaker 1: drought will end and the rain will come, or like
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Speaker 1: the ones who gather around a fire and do a
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Speaker 1: rain dance so that the rain will come. Because we
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Speaker 1: do not understand who God is unless God speaks. Unless
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Speaker 1: God speaks, we will find individuals that we believe to
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Speaker 1: be gods, and we will worship them. Unless God speaks,
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Speaker 1: we will worship hundreds, if not thousands, of gods. Unless
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Speaker 1: God speaks. We have no way to know how it
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Speaker 1: is to worship God rightly unless God peace. How then
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Speaker 1: does he speak to things in precept and through his profits.
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Speaker 1: Look at verses four and five. Then the Lord said
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Speaker 1: to Moses, behold, I am about to rain bread from
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Speaker 1: heaven for you, and the people shall go out and
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Speaker 1: gather a day's portion every day, that I may test
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Speaker 1: them whether they will walk in my law or not.
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Speaker 1: On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in,
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Speaker 1: it will be twice as much as they gather daily.
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Speaker 1: Now we'll see this on next week even more clearly.
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Speaker 1: But this is an allusion to the Fourth Commandment. Ironically enough,
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Speaker 1: this is very important because one of the things that
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Speaker 1: distinguishes Covenant theology is the understanding of the appropriateness and
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Speaker 1: the perpetuity of the moral law, specifically in the form
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Speaker 1: of the Ten Commandments and all ten of the Commandments,
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Speaker 1: and the one commandment that tends to separate Reformed Christians
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Speaker 1: from other Christians is the Fourth Commandment, the Sabbath Commandment,
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Speaker 1: because those who are not in the Reformed camp tend
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Speaker 1: to make the argument that the other commandments are only
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Speaker 1: appropriate to the degree that they've been mentioned in the
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Speaker 1: New Testament, and if they haven't been mentioned expressly and
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Speaker 1: explicitly in the New Testament, then they're not really applicable.
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Speaker 1: There are others who would make a little bit more
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Speaker 1: sophisticated argument and basically say that well, because this is
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Speaker 1: the Ten Commandments are expressly part of the Mosaic Covenant,
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Speaker 1: and as New Covenant believers were not bound to the
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Speaker 1: Mosaic Covenant, were also not bound to the ten Commandments.
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Speaker 1: And regardless of which one of those positions people take,
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Speaker 1: what it ultimately results in as a nine commandment position,
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Speaker 1: Whether ten Commandment doesn't matter. But there's a problem there.
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Speaker 1: There's two problems there, and you just see one of
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Speaker 1: them here in Exodus sixteen. In Exodus sixteen, it is
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Speaker 1: clear that we have the concept of sabbath before the
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Speaker 1: giving of the Decalogue. The concept of the sabbath is
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Speaker 1: here in Exodus sixteen. We'll say more about it on
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Speaker 1: next week. It's here in Exodus sixteen. Not only is
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Speaker 1: it here in Exodus sixteen, but even in Exodus chapter twenty.
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Speaker 1: The reference point is Genesis two, so that it's a
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Speaker 1: creation ordinance which transcends the Mosaic Covenant. But again more
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Speaker 1: on that next week, and then more particularly when we
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Speaker 1: get to the Decalogue itself. The point here is that
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Speaker 1: God is making reference to his law, and particularly here
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Speaker 1: he's making reference to the fourth Commandment. So he's going
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Speaker 1: to give them bread from heaven. But when he gives
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Speaker 1: them his bread from heaven, it's going to be connected
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Speaker 1: to his law, and he's going to test them. By
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Speaker 1: the way this testing of them, it's not as though
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Speaker 1: God doesn't know that they're sinners. God knows that they're sinners.
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Speaker 1: The testing here, the words, the way that they're used here,
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Speaker 1: God is disciplining his people he is teaching his people,
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Speaker 1: He is preparing his people for his law. The only
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Speaker 1: way that they would get this right is if somehow
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Speaker 1: obedience to the law were inherent to them as Israelites.
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Speaker 1: And we know that's not true. Amen. So the testing
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Speaker 1: here is not to see whether or not they have
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Speaker 1: a predisposition to the keeping of this law. But the
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Speaker 1: testing here is about a training of the people and
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Speaker 1: prepare his people for this, because this is what's going
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Speaker 1: to set them apart. Remember as well, that they did
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Speaker 1: not observe the Sabbath in Egypt. Pharaoh wasn't given days off. Y'all.
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Speaker 1: Hey man, Pharaoh did not have this one day and
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Speaker 1: seven precept. Pharaoh did not live by this precept, which
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Speaker 1: means that Israel for hundreds of years did not live
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Speaker 1: by this precept. They don't know how to do it.
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Speaker 1: You have been around somebody who just can't rest. If
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Speaker 1: your answer is no, then you're probably that person. But
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Speaker 1: there are people for whom the world is just not okay.
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Speaker 1: If they're not doing something, there's like another thing on
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Speaker 1: the list that's not done. And we got to get
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Speaker 1: to that other thing on the list that's not done.
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Speaker 1: Because the world is not okay. Hey. It's almost as
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Speaker 1: though you look at them and their attitude is such
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Speaker 1: that they believe that if they don't do the next
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Speaker 1: thing on the list right now, they'll explode. They'll never
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Speaker 1: say that, but that's their attitude. And for those people,
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Speaker 1: not even the Lord's Day can be a day of rest.
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Speaker 1: And ultimately, what that is is the belief that it's
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Speaker 1: not going to be okay. If I give God his time,
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Speaker 1: it's not going to be all right, because I don't
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Speaker 1: believe that God is capable of holding the universe together.
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Speaker 1: If I take my hands off the wheel, you can't
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Speaker 1: say amen. You ought to say ouch. But this is
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Speaker 1: the precept. And so He's going to train his people
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Speaker 1: with this precept. But this precept is designed to teach
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Speaker 1: them something. And so we have mo j who is
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Speaker 1: the teacher and the giver of these precepts. God is
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Speaker 1: going to give these precepts through Moses. And here in
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Speaker 1: the grammar phase, if you will, all Israel is going
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Speaker 1: to have is this rule, not understanding its fullness. But
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Speaker 1: Jesus brings a more sure word. They have these precepts,
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Speaker 1: they have these rules. But listen to what we have
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Speaker 1: in two Peter one nineteen, for example. And we have
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Speaker 1: the prophetic word more fully confirmed to what you will
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Speaker 1: do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining
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Speaker 1: in a dark place, until the day dawns of the
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Speaker 1: morning star arises in your hearts. We have a more
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Speaker 1: sure word. They have these precepts, but that's all they
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Speaker 1: have is these precepts. We've got something more. These precepts
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Speaker 1: were pointing to something. They were pointing to Christ. Christ comes,
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Speaker 1: and we see what these precepts were all about. Hebrews one,
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Speaker 1: one and two ago, at many times and in many ways,
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Speaker 1: God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in
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Speaker 1: these last days he has spoken to us by his son,
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Speaker 1: whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom
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Speaker 1: also he created the world. We don't just have the
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Speaker 1: precepts of God. We have the one to whom the
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Speaker 1: precepts pointed. We don't just have the precepts of God.
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Speaker 1: We have the one who actually achieved obedience to the
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Speaker 1: precepts of God. You see, Israel had the precepts of God,
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Speaker 1: but they couldn't keep the precepts of God. Not even
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Speaker 1: Moses could keep the precepts of God. He could tell
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Speaker 1: the people what the precepts were, but he failed at
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Speaker 1: keeping the precepts himself. So all they hawt is this
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Speaker 1: law that is perpetually broken. But it's not until Christ
25:04
Speaker 1: comes that we see the law actually obeyed. So he
25:09
Speaker 1: is the giver of the law and the keeper of
25:11
Speaker 1: the law. So he's the greater Moses. But beyond that,
25:16
Speaker 1: he is the precept Listen to what John says in
25:19
Speaker 1: John one one through five. In the beginning was the Word,
25:22
Speaker 1: and the word was God, and the excuse me, Guinea's word.
25:26
Speaker 1: And the word was with God, and the word was God.
25:29
Speaker 1: He was in the beginning with God. All things were
25:32
Speaker 1: made through him, and without him was not anything made
25:36
Speaker 1: that has been made. And him was life, and the
25:39
Speaker 1: life was the light of men. The light shines in
25:41
Speaker 1: the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome Ituz. So
25:49
Speaker 1: Israel has the precepts of God. Amen, they have these rules.
25:54
Speaker 1: What do these rules? Do? These rules train them? And
25:57
Speaker 1: these rules show them that they can't keep the rules
26:02
Speaker 1: because it's all they are. But eventually Christ comes. And
26:07
Speaker 1: when Christ comes, we see what these precepts pointed to.
26:12
Speaker 1: We have something more sure, we have something more firm.
26:15
Speaker 1: We have Christ, and Christ is the only one who
26:18
Speaker 1: has kept these laws. Which is amazing because now we
26:22
Speaker 1: see that not only is Christ the greater Moses, but
26:26
Speaker 1: he's also the true Israel because Israel is to keep
26:30
Speaker 1: these precepts. But before Christ comes, Israel cannot keep these precepts.
26:36
Speaker 1: It is only in the person and work of Christ
26:39
Speaker 1: that Israel actually keeps the law, that Israel actually keeps
26:44
Speaker 1: the precepts. And beyond that, He is the Word of God.
26:51
Speaker 1: And beyond that also when we come to Christ. Now
26:56
Speaker 1: we have kept the precepts of God's word as well,
27:01
Speaker 1: because we are found in Christ, so that we too
27:06
Speaker 1: are part of true Israel because we're found in Christ.
27:14
Speaker 1: This is the marvel of the God who speaks through
27:19
Speaker 1: his precepts. And eventually we have the written Word, which
27:27
Speaker 1: is the record of all that I've just said. But
27:30
Speaker 1: God doesn't just speak through his precepts. He also speaks
27:33
Speaker 1: through his prophets. Look at verses six through nine of
27:38
Speaker 1: Exodus sixteen, Moses and Aaron said, here's the first to
27:45
Speaker 1: all the people of Israel. At evening. You shall know
27:48
Speaker 1: that it was the Lord who brought you out of
27:50
Speaker 1: the land of Egypt. So you're going to know. In
27:53
Speaker 1: the morning you shall see the glory of God. You're
27:55
Speaker 1: going to see because he has heard your grumbling. He's
27:57
Speaker 1: heard you're grumbling. He's heard your grumbling against the Lord.
28:02
Speaker 1: Moses want to make this real clear. You're grumbling against
28:06
Speaker 1: the Lord because he has heard your grumblings against the Lord.
28:11
Speaker 1: For what are we that you grumble against us? And
28:16
Speaker 1: Moses said, first, as Moses and Aaron said. And Moses said,
28:20
Speaker 1: when the Lord gives you in the evening meet to
28:23
Speaker 1: eat in the morning, bread to the fall. Because the
28:26
Speaker 1: Lord has heard your grumblings, that you grumble against him,
28:30
Speaker 1: what are we Your grumbling is not against us, but
28:33
Speaker 1: against the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, say to
28:36
Speaker 1: the whole congregation of the people of Israel, come near
28:39
Speaker 1: before the Lord. He has heard your grumblings. Moses is
28:44
Speaker 1: fed up with the grumblings of the people. Moses was
28:52
Speaker 1: the prototypical prophet of God. And yet, as the prototypical
28:58
Speaker 1: prophet of God, even Moses has to remind the people
29:03
Speaker 1: I am the prophet of God. I'm not God, or
29:08
Speaker 1: as I like to say it, I don't write the mail,
29:11
Speaker 1: I deliver it. Amen. And this is a normal and
29:18
Speaker 1: natural tendency on behalf of the people. And it occurs
29:23
Speaker 1: again and again and again. The people are dissatisfied with God,
29:29
Speaker 1: but they come to Moses because Moses is the mediator
29:35
Speaker 1: between them and God. And Moses gets fed up with
29:39
Speaker 1: hearing the grumblings of the people, and he goes back
29:42
Speaker 1: to God with the grumbling of the people, and he says, God,
29:45
Speaker 1: they're grumbling again. What are you going to do about it?
29:49
Speaker 1: And then he comes back to the people and says,
29:50
Speaker 1: God has heard your grumbling, and here's what God's going
29:53
Speaker 1: to do about it. This prophet who is immediated. And
30:05
Speaker 1: yet even Moses announced the coming of another prophet. Moses
30:11
Speaker 1: announced the coming of a greater prophet, of a greater Moses.
30:17
Speaker 1: Deuteronomy eighteen fifteen through nineteen. The Lord your God will
30:22
Speaker 1: raise up for you a prophet like me from among you,
30:27
Speaker 1: from your brothers. It is to him. You shall listen,
30:32
Speaker 1: just as you desired of the Lord your God at
30:37
Speaker 1: Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said,
30:41
Speaker 1: let me hear again the voice of the Lord, my God,
30:44
Speaker 1: or see this great fire anymore lest I die. And
30:50
Speaker 1: the Lord said to me, they are right in what
30:53
Speaker 1: they have spoken, I will raise up for them a
30:57
Speaker 1: prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will
31:00
Speaker 1: put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak
31:03
Speaker 1: to them all that I command. And whoever will not
31:08
Speaker 1: listen to my words, that he shall speak in my name,
31:12
Speaker 1: I myself will require it of him. Does this not
31:18
Speaker 1: sound familiar? How can anyone who's ever read Jesus' words
31:24
Speaker 1: in the New Testament not realize that he was screaming
31:29
Speaker 1: to the people, I am the prophet of Deuteronomy eighteen.
31:38
Speaker 1: Jesus takes his place as this prophet of prophets in
31:44
Speaker 1: the Sermon on the mount when he says, time and
31:47
Speaker 1: time again, you have heard it said, But I say
31:50
Speaker 1: unto you. And when he does this, he's going to
31:54
Speaker 1: the Decalogue. He's going to the ten Commandments. So when
31:57
Speaker 1: Jesus says, you have heard it said, and then refers
32:00
Speaker 1: to one of the ten commandments, to whom is he referring,
32:04
Speaker 1: he's referring to Moses. He's come up onto a mountain
32:08
Speaker 1: and he's saying to the people, you've heard it said, commandment.
32:13
Speaker 1: But I say to you deeper understanding of commandment. He
32:17
Speaker 1: is announcing that he is the greater prophet to whom
32:21
Speaker 1: Moses pointed in Deuteronomy eighteen. Israel couldn't understand this in
32:28
Speaker 1: Exodus sixteen, but we can understand this today, and as
32:33
Speaker 1: we read Jesus' words, this is incredibly important. Not only that,
32:37
Speaker 1: but when Jesus does the miracles that he does, none
32:41
Speaker 1: of his miracles are wasted. You see, Moses is the
32:45
Speaker 1: great prophet of God's law. Elijah is the great prophet
32:52
Speaker 1: of God's miracles. Jesus goes on the mountain and he
32:57
Speaker 1: gives the law of Moses again and gives us a
33:01
Speaker 1: greater understanding of it. You've heard it said don't murder,
33:05
Speaker 1: and you think you're okay because you haven't killed anybody.
33:08
Speaker 1: But I say to you, if you hate your brother
33:10
Speaker 1: in your heart, you're already guilty. So he's the greater
33:13
Speaker 1: Moses who is giving us greater significance to what Moses taught.
33:17
Speaker 1: But he's also the greater Elijah, and that Elijah performed
33:20
Speaker 1: these miraculous feats, and Jesus comes and performs these exact
33:24
Speaker 1: same miracles, so that he announces himself as the ultimate
33:29
Speaker 1: prophet of God on both accounts, in both word and indeed,
33:36
Speaker 1: he's the greater Moses, and he's the greater Elijah. He's
33:40
Speaker 1: the one to whom Moses pointed, and he's the one
33:43
Speaker 1: to whom Elijah pointed. He is the God who speaks.
33:55
Speaker 1: He doesn't represent the God who speaks. He is the
34:02
Speaker 1: God who speaks. But then, remember we said there was
34:06
Speaker 1: another phase. So he had this phase in Moses's time
34:10
Speaker 1: where Moses is communicating these things to Israel and God
34:13
Speaker 1: is just shaping Israel. At this point of redemptive history,
34:16
Speaker 1: they don't understand the full picture. But later on Jesus comes,
34:20
Speaker 1: and now this picture is manifested. And then after that
34:26
Speaker 1: what comes. He sends the comforter, the Holy Spirit. And
34:30
Speaker 1: one of the first things that the Comforter does is
34:34
Speaker 1: that he gives utterance to the people of God on
34:38
Speaker 1: the day of Pentecost, so that the church explodes and
34:43
Speaker 1: he raises up these apostles, who then record what it
34:47
Speaker 1: is that they have received from Christ. So that now
34:52
Speaker 1: we've gone beyond one people wandering in the desert having
34:58
Speaker 1: one prophet who is telling them the word of God,
35:04
Speaker 1: to Jesus, who is the personification and manifestation of this
35:10
Speaker 1: truth and of this word, who accomplishes everything that this
35:13
Speaker 1: word was designed to accomplish to now, exploding that throughout
35:17
Speaker 1: the world, as the scriptures are given and as the
35:20
Speaker 1: Church is planted throughout the known world, it's above and beyond.
35:29
Speaker 1: But again in Exodus sixteen, they have no inclination of this.
35:35
Speaker 1: But does this mean that they're completely divorced from it?
35:38
Speaker 1: Absolutely not. He is still the God who speaks, except
35:43
Speaker 1: now he's the God who has spoken through his precept
35:46
Speaker 1: and through his prophets, and we have his word. In
35:52
Speaker 1: addition to this idea of the God who speaks, we
35:54
Speaker 1: also have the idea of the God who is there
35:57
Speaker 1: verse ten. And as soon as Aaron spoke to the
36:02
Speaker 1: whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward
36:05
Speaker 1: the wilderness and behold. Notice it begins with behold in
36:11
Speaker 1: verse four. Then the Lord said to Moses, behold, look
36:17
Speaker 1: watch That word is used here in Exodus over and
36:21
Speaker 1: over again when God is about to do something miraculous. Behold,
36:26
Speaker 1: watch what I'm about to do. And you always behold,
36:30
Speaker 1: so that you can see who God is. Egypt needed
36:34
Speaker 1: to behold why so they can know that I'm the Lord.
36:37
Speaker 1: Israel needs to behold? Why so that they can know
36:40
Speaker 1: that I'm the Lord. So Moses, behold, behold, watch what
36:43
Speaker 1: I'm about to do. And the glory of the Lord
36:48
Speaker 1: appeared in the cloud, not in a cloud, not with
36:56
Speaker 1: a cloud, but in cloud. In other words, this is
37:04
Speaker 1: a theophany. This is God appearing in the cloud. It
37:11
Speaker 1: guided the people, it guarded the people, It comforted the people,
37:17
Speaker 1: and it identified the people. Does this sound like any
37:22
Speaker 1: other way that we see God. Perhaps in the person
37:26
Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit, the true glory of God. Moses
37:34
Speaker 1: announced God's presence, and he showed people this cloud. However,
37:39
Speaker 1: Jesus is the presence of God. John ten twenty five
37:45
Speaker 1: to thirty. Jesus answered them, I told you, and you
37:48
Speaker 1: do not believe the works that I do in my
37:51
Speaker 1: father's name. Bear witness about me. But you do not
37:54
Speaker 1: believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep
37:57
Speaker 1: hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
38:00
Speaker 1: I give them eternal life, and they will never perish,
38:03
Speaker 1: and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
38:05
Speaker 1: My Father, who has given them to me, is greater
38:08
Speaker 1: than all, and no one is able to snatch them
38:10
Speaker 1: out of the Father's hand. I am the Father are one.
38:17
Speaker 1: He is the glory of God. In John one, we
38:22
Speaker 1: see that we beheld his glory, the glory of the
38:25
Speaker 1: only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
38:28
Speaker 1: Jesus is the Chicaina glory of God. This cloud is
38:35
Speaker 1: a mere foreshadowing of the presence of God among his people,
38:40
Speaker 1: and the glory of God among his people. We've beheld
38:44
Speaker 1: his glory, the glory of the only Begotten of the Father,
38:47
Speaker 1: full of grace and truth. We beheld the glory of God.
38:51
Speaker 1: He is the image of the invisible God, not a
38:55
Speaker 1: cloud but a man. In John fourteen, one of my
39:06
Speaker 1: favorite passages of scripture, the whole do not let your
39:10
Speaker 1: hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me
39:13
Speaker 1: in my father's house, many imaginers. If it weren't so,
39:16
Speaker 1: I would have told you, I'll go to prepare a
39:17
Speaker 1: place for you, so where I am he may be also,
39:20
Speaker 1: and that you know, I'll receive you to myself. So
39:22
Speaker 1: it's just wonderful. And then there's Thomas and he speaks
39:27
Speaker 1: up and we just go, oh, come on now. And
39:31
Speaker 1: if that wouldn't bad enough, then Philip chimes in. And
39:33
Speaker 1: here's where Philip chimes in in verse eight, Philip said
39:37
Speaker 1: to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is
39:41
Speaker 1: enough for us. Jesus, all this is awesome. But if
39:45
Speaker 1: you could you, if you get to show us God,
39:48
Speaker 1: I think that would do it. Right there, Jesus said
39:55
Speaker 1: to him. I know we can't see his face, we
40:01
Speaker 1: can't see his body language, but he had to be
40:05
Speaker 1: given him one of these. Have I been with you
40:11
Speaker 1: so long and you still do not know me? Philip,
40:17
Speaker 1: whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can
40:22
Speaker 1: you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe
40:26
Speaker 1: that I am in the Father and the Father is
40:28
Speaker 1: in me. The words that I say to you, I
40:32
Speaker 1: do not speak on my own authority, But the Father,
40:36
Speaker 1: who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that
40:40
Speaker 1: I am in the Father and the Father is in me,
40:42
Speaker 1: or else believe on account of the works themselves, echoing
40:46
Speaker 1: what we found even here, echoing what we find in
40:50
Speaker 1: Deuteronomy eighteen. Jesus is presence of God. And there are
41:01
Speaker 1: people who are trying to figure this out. Jesus is
41:09
Speaker 1: presence of God. And then even when he leaves, he says,
41:14
Speaker 1: I'm not leaving you without a comforter. And he leaves
41:18
Speaker 1: the person of the Holy Spirit, which means wandering around
41:24
Speaker 1: in the desert grammar phase. There's the cloud. God is
41:29
Speaker 1: present with his people. All right, amen, we believe this.
41:33
Speaker 1: We get that God's presence present with his people. Then
41:36
Speaker 1: Jesus comes the presence of God among his own by
41:40
Speaker 1: the way came to his own, and his own didn't
41:41
Speaker 1: receive him present with his people. But then in the
41:48
Speaker 1: next phase we have the spirit of God poured out
41:56
Speaker 1: so that we don't have to all be in the
41:58
Speaker 1: same place at the same time to see the cloud.
42:02
Speaker 1: He is Christ in us, the Hope of glory, hallelujah.
42:09
Speaker 1: The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead. The
42:13
Speaker 1: same power that raised Christ from dead now present in us.
42:18
Speaker 1: The same power that was seen in the cloud now
42:21
Speaker 1: present in us when we are born again. It is
42:26
Speaker 1: this same power that awakens us from our slumber and
42:30
Speaker 1: our sleep, nay, our death. It is this power that
42:34
Speaker 1: makes us alive in Christ. It amazes me that so
42:41
Speaker 1: many people are so gullible and susceptible to many of
42:48
Speaker 1: these sort of Hebraic roots type movements. I saw a
42:54
Speaker 1: gentleman not long ago. I've known him for years, and
42:58
Speaker 1: I saw him and he was wearing tassels on his
43:00
Speaker 1: clothes and a yamacker on his head. What what are
43:09
Speaker 1: you doing? He's been sucked into one of these Hebrew
43:13
Speaker 1: roots movements. How do you do that? How do you
43:19
Speaker 1: come to know Jesus Christ, who was the fulfillment of
43:23
Speaker 1: all of this? How do you come to be filled
43:27
Speaker 1: with the very presence of God in the person of
43:31
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. How do you come to see how
43:34
Speaker 1: Jesus has shown us the reality that was only seen
43:39
Speaker 1: in a very dim form back here and decide that
43:43
Speaker 1: you want to run back there as opposed to going
43:46
Speaker 1: on with God? How do you do that? It's like
43:50
Speaker 1: a married man deciding he wants to go back to
43:52
Speaker 1: kissing through a veil. I want to go back to courtship. No,
43:58
Speaker 1: you can have that. It was good when it was
44:03
Speaker 1: time for that, but that time is over. Amen. And
44:09
Speaker 1: yet in droves you see this. I go to homeschool conferences,
44:13
Speaker 1: and at homeschool conferences, I'm looking out and there are
44:15
Speaker 1: people in increasing numbers who are coming there in full
44:20
Speaker 1: on Hebrew garb as though going back to the grammar
44:29
Speaker 1: phase is better. You know that there are Messianic churches, right,
44:41
Speaker 1: But here's what you might not know. And a lot
44:43
Speaker 1: of these Messianic churches ninety percent of the members are
44:46
Speaker 1: not Jews, they're gentiles. What is this? What is this?
45:02
Speaker 1: Why would we have the fulfillment and the reality of
45:06
Speaker 1: what Israel could only imagine and then go backwards. Why
45:15
Speaker 1: would a full grown man go back to his childhood again?
45:25
Speaker 1: But not only the presence of God, but also the
45:28
Speaker 1: provision of God. God is there in his presence and
45:32
Speaker 1: in his provision Verses eleven and twelve. And the Lord
45:36
Speaker 1: said to Moses, I have heard the grumbling of the
45:39
Speaker 1: people of Israel. Say to them. At twilight you should
45:42
Speaker 1: eat meat, and in the morning you should be filled
45:44
Speaker 1: with bread. Then you shall know that I am the
45:47
Speaker 1: Lord your God. The irony of this statement, of course,
45:50
Speaker 1: is that it's not the first time that it was made.
45:52
Speaker 1: Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.
45:54
Speaker 1: This statement has been made a number of times throughout exis.
45:57
Speaker 1: Then you'll know. Then you'll know. Then you'll know. By
45:59
Speaker 1: the way, it's not the last time either. It's going
46:01
Speaker 1: to be made again and again and again. Then you'll know.
46:03
Speaker 1: Then you'll know, Then you'll know. In other words, God
46:05
Speaker 1: is not saying through this statement. Okay, I'm going to
46:08
Speaker 1: do this one last thing, and then after this one
46:11
Speaker 1: last thing, all your questions are going to be answered. No, no,
46:15
Speaker 1: he's saying, I'm going to show you again who I am.
46:22
Speaker 1: I'm gonna remind you again who I am. You ever
46:26
Speaker 1: wonder why we go to church one day and seven
46:29
Speaker 1: and not once a quarter, because we need to be
46:34
Speaker 1: reminded more often than that. Amen, we need to be
46:40
Speaker 1: reminded more often than that. This is a gracious kindness
46:49
Speaker 1: of both Israel's God and ours. Because it's interesting that phrase.
46:54
Speaker 1: It almost doesn't work. The Lord God said to Moses,
46:57
Speaker 1: I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel.
47:01
Speaker 1: Say to them, seems like what comes what ought to
47:03
Speaker 1: come after that is something like this. I've heard the
47:05
Speaker 1: grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them. I'm
47:08
Speaker 1: about to wear them out for doubting me again. Right, No, no,
47:19
Speaker 1: say to them, I'm going to show them again. Their
47:27
Speaker 1: groaning was evidence of their lack of faith, and yet
47:31
Speaker 1: God was kind. Their groaning was ultimately sin and ingratitude,
47:37
Speaker 1: and yet God was kind. He could have walked him out,
47:41
Speaker 1: but he didn't. Instead, he graciously reminded them again this
47:48
Speaker 1: is who I am and Saints, if you believe that
47:53
Speaker 1: that was just then and not now, then you're not
47:56
Speaker 1: being honest with yourself, because there are days when you
48:00
Speaker 1: too grumble and complain. God delivers you from one thing,
48:06
Speaker 1: and no sooner than you've been delivered from the one
48:09
Speaker 1: thing do you turn around and grumble at the very
48:12
Speaker 1: God who delivered you. Yeah, well, he delivered me out
48:15
Speaker 1: of this only to put me into that because he
48:18
Speaker 1: doesn't really love me. If he really loved me, then
48:20
Speaker 1: he would have delivered me from that and I wouldn't
48:21
Speaker 1: have experienced anything else again. But then he delivered me
48:24
Speaker 1: from that, and now this is going on with my life.
48:26
Speaker 1: And everybody knows that if God really loves a Christian
48:29
Speaker 1: that they don't get sick, and they don't get hungry,
48:31
Speaker 1: and they don't get tired, and nobody mistreats them. We
48:38
Speaker 1: know better, and yet we grumble we know better, and
48:47
Speaker 1: yet when the diagnosis is frightening, our immediate knee jerk
48:53
Speaker 1: reaction is often why me? We know better? And yet
49:00
Speaker 1: when somebody hurts us, we immediately want to ask where
49:06
Speaker 1: was God? We know better, and yet when the bottom
49:10
Speaker 1: falls out of our plans, immediately we want to say
49:15
Speaker 1: God must be mad at me because we don't think
49:18
Speaker 1: it through to its logical conclusion, which Israel is not
49:21
Speaker 1: thinking through to its logical conclusion. Because here's the logical conclusion,
49:26
Speaker 1: and this is an example of this logical conclusion is Abraham.
49:30
Speaker 1: Abraham's going up the hill and they got their stuff,
49:33
Speaker 1: and he's going to sacrifice his son. Do you know
49:35
Speaker 1: what the Bible tells us and Hebrews, Abraham just figured
49:41
Speaker 1: God could raise the dead. He was just assuming that
49:47
Speaker 1: God telling him to go up here and do this.
49:49
Speaker 1: After God promising this sun and promising you know, an
49:53
Speaker 1: offspring like the sands of the sea. Okay, God must
49:56
Speaker 1: also want to teach me that he can raise the dead.
49:58
Speaker 1: That's the only thing that makes sense. Not I can't
50:03
Speaker 1: believe God promised me this offspring. He promised me offspring
50:07
Speaker 1: like the sand of the sea. Now he wants me
50:09
Speaker 1: to kill my only son so that I can't get
50:12
Speaker 1: what he promised me. That makes no sense. So for Israel,
50:17
Speaker 1: what makes sense. God brought us out of Egypt, and
50:20
Speaker 1: he brought us to the desert. He must have a
50:23
Speaker 1: way to feed people in the desert, that's right. I mean,
50:28
Speaker 1: if you know who God is, that's the only thing
50:30
Speaker 1: that makes sense. God knows how to get food and
50:33
Speaker 1: water out of the desert. Look at God, this is
50:35
Speaker 1: gonna be awesome, y'all. That's what makes sense if you
50:41
Speaker 1: understand that God is your redeemer. Here's what doesn't make sense.
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Speaker 1: You know what, God brought us out here in the desert,
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Speaker 1: and he don't even know how to feed us. We're
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Speaker 1: gonna die. But just because it doesn't make sense doesn't
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Speaker 1: mean that we don't think it. Jesus taught the same
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Speaker 1: thing to his people Matthew six, beginning of verse twenty five. Therefore,
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Speaker 1: I tell you do not be anxious about your life,
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Speaker 1: what you will eat, what you will drink, nor about
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Speaker 1: your body what will you will put on. By the way,
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Speaker 1: this is all desert language. This is all Israel in
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Speaker 1: the desert language right here, because not only think about it,
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Speaker 1: you're in the desert. You have to eat, you have
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Speaker 1: to drink, and clothes wear out. Amen, look at the
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Speaker 1: birds of the air. They neither soul, nor reap, nor
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Speaker 1: gather in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
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Speaker 1: Are you not of more value than they? And which
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Speaker 1: of you by being anxious can add a single hour
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Speaker 1: to his span of life. I don't know about you.
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Speaker 1: I need to be reminded of that. I need to
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Speaker 1: be reminded of that. Worrying doesn't fix things. I need
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Speaker 1: to be reminded of that. Going over this over and
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Speaker 1: over and over again, the doctor said he's going to
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Speaker 1: call you back with your results. Right, Worrying between the
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Speaker 1: time he told you he was going to call you
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Speaker 1: back and the time he calls you back is not
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Speaker 1: going to make the paper change that he's reading from.
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Speaker 1: Might make you sicker, but it's not going to make
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Speaker 1: the paper change that he's said that he's reading from.
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Speaker 1: And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies
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Speaker 1: of the field, how they grow? They neither toil nor Yet,
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Speaker 1: I tell you, even Solomon, in all his glory, was
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Speaker 1: not arrayed like one of these. But if God so
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Speaker 1: closed the grass of the field, which today is alive
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Speaker 1: and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not
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Speaker 1: much more clothe you, oh you of little faith. Therefore,
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Speaker 1: do not be anxious saying what shall we eat? Or
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Speaker 1: what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For
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Speaker 1: gentiles seek after all these things and your heavenly Father
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Speaker 1: knows that you need them all. But seek first the
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Speaker 1: Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things
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Speaker 1: will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious
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Speaker 1: about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself sufficient,
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Speaker 1: for the day is its own trouble. The only time
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Speaker 1: God gave them more bread than they need it for
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Speaker 1: the day was when he gave it to him on
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Speaker 1: the day before the sapbath. That was the only time
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Speaker 1: other than that, it was us enough for the day.
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Speaker 1: When Jesus teaches us to pray, he teaches us give
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Speaker 1: us this day our daily bread. God sends bread through Moses,
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Speaker 1: but Jesus says he is the bread that God sends.
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Speaker 1: Jesus is the one who says I am the Bread
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Speaker 1: of life John six thirty two to forty. Jesus then
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Speaker 1: said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, it
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Speaker 1: was not Moses who gave you the bread from Heaven. Again, again,
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Speaker 1: you cannot read and understand the New Testament without reading
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Speaker 1: and understanding the Old Testament. But my Father gives you
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Speaker 1: the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God
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Speaker 1: is he who comes down from heaven and gives life
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Speaker 1: to the world. In other words, Jesus is saying he's
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Speaker 1: the manna. So if you think that I'm just making
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Speaker 1: something up by preaching about Jesus when I'm talking about
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Speaker 1: Exodus chapter sixteen, think again, because that's what Jesus did.
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Speaker 1: They said to him, Sir, give us this bread always.
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Speaker 1: Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.
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Speaker 1: Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes
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Speaker 1: in me shall never thirst. But I said to you
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Speaker 1: that you have seen me, and yet do not believe.
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Speaker 1: All that the Father gives me will come to me.
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Speaker 1: And whoever comes to me I will never cast out,
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Speaker 1: for I have come down from heaven. There he is
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Speaker 1: the man again. Not to do my own will, but
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Speaker 1: the will of him who sent me. And this is
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Speaker 1: the will of him who sent me, that I should
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Speaker 1: lose nothing of all that he has given me, but
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Speaker 1: that everyone who looks on the sun and believes in
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Speaker 1: him should have eternal life, and I will raise him
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Speaker 1: up on the last day. Why would you run back
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Speaker 1: to Exodus sixteen when you have the words of Jesus
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Speaker 1: in John six that clearly state to us that the
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Speaker 1: real bread from heaven is Jesus. Why would you do
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Speaker 1: anything but flee to Christ, run to Christ for salvation.
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Speaker 1: Why would you do anything but turn from your sin
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Speaker 1: and turn from your self reliance and turn to Jesus
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Speaker 1: Christ as your only hope. This, this is our logical response,
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Speaker 1: not to somehow go wandering around outside to see if
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Speaker 1: we can get some manna to fall down from heaven
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Speaker 1: when the true bread has already come. Oh, sinner man
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Speaker 1: does not live by bread alone, but by every word
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Speaker 1: that proceeds from the mouth of God himself. And Jesus
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Speaker 1: is the word of God. Jesus is God. Believe him,
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Speaker 1: trust him, cling to him, be fed by him, rejoice
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Speaker 1: in him. See him as the provision that God has
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Speaker 1: made for his people. Not that this makes us in
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Speaker 1: any way superior to Israel. We're not superior to Israel.
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Speaker 1: We are part of them. Amen. We just happen to
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Speaker 1: be on the other end of redemptive history so that
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Speaker 1: we have a clearer view of what God was doing.
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Speaker 1: Then praise God for the manner from heaven that allowed
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Speaker 1: Israel to survive, But praise God that the reason Israel
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Speaker 1: needed to survive was so that through them God could
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Speaker 1: send the true manner in the person of his Son,
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Speaker 1: who is the bread of life. Receive him. Let's pray,
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Speaker 1: Oh God, how we thank you, How we rejoice in Christ,
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Speaker 1: who is Word of God and presence of God, the
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Speaker 1: God who speaks, and the God who is there. How
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Speaker 1: we thank you for Jesus, who gives us the precept
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Speaker 1: as our prophet, who has kept the precept. We thank
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Speaker 1: you for Jesus, the God who is there, and his
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Speaker 1: presence and his provision. Thank you for the person of
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit God with us, God in us. Thank
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Speaker 1: you that we do not have to be in a
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Speaker 1: particular place to see a particular cloud, but that you
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Speaker 1: walk with us and more significantly in us as your people.
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Speaker 1: Grant by your grace that we might rejoice in this truth,
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Speaker 1: use it to shape us as your own. We pray.
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Speaker 1: We ask this in Christ's name for his sake. Amen,
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Speaker 1: as