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Distant Memories and Daily Bread (Exodus 16) · Prodigal Hope

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  SPEAKER_00: Exodus 16 is perhaps a very memorable chapter.
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  It's one of those chapters that you might remember from your
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  days in Sunday school.
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  I like to make the joke all the time that I remember those days
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  when you had the
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  SPEAKER_00: flannel graph lessons in Sunday school.
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  Maybe you know what I'm talking about,
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  but this is a flannel graph chapter.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's the chapter of the manna,
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  the chapter of God providing for his people in a miraculous way
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  that often bogs and
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  SPEAKER_00: boggles the mind.
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  SPEAKER_00: One of the things,
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  SPEAKER_00: though,
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  that I love about Scripture is also one of the things that
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  makes it really
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  SPEAKER_00: incredibly frustrating to read sometimes,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is that it puts all of human nature front and center.
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  SPEAKER_00: All of the predicaments that we have.
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  cause all the problems that we get ourselves into all the
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  messes that we make for
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  ourselves the bible puts all of that in in sort of blinding
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  display there's no
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  sugar coating there's no sort of a veneer put on the problems
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  that humans face
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  SPEAKER_00: which in one sense makes the bible really relatable
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  We can relate to the word of God because it's humans dealing
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  with very human
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  SPEAKER_00: problems and crises,
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  SPEAKER_00: but also it makes it frustrating because it's like looking into a mirror.
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  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we don't like what we see.
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  I think that's what's happening here in this text this morning
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  in Exodus chapter
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  SPEAKER_00: number 16,
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  where we're treated to some very human actions and reactions on
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  behalf of the
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  SPEAKER_00: people of Israel.
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  SPEAKER_00: To set the stage, it's been roughly
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  two months since the lord saw fit to bring his people out of
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  egypt in this grand
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  event known as the exodus and yet they're two months into this
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  this new chapter
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  this new era of history for the people of god and they've
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  already established a
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  habit that's worse than biting your fingernails which is verse
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  one they settled
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  SPEAKER_00: from elam and
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  And all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the
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  wilderness of Sin,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is between Elam and Sinai,
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  on the 15th day of the second month after they had departed
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  from the land of Egypt.
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  And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled
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  against Moses and Aaron
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  SPEAKER_00: in the wilderness.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now,
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  SPEAKER_00: depending on your translation,
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  SPEAKER_00: depending on what version of the Bible you're reading this morning,
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  SPEAKER_00: you might find that word murmuring.
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  SPEAKER_00: They were muttering under their breath.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's what that word murmur means.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a word that is spelled kind of how it sounds.
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  SPEAKER_00: Murmur, murmur, so to speak.
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  SPEAKER_00: But the point is that all of this murmuring,
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  SPEAKER_00: all of this grumbling is actually a telltale sign of the unbelief and the
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  ingratitude that is threatening to undo and unravel that whole
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  congregation.
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  Because as everyone is expressing just how negative their
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  circumstances are,
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  what occurs is this wave of negativity and washes over the
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  whole congregation,
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  SPEAKER_00: the whole multitude,
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  SPEAKER_00: sort of like a plague.
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  SPEAKER_00: Everyone's becoming negative.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're complaining about this.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're complaining about that.
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  SPEAKER_00: And suddenly they start to reminisce.
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  SPEAKER_00: Suddenly they start to remember,
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  SPEAKER_00: at least how they remember it,
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  SPEAKER_00: how good they had it back in Egypt.
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  SPEAKER_00: Verse three,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the people of Israel said to them,
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  would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of
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  Egypt when we sat by
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  SPEAKER_00: the meat pots and ate bread to the full.
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  For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this
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  whole assembly with hunger.
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  They're reminiscing about the fact that,
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  man,
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  now we're about to go hungry.
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  SPEAKER_00: Remember how good we had it back in Egypt?
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  SPEAKER_00: We were just sitting by pots of meat.
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  SPEAKER_00: Which I don't know what that looks like, but that sounds good.
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  SPEAKER_00: Man, I wish we could go back.
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  It's the same sentiment that they expressed just a couple
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  chapters earlier.
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  SPEAKER_00: Go with me, chapter 14, and look at verse 11.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is another memorable scene in the history of the people of Israel.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's the scene, of course, of the Red Sea crossing.
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  And right before this moment,
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  of course,
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  they arrive at the Red Sea,
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  the people of God do.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they have no way forward.
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  SPEAKER_00: They can't march forward.
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  SPEAKER_00: They can't go to the side.
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  SPEAKER_00: They can't rush and return the way they came.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because now there's a bloodthirsty army of Egyptians hot on their heels.
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  SPEAKER_00: And so what do they do?
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  SPEAKER_00: They grumble.
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  SPEAKER_00: Verse 11.
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  SPEAKER_00: They said to Moses...
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  Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken
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  us away to die in
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  SPEAKER_00: the wilderness?
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  SPEAKER_00: What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt?
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  SPEAKER_00: Is not this what we said to you in Egypt?
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  SPEAKER_00: Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians.
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  SPEAKER_00: For,
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  SPEAKER_00: notice this,
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  for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians
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  than to die in the
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  SPEAKER_00: wilderness.
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  SPEAKER_00: Talk about misremembering what their experiences were in Egypt.
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  SPEAKER_00: It would have been better if we had just stayed there.
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  SPEAKER_00: Moses, you shouldn't have gotten involved.
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  SPEAKER_00: You shouldn't have opened up your mouth.
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  SPEAKER_00: It would have been better.
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  SPEAKER_00: And here,
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  SPEAKER_00: after seeing some miraculous events in chapters 14 and 15,
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  SPEAKER_00: here in chapter 16,
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  SPEAKER_00: yet again,
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  A poisonous and dare I say dangerous sense of nostalgia is
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  rearing its ugly head.
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  SPEAKER_00: I wish that we had stayed back there.
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  SPEAKER_00: Remember those days in Egypt?
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  SPEAKER_00: Man, those were the days.
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  There's a lot wrong with what the people of God are expressing
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  in both of these instances.
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  SPEAKER_00: Especially in our text in chapter 16.
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  SPEAKER_00: Not the least of which is that they're lying to themselves.
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  SPEAKER_00: When they were in Egypt, they were slaves.
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  SPEAKER_00: They were servants that were treated as nothing more than cattle.
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  SPEAKER_00: They weren't likely,
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  SPEAKER_00: it's very unlikely,
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  that they were just sitting by big crock pots of meat with
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  bread to the full at
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  SPEAKER_00: their fancy whenever they wanted to eat it.
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  SPEAKER_00: But this is what nostalgia does, doesn't it?
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  SPEAKER_00: It causes you to misremember what it was like back then.
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  SPEAKER_00: It causes you to misremember the past.
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  Nostalgia,
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  of course,
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  is this word that means a wishful longing for the past.
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  To escape whatever is going on in the present and to live in
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  some other time,
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  SPEAKER_00: in some other moment.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's not always a bad thing, don't get me wrong.
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  There's something quite enjoyable about sipping sweet tea on a
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  front porch and
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  SPEAKER_00: remembering the good old days,
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  SPEAKER_00: remembering the past.
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  SPEAKER_00: But it becomes harmful.
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  SPEAKER_00: It becomes detrimental when you stay there.
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  SPEAKER_00: When you stay put.
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  SPEAKER_00: When nostalgia suddenly becomes your default setting.
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  When that becomes the norm by which you understand what is
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  happening in the present.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is why the smartest man who ever lived, Solomon, he said this.
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  SPEAKER_00: Ecclesiastes 7.10.
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  SPEAKER_00: Say not, Solomon says.
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  SPEAKER_00: Why were the former days better than these?
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  SPEAKER_00: It is not from wisdom that you ask this.
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  It's not from wisdom that you ask,
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  man,
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  I wish these days were like the good old days.
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  As you always are looking over your shoulder and wishing you
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  could go back to some other time.
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  What is occurring is it's revealing just how dissatisfied you
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  are with where you are.
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  SPEAKER_00: Put differently, we can say it like this.
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  SPEAKER_00: If we're not careful,
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  nostalgia can intertwine with ingratitude and give birth to an
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  even more dangerous
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  SPEAKER_00: state that is despair.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that's what's occurring with the people of God right here.
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  It's ingratitude and it's nostalgia intertwining into making
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  everyone despairing of
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  SPEAKER_00: their current moment.
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  SPEAKER_00: Telling yourself or others...
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  SPEAKER_00: That things were better back then,
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  it eventually leads to this very dismal outlook on what's
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  occurring right in front
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  SPEAKER_00: of you.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this is why,
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  SPEAKER_00: as I hope to show this morning,
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  SPEAKER_00: that actually nostalgia,
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  SPEAKER_00: at least the negative version of it,
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  SPEAKER_00: is closely associated with that other menace known as anxiety.
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  Because whether you're looking ahead and you're worrying about
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  the future,
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  SPEAKER_00: worrying about what may or may not happen in the days ahead,
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  or whether you're looking back and you're wishing we could
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  return to better days,
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  SPEAKER_00: those better days of the past.
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  SPEAKER_00: Either way,
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  SPEAKER_00: it's symptomatic of a lack of trust in what God is doing in the present,
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  SPEAKER_00: right in front of us.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this seems to be what is happening to Israel.
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  SPEAKER_00: Look again at the first three verses.
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  SPEAKER_00: They settled from Elam.
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  And all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the
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  wilderness of Sin,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is between Elam and Sinai,
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  on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had
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  departed from the land of
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  SPEAKER_00: Egypt.
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  And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled
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  against Moses and Aaron
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  SPEAKER_00: in the wilderness.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the people of Israel said to them,
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  SPEAKER_00: Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt,
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  SPEAKER_00: when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full.
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  For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this
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  whole assembly with hunger.
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  SPEAKER_00: If you recall,
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  SPEAKER_00: if you read Exodus 12 and 13,
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  you recall how part of the Passover preparations were also
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  making sure they had all
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  SPEAKER_00: the preparations for their future journey.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it was hastily packed.
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  So whatever rations they had hastily packed together with them
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  just weren't cutting it.
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  SPEAKER_00: They were tired of the same old rations.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they're tired of walking already.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're tired.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're hungry.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's that horrible dreaded emotion known as they are hangry.
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  And somehow,
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  somehow in their hangriness,
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  they are wishing to be back in Egypt.
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  SPEAKER_00: You know, when they were slaves.
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  SPEAKER_00: And whereas before,
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  SPEAKER_00: I think if you look at Exodus 14 in the Red Sea moment,
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  SPEAKER_00: you can kind of understand that.
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's an army chasing after them.
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  SPEAKER_00: You can understand why they would be a little bit nervous and fearful.
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  SPEAKER_00: But here, all of their grumbling isn't as excusable.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because they've seen God work.
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  SPEAKER_00: They've seen a sea split into two walls by this point.
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  SPEAKER_00: They've seen a spring of water emerge out of a boulder.
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  SPEAKER_00: And here there's still murmuring.
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  SPEAKER_00: And all of their moaning.
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  SPEAKER_00: Here in this scene.
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  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't stem from the onset of starvation.
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  SPEAKER_00: No one's starving yet.
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  SPEAKER_00: It stems from their dissatisfaction.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because you understand that's what's occurring here.
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  SPEAKER_00: The people's complaint is forward looking.
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  SPEAKER_00: That eventually we're going to run out of food.
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  And eventually that means we're going to starve to death in
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  this wilderness place.
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  We haven't yet,
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  Moses,
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  but eventually,
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  Moses,
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  we're going to run out of food.
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  SPEAKER_00: What are you going to do then, Moses?
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  SPEAKER_00: Huh?
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  SPEAKER_00: What are you going to do when we start starving to death?
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  SPEAKER_00: And anyone,
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  SPEAKER_00: of course,
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  SPEAKER_00: if anyone was so inclined,
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  they could look at all the supplies that Israel had in store in
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  whatever caravan
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  SPEAKER_00: they had made up,
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  SPEAKER_00: and they could come to the same conclusion.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's a simple math equation.
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  SPEAKER_00: Right?
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  Depending on how much everyone is eating and depending on how
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  many babies are being
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  SPEAKER_00: born,
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  SPEAKER_00: X amount of food is going to last X amount of time.
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  SPEAKER_00: But instead of trusting in the Lord,
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  SPEAKER_00: who so far,
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  SPEAKER_00: as we've already recounted,
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  has never shied away from showcasing just how powerful he is
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  and showcasing just
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  SPEAKER_00: how gracious and mighty he is.
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  Instead of trusting in the God who had put his fingerprints
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  over every single
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  SPEAKER_00: aspect of their deliverance so far.
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  Instead,
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  this congregation is focusing on how wretched their
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  circumstances are or might become.
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  SPEAKER_00: A steady diet of that food they had packed in Egypt.
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  SPEAKER_00: It just can't compare to that meat we used to enjoy in Egypt.
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  SPEAKER_00: Man, that was so good.
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  So frustrated and dissatisfied,
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  they end up taking a stroll down memory lane.
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  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps a lane that is filled with false memories.
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  And in their dissatisfaction,
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  they choose to listen to nostalgia more than the words of God.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that's when unbelief sets in.
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  That's when it begins to wreak its ugly fingers all over that
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  congregation.
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  SPEAKER_00: But notice, notice how God responds to this grumbling people.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because instead of becoming irate with them,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is likely what I would have done and you would have done,
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  SPEAKER_00: God patiently declares how he is going to graciously provide for them.
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  Verse 4,
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  that the Lord said to Moses,
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  Behold,
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  I am about to rain bread from heaven for you.
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  And the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every
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  day that I may test
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  SPEAKER_00: them whether they will walk in my law or not.
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  SPEAKER_00: And on the sixth day,
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  SPEAKER_00: when they prepare what they bring in,
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  SPEAKER_00: it will be twice as much as they gather daily.
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  SPEAKER_00: Of course,
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  SPEAKER_00: this is the moment,
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  one of the most significant moments in the people of God's
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  history as he provides
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  SPEAKER_00: for them with this manna from heaven.
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  SPEAKER_00: He's going to send them bread from heaven,
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  SPEAKER_00: the bread of angels,
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  SPEAKER_00: as the psalmist refers to it as.
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  SPEAKER_00: So much so that they will never go hungry.
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  They're going to have meat to eat in the evening and bread to
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  the full in the morning.
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  SPEAKER_00: Verse 8 says that.
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  SPEAKER_00: Verse 8 says,
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  SPEAKER_00: and Moses said,
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  when the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the
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  morning bread to the
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  SPEAKER_00: full.
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  SPEAKER_00: That's what he's providing for them.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're never going to go hungry morning and evening.
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  SPEAKER_00: All their needs are going to be met.
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  SPEAKER_00: They didn't have to scavenge.
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  SPEAKER_00: They didn't just have to scrape by.
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  No,
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  God is providing for them in abundance more than any of them
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  could ever ask or think.
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  SPEAKER_00: Again, verse 6.
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  SPEAKER_00: So Moses said to all the people of Israel,
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  At evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you
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  out of the land of
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  SPEAKER_00: Egypt.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord.
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  SPEAKER_00: Because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord.
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  SPEAKER_00: For what are we that you grumble against us?
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  SPEAKER_00: And Moses said,
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  when the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and the
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  morning bread to the
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  SPEAKER_00: full,
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  SPEAKER_00: because the Lord has heard your grumbling and you grumble against him.
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  SPEAKER_00: What are we?
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  SPEAKER_00: Your grumbling is not against us, but the Lord.
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  SPEAKER_00: I think what is standing out to me.
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  SPEAKER_00: as you read these verses, is that God is doing this.
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  He's providing a miraculous provision of manna every morning
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  for his people despite
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  SPEAKER_00: their grumbling.
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  SPEAKER_00: Did you notice how often it appears?
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  SPEAKER_00: In two verses, it appears five times.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Lord hears the grumbling that you're grumbling against him.
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  It's like your kids on a long road trip asking you how long
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  it's going to take to get there.
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  And then they ask you in another 10 minutes if the time has
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  changed miraculously.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like the people.
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  SPEAKER_00: I'm not speaking from experience, by the way.
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  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like the people of Israel here.
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  SPEAKER_00: They're grumbling and they're grumbling on top of the grumbling.
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  SPEAKER_00: And yet despite,
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  SPEAKER_00: despite their lack of trust,
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  SPEAKER_00: despite their complaining,
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  SPEAKER_00: God is providing for them anyways.
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  SPEAKER_00: Has there ever been a more clear picture of God's grace?
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  SPEAKER_00: Provision, despite the fact that they didn't deserve it.
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  SPEAKER_00: Verse 9,
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  SPEAKER_00: Then Moses said to Aaron,
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  SPEAKER_00: Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel,
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  SPEAKER_00: Come near before the Lord,
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  SPEAKER_00: for he has heard your grumbling.
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  And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the
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  people of Israel,
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  SPEAKER_00: they looked toward the wilderness,
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  SPEAKER_00: and behold,
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the Lord said to Moses,
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel say to them,
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: at twilight you shall eat meat,
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: and in the morning you shall be filled with bread.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God,
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: the one who provides for you,
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: even as you're complaining about it.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is God's heart for his people.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's standing out here.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: His patience and his gracious heart for his people.
• 17:40
  And this is especially true when we learn about the fact that
• 17:43
  this provision of
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: manna endured for the next four decades.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 35, end of the chapter.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: The people of Israel ate the manna 40 years ago.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Till they came to a habitable land.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: Four decades of provision every morning.
• 18:07
  Like clockwork,
• 18:08
  the people of God could go out and see just very tangibly.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Provision.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Grace for them.
• 18:20
  Manna,
• 18:20
  of course,
• 18:21
  is one of the most fascinating parts of Israel's storied
• 18:24
  history.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Manna, you might know this.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Manna isn't its real name, essentially.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's just what they called it.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 14.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: And when the dew had gone up,
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: there was on the face of the wilderness a fine flake-like thing,
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_00: fine as frost on the ground.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, What is it?
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: For they did not know what it was.
• 18:46
  And Moses said to them,
• 18:48
  It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: What is it?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: It is that Hebrew word man.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: What is it?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Manna.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: They don't even know what it is.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: But even though they couldn't make sense of it.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: There it was.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Every morning.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: A fresh blanket of manna on the ground.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 31.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: Now the house of Israel called his name manna.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: It was like the coriander seed.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: White and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: Here Moses is.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: reflecting on what this might have looked like.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever I picture this scene, by the way, my mind pictures falling snow.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever I think of man,
• 19:34
  not just because the similarity of white and color and so on
• 19:37
  and so forth,
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: but if you've ever been in a snowfall,
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: it's quiet.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's not usually loud.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: There's not a lot of loud noises when snow is falling to the ground.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: You can go outside on a morning when it's snowing and it's eerily quiet.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's deafeningly quiet.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, snow is covering the ground.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: You can't hear it.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you were to close your eyes, you wouldn't even hear any sort of sound.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: And yet when you open them, blankets of snow covering the ground.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's really similar to manna.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I also think it's really similar to God's grace.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because you see,
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: of course,
• 20:17
  God's grace is not often seen in very bombastic or boisterous
• 20:22
  displays of might and
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: showiness or force.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: And yet it's always there.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's what grace is.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: It shows up as a steady and a quiet gift,
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: even if you can't hear it,
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: even if you can't see it,
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: even if you're unaware of it.
• 20:40
  God's grace is there for you every single day,
• 20:44
  like fresh morning mercies,
• 20:46
  as Jeremiah says.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: And here God is showing them that in the midst of the wilderness.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: He's showing them just how gracious his heart is for them.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: And yet at the same time, watch what happens.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because just as in the previous chapter,
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: where God is providing for them,
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: he's also testing them.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: The same thing is true here, as we read in verse number 4.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: Behold,
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm about to rain down bread from heaven for you,
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day,
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: that I may test them.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Here, this manna.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's a provision, but it's also a test.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Look at how God is testing the people.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 16.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: As Moses is going to explain sort of the details of this test.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_00: And this is what the Lord has commanded.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Gather of it each one of you as much as he can eat.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: And you shall take an omer,
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: which is about two liters,
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: And the people of Israel did so.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: They gathered some, some more, some less.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: But when they measured it with an omer.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever gathered much had nothing left over.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: And whoever gathered little had no lack.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: And Moses said to them.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: So here's the first part.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Every morning go out gather two liters.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Just enough for you and every person in your household.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Don't gather more than what you need.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: Don't gather less.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to be stingy.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: But gather what you need.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then verse 22.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: On the sixth day.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: They gathered twice as much bread, two omers each.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: he said to them,
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: this is what the Lord has commanded.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Tomorrow is a day of solemn and rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: And all that is left over lay aside to be kept until the morning.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: So they laid it aside to the morning as Moses had commanded them.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it did not stink and there were no worms in it.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Moses said, eat it today for today is a Sabbath to the Lord.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Today you will not find it in the field.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: Six days you shall gather it.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: But on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, there will be none.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: Again, this test is rather straightforward.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: Go out every morning.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: On all of the six days of the week, you are going to find manna.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: Go out there, gather two leaders.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: Except on the sixth day, you gather more than that.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: Gather four leaders per person.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then also make whatever you need for the next day.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Make that on this day.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because the next day is a Sabbath day.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Go out, gather.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: On the sixth day, gather twice as much.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Seems pretty simple.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: And yet, what happens?
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well,
• 23:25
  the Israelites kind of show that they have the listening
• 23:28
  capabilities of a church
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: during announcements.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because look at what happens.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Verse number 20.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: But they did not listen to Moses.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Go figure.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: Some left part of it till the morning and it bred worms and stank.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: And Moses was angry with them.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Morning by morning, they gathered each as much as he could.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_00: But when the sun grew hot, it melted.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of following the clear instructions,
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: gathering just what they needed,
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: they gathered just a little bit more.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: And when they woke up the next morning,
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: the little more that they had gathered and saved for the next day,
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: it stank.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was horrible.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: It gave off a horrible odor.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, this makes Moses more than a little upset.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: If you read,
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: by the way,
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: the history of Moses,
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_00: he's a man that you might find out has not a very long fuse.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: And here he's upset.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: You can understand.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: Could I have explained it any more clearer for you?
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: How could I have made it more easy for you to understand?
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, they weren't done not listening.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 27 says,
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: But they found none.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Even after being told, don't go out on the Sabbath day.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_00: If you go out and look for manna, you're not going to find.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: There will be no manna on the Sabbath.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: And what happens?
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: They still go out and look for manna.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine how frustrating that must have been for Moses.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine all the hairs that he's pulling out.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: And yet it's almost comical.
• 25:17
  Their inability to just listen and obey and follow really clear
• 25:21
  instructions.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: All of this is prompting this very disappointed reply from God.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 28.
• 25:30
  And the Lord said to Moses,
• 25:32
  how long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: See, the Lord has given you the Sabbath.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: Remain each of you in his place.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: So the people rested on the seventh day.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: God gives Moses some more words.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it's almost as if he's explaining it to him like he's five.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let me break it down for you.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to give you more than what you need on the last day.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Two days.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: But you stay in your homes on that day.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: Don't leave.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Don't go out.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: And the point of all of this is it's...
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: This is neither unimportant,
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_00: it's not trivial that we go through all of this because their refusal,
• 26:18
  the people of God's refusal to listen and obey is an indication
• 26:23
  of deeper issues at
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: the level of their souls.
• 26:27
  It revealed just how little they actually trusted in the Lord
• 26:32
  and his word.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's on display.
• 26:37
  Because instead of being satisfied with the words of God and
• 26:42
  trusting him for
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_00: tomorrow's bread,
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: what is happening?
• 26:45
  Israel is dissatisfied and is leading to a preoccupation with
• 26:49
  getting and amassing and hoarding.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: We've got to gather more than what we need.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because who knows if this is going to be there in the morning.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: I don't remember being told that.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_00: I don't remember being told that it's going to be there tomorrow.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I got to get it now.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: So they're gathering when they should have been resting.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: Or they're gathering more when they should have just been trusting.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: Either way,
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: by their actions,
• 27:20
  they're evidencing that they didn't really have faith in the
• 27:24
  words of God.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: Nor were they satisfied with what he had promised them.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the whole point.
• 27:33
  The daily regimen of manna was meant to instill in the people
• 27:39
  of God a deep and
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: profound trust and satisfaction in God's words alone.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was an object lesson for a truer lesson.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: What Moses eventually articulates in Deuteronomy 8,
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: that man does not live on bread alone,
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: but on every word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is sort of an object lesson for that.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: Because the miracle of the manna is not about bread.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's about trust.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: Do you trust in what the Lord has said?
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's about whether or not the redeemed people of God,
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: his congregation,
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: his church,
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: will live like a people who are supremely satisfied with God.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: Above everything else.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: Which I would say prompts some very hard questions.
• 28:30
  Do you trust in God to the point that you are satisfied with
• 28:35
  him no matter what?
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Or let's put it a different way.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Are you satisfied with him?
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_00: So much so that you trust him no matter what.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: Israel wasn't totally satisfied.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: So what did they do?
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: They looked back on those better days.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: The better days back in Egypt, man, it was so much better back then.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_00: But before we make fun of them,
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_00: before we ridicule them for that,
• 29:08
  I would hasten to say that we have to admit that we do the same
• 29:11
  thing all the time.
• 29:14
  When Israel is craving the meat pots back in Egypt,
• 29:18
  what is that sort of like?
• 29:19
  It's sort of like when the church wishes that we could go back
• 29:22
  to those days when
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: everyone was Christian.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: And things felt simpler.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: I want to go back to those days.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: When we say that it was so much better back then,
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_00: back in those other days,
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: we should consider what we're really saying.
• 29:37
  Because underneath that nostalgia is a thinly veiled anxiety
• 29:41
  that maybe God can't
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: work as good as he did back then.
• 29:47
  A close companion to all of our worries about the future is a
• 29:50
  constant longing to
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: return to those days in the past when it appeared so much better.
• 29:56
  It's a continuation of the same crisis that Israel is afflicted
• 30:00
  with right here.
• 30:03
  Fearing what might happen and trying to make things better by
• 30:07
  romanticizing and
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_00: nostalgizing how it used to be.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the problem, of course, with that
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: There has never been an era free from difficulty.
• 30:20
  There's never been a generation of God's people who were
• 30:24
  without a crisis.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I would hasten to say, that's never been more apparent right now.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_00: Our world appears to be standing on the edge of a knife, so to speak.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: Feels like a row of dominoes set to fall.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: One flick or breath.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: And who knows what's going to happen?
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: What's going to happen in Israel?
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: What's going to happen with Iran?
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: What's going to happen with us?
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: Who's to say?
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: What's going to happen with our government?
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: What are we going to do when so-and-so gets elected?
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: How are we going to make it?
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: What if?
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: What happens when?
• 31:04
  Like Israel,
• 31:05
  we're so distraught over what might be that we tend to
• 31:09
  romanticize how it once was.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: But whether we're looking ahead or whether we're looking back,
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: both are symptoms of a lack of trust in what God is doing right now,
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: right in front of our very faces.
• 31:24
  And it's revealing that maybe we're not as confident in his
• 31:27
  word as we say we are.
• 31:31
  It's like those words,
• 31:32
  and maybe the men are going to be tired of hearing it.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's like those words from Habakkuk.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know what he says to his prophet?
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: Habakkuk 1.5,
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: I,
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: God tells him,
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: I am doing a work in your days that you wouldn't believe if I told you.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Do you still believe that's true?
• 31:53
  Do you still believe that God is working at work in our midst,
• 31:58
  in our time right now in 2026?
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_00: It can be hard to believe that.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: Trust me, I've been through the ringer.
• 32:08
  The last several months of trying to figure out,
• 32:10
  man,
• 32:11
  this doesn't look so hot right now,
• 32:14
  God.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: It can be hard to believe that.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: But the point is, it's always been that way.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Faith has always been hard.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's always been a slog.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's always been a difficult thing to live by faith and not by sight,
• 32:32
  by just seeing the things that we see and getting all
• 32:37
  distraught and frenzied.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: Just think back.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: You can even go back 150 years.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because whether it's the Civil War of the 1860s
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: Or the Spanish-American War of the turn of the century.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: Or World War I right after that.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_00: Or the Great Depression right after that.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_00: Or World War II.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: Or the Cold War.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: Or the Vietnam War.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or Watergate.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: Or the First Gulf War.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: Or 9-11.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: Or the Second Gulf War.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: Or the 2008 housing crisis.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: Or COVID.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: Or Epstein files.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_00: Or whatever's happening with artificial intelligence.
• 33:12
  There's never been a time when it's been easy to put your faith
• 33:16
  in God alone.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's never been the case.
• 33:20
  There's never been an opportune moment to put all of your
• 33:24
  weight and your trust and
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: your hope in a God whom you cannot see but you trust anyways.
• 33:31
  And if you're waiting for that day to arrive,
• 33:33
  you're waiting for a day that doesn't exist.
• 33:39
  SPEAKER_00: The only way, the only way.
• 33:43
  To get through these times is to trust in the Lord to the point
• 33:48
  where you are fully
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: satisfied in him and with him no matter what.
• 33:55
  And you know who puts the nail on the head on this point,
• 33:57
  of course,
• 33:58
  is Jesus.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: He says this, Matthew.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_00: Look, I'm going to read those verses.
• 34:02
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew 6, 25.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: What does he tell his disciples?
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life.
• 34:12
  what you eat or what you will drink,
• 34:15
  nor about your body,
• 34:16
  what you will put on.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: Look at the birds.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: They neither snow nor reap.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: They neither gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: Are you not of more value than they?
• 34:32
  And which of you,
• 34:33
  by being anxious,
• 34:35
  can add a single hour to his lifespan?
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_00: And why are you anxious about clothing?
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_00: Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_00: They neither toil nor spin,
• 34:45
  SPEAKER_00: yet I tell you,
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_00: even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_00: But if God so clothes the grass of the field,
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven,
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: will he not much more clothe you,
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: O you of little faith?
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat?
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: What shall we drink?
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: Or what shall we wear?
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: Or what are we going to do when so-and-so gets into the office?
• 35:12
  But the Gentiles seek after all these things and your heavenly
• 35:14
  father knows that
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_00: you need them all.
• 35:16
  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all
• 35:23
  these things will
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: be added unto you.
• 35:26
  The answer to our ceaseless worrying about tomorrow is not
• 35:31
  wistfully trying to
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: return to the past.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: The answer,
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: the solution is the words,
• 35:38
  the very words of God which tell us about the kingdom of God
• 35:42
  that God himself is
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: coming to bring into this realm which God the Son,
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ,
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: came to give us what he gives us himself.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: He fulfills all of this.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Flip over to John.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: This is, flip over to John chapter 6.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: Because here Jesus brings all of this together.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: John 6.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what happens.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: Look at what Jesus says.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 32.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said to them.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_00: Truly, truly.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: I say to you.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_00: It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_00: But my Father,
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_00: who gives you the true bread from heaven,
• 36:36
  for the bread of God is he who comes from heaven and gives life
• 36:42
  to the world.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: And they said to him, sir, give us this bread always.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever comes to me shall not hunger.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: And whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: Jump down to verse 51.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_00: I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: You see the point?
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: For the church, for us right now, right here, right where we are, Christ.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: Christ is the true and better manna.
• 37:23
  The manna,
• 37:24
  the bread from heaven that satisfies the bread of life,
• 37:28
  our true sustenance.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: He himself is our abiding meal.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: And just as the congregation of Israel,
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_00: they were called to go out and partake of the manna daily.
• 37:39
  So are we,
• 37:40
  the church,
• 37:41
  called to partake of Jesus' person and work in the gospel
• 37:45
  daily.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_00: Every single day.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: We make a mistake when we think that the gospel is just for sinners.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: Sinners are all that there are.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: You need the gospel every single day.
• 38:03
  Daily reminders of who you are in and of yourself and who you
• 38:08
  are because of Jesus
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: and his person and work for you.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_00: That saying that's often attributed to Luther,
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: and who knows who originally said it,
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: that we need to hear the gospel every day,
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: it's not just because we forget it every day.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_00: We need to hear the gospel because the gospel is our daily bread.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's a steady, quiet gift of grace.
• 38:29
  And it's just what our anxious and forgetful and
• 38:32
  nostalgia-prone hearts so
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: desperately need to hear.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: That Jesus' body and his blood shed for you
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's where your forgiveness is found.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's where your identity is found.
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's not in you.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's not in your capabilities.
• 38:50
  It's not in how much gumption or strength that you can muster
• 38:54
  in and of yourself.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's him.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's him who you ingest.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's him who you believe by faith.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_00: His body and his blood.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's the manna that feeds souls in times of crisis or doubt.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: The cross and the empty tomb.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just these things that we preach about at Easter.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's what we constantly need to feed on.
• 39:15
  No wonder why Paul said,
• 39:17
  I have decided to know nothing but Christ and him crucified.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's what we need.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is our daily bread.
• 39:28
  SPEAKER_00: So the question is, are he...
• 39:29
  Are you trusting in him to the point that you are satisfied
• 39:33
  with him no matter what?
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_00: Are you so satisfied with Jesus that you trust him no matter what?
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: Right now,
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: right where you are,
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: when nostalgia is whispering in your ear,
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: when anxiety is paralyzing your thoughts,
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: You can't even think about anything else.
• 40:01
  When tomorrow feels incredibly unsteady,
• 40:04
  and it does,
• 40:05
  trust me,
• 40:05
  because I've been there.
• 40:09
  The word of God,
• 40:11
  which gives us his grace,
• 40:13
  tells us there is fresh mercy on the ground.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's grace to be had in droves, and it's for you.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's there for you, free for the taking.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it tells you,
• 40:25
  God's word tells you all about a savior who invites you to
• 40:29
  trust him and to be
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: satisfied in him and to come to him,
• 40:33
  SPEAKER_00: everyone who's weary and heavy laden,
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_00: and he will give you rest.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_00: That's the good news for you, for the church forever.
• 40:41
  You and I,
• 40:43
  we don't live by bread alone,
• 40:45
  but by the savior who has given himself for us.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we live by.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: The one who took care of Israel.
• 40:56
  Who provided for them throughout all of those decades of
• 40:59
  wandering and loneliness and crises.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: All of those days trudging through the wilderness.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_00: Guess what?
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_00: He's the same one who is more than enough for this wilderness.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: For this present darkness.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_00: And his grace is more than sufficient for you.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_00: For your present sorrow.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: For your trouble.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: For your turmoil.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: For your turmoil.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_00: For whatever anxiety is wreaking havoc in your heart and soul and mind.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: There is daily bread for you.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: And guess what?
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: His name is Jesus.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: Just like he shows up to Thomas.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: Poor old doubting Thomas.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what you preached on, by the way, for Easter.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_00: But poor old doubting Thomas.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_00: He gets a bad rap.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: The only doubter.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: Only doubter in all the Bible.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_00: Wrong.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: Wrong.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_00: The disciples were doubting.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: How do I know that?
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_00: The doors were locked.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: John 19 tells us when they were gathering together, they were locked.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: They were behind locked doors.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yet here's what happens.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: This wasn't planned, but we'll read it anyways.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_00: John 19.
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know what Jesus does?
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, to all of the disciples, excluding Thomas.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: John 19.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: John 19.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_00: Not John 19, John 20, excuse me.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_00: John 20, verse 19.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_00: On the evening of that day,
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_00: the first day of the week,
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: this is Easter Sunday,
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_00: the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_00: They're scared out of their minds right now.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, peace be with you.
• 42:41
  SPEAKER_00: And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: And then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_00: What does he do to Thomas?
• 42:53
  Eight days later,
• 42:54
  verse 26,
• 42:55
  the disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them.
• 42:57
  Although the doors were locked,
• 42:59
  Jesus came and stood among them and said,
• 43:01
  peace be with you.
• 43:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then he said to Thomas,
• 43:03
  put your finger here and see my hands and put out your hand and
• 43:06
  place it in my
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: side.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: Do not disbelieve, but believe.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_00: Thomas was just asking for the same thing that the other disciples got.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_00: To see the scars by which they could know that peace had been made.
• 43:22
  SPEAKER_00: That everything was settled.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_00: Every time the word of God is opened.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know what's happening?
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_00: The same moment.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the wounds.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_00: By which you are healed.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's happening all over again.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: For doubters.
• 43:38
  SPEAKER_00: For nostalgia ridden hearts.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_00: For anxiety induced souls.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_00: The word of God is opened.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: And the scars on God's son.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_00: Are displayed again.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_00: So that you can know.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_00: You can know all is well and all shall be well.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.