Many years ago in a land far away, the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians. For 400 years Pharaoh brutalized the Israelites and forced them to make bricks and build the great storehouses of Egypt. When Moses came along, a new hope dawned. They wondered if he would be the chosen one who would deliver them from slavery. But after he murdered an Egyptian, he was forced into exile in the Midian desert for 40 years, and the people continued to suffer.

After Moses received special training with his shepherd’s staff, he returned to Egypt, confronted Pharaoh, and set the Israelites free. Moses led them through the Red Sea, gave them God’s Law at Mount Sinai, and led their march to the Promised Land. But the Israelites continued to complain against Moses and God, so they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

At the end of this 40 years, they headed north toward the Promised Land. They had to travel through the territory that was inhabited by the Amorites. Moses politely asked King Sihon for passage through his land, but he refused and advanced his army against the Israelites. Under the leadership of Joshua, the Israelites made quick work of the Amorites and took over their land.

After this, the Israelites continued toward Bashan, a fertile territory famous for its oak trees and cattle. Like King Sihon, King Og of Bashan sent his army against the Israelites and they encountered the same fate. From there, the Israelites traveled to the plains of Moab and camped along the Jordan River across from the city of Jericho.

Now that the stage is set for today’s story, let me introduce you to our cast of characters!

Balak: King of Moab (1-4)

Introducing first, Balak! Other than being the son of Zippor and the King of Moab, we don’t know much about him. The Moabites were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot. They settled the land on the east side of the Jordan River and worshipped many pagan gods, but their chief god was Chemosh, to who on occasion they would even present human sacrifices.

Balak was terrified by the Israelites! He knew that a people of this size (some estimate over 2 million people) would consume his pasturelands. He compared the horde of Israelites to an ox that licks up the grass of the field. He had also heard about what the Israelites did to the Amorites and the people of Bashon. The thought of them being camped at his back door made him sick to his stomach.

Balak was smart! He knew that the Israelites were too numerous and too strong to attack with militarily, so he decided to attack them spiritually. He gathered a group of Moabite and Midianite elders, gave them with a large sum of money, and commanded them to travel 400 miles to the banks of the Euphrates River and summon the services of a great soothsayer.

Balaam: The Soothsayer of Pethor (5-20)

This leads us to the next character in our story: Balamm, son of Beor, a soothsayer and sorcerer of international renown. People probably called him the “The Powerful Prophet of Pethor”, the “The Marvelous Medium of Mesopotamia”, or “The Diabolical Diviner from Down Under!” He practiced all sorts of divination and magic arts, including the observation of natural phenomenon to determine the will of the gods, the interpretation of visions, dreams, and animal behavior, and most famously, the ability to pronounce blessings and curses that came to pass.

When the elders of Moab and Midian arrived at Pethor, they gave Balaam the letter from Balak requesting his services to put a curse on this people who had come up from the land of Egypt. Balak believed that Balaam’s powerful curses would allow him to conquer the Israelites. He knew that a spiritual attack would give him a better chance than a physical advance.

Balaam was intrigued by this request, but he was even more intrigued by the large money bags in the hands of the elders (Balaam was greedy and usually contracted his services to the highest bidder). But before he jumped in head first, he wanted to test the spiritual waters. He invited the elders to stay the night while he sought the will of God.

As a diviner, he was used to speaking to the gods. He believed that the God of the Israelites was just like any other deity that he could manipulate. But God gave him a clear message to stay away from Moab. So, he refused to go with the elders.

When the elders reported this to Balak, he got more distinguished representatives and an even greater sum of money to entice Balaam. On the surface, Balaam still refused Balak’s offer, saying that no sum of money could get him to go against the command of the Lord, but when he woke up the next morning, he told the representatives that God gave him permission to go. I think the best way to understand verse 20 is that Balaam was lying. I think he saw an opportunity to manipulate God and Balak at the same time. So, he decided to go to Moab!

Balaam’s Unnamed Donkey (21-30)

That brings us to the third and most surprising character of our story: Balaam’s donkey. Apparently Balaam had owned this donkey for a long time and she had become his trusty companion on countless journeys. The next morning he saddled his donkey and headed west.

The Lord was angry with Balaam for going to Moab. So, he placed his angel in the middle of the road with sword in hand to oppose him. Balaam was blind to the angel, but the donkey saw it very clearly and veered off the road and into a field. Balaam began to beat her.

As they continued along, they came to a narrow path with vineyards and rock walls on both sides of the road. The donkey saw the angel again and pressed up close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against the rock. He was so angry with her that he began to beat her again.

Then the angel stood on a narrow pass and there was no place to turn around. This time, the donkey just lay down in the middle of the road and refused to go any further. Balaam was so furious with her this time that he beat her with his staff.

Please do not miss the divine irony in this scene! Donkeys were famous for their stupidity, yet this foolish beast saw the angel standing on the road. Balaam was a famous soothsayer who was internationally known for his insight into spiritual matters, and yet, he did not see the spiritual reality of the living God standing before him. Moreover, Balaam was an expert at interpreting the behavior of animals, but he couldn’t figure out why his dumb donkey wasn’t cooperating.

Well, that brings us to the best part of the story. Notice what it says in verse 28, “The Lord opened the donkey’s mouth.” God performed a miracle and enabled the animal to speak in a clear intelligible language. What did the donkey say? She said, “Balaam, raise your staff again, and I’ll beat your …” Just kidding! He said, “Hit me again and I’ll call PETA.” No, the donkey simply asked Balaam why he beat her three times and pointed out the fact that she had always been faithful to him. He was humiliated by the whole event.

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes and he saw the angel standing there with his sword drawn, and his humiliation turned into humility. He bowed low and fell facedown, confessed his sin, and showed a willingness to turn back. But the angel told him to go on with the princes of Moab, but he warned him to only speak what the Lord told him to speak.

Yahweh: The Lord God of Israel (31-41)

Even though we have already encountered the fourth character in the story, allow me to introduce you to him anyway. He is Yahweh, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, the Sovereign Living Lord God of Israel. He is the one who orchestrated all of these events to display his power over all other powers and to show his faithfulness to his people by blessing them and leading them into the Promised Land.

I don’t have time to give you a detailed account of Numbers 23-24, but let me summarize how God ironically used this wicked warlock to accomplish his purposes. When Balaam finally got to Moab, Balak took him up onto a series of mountaintops where he could see the Israelite encampments and told him to pronounce curses on his enemies. But every time Balaam spoke, God put his message in his mouth and he blessed the Israelites instead of cursing them.

The high point of Balaam’s blessings came in Numbers 24:17 when God actually used this manipulative magician to utter a messianic prophecy: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” This messiah will conquer all the enemies of God’s people in the last days.

After God turned the tables on Balak and used the sorcerer Balaam to pronounce blessings instead of curses upon his people, Balaam showed the true nature of his character by giving Balak some evil advice. He told him that even if he couldn’t overcome the Israelites through military might or diabolical divination, there was still another way: sexual seduction. He told Balak to send the prettiest girls of Moab to the Israelite camp to seduce the men into committing sexual immorality and idolatry.

The best way to break the blessing God’s people was to get them to commit idolatry. It is the old strategy: If you can’t beat them, try to make them beat themselves. God eventually held Balaam responsible for his sin. In Numbers 31:8, we learn that the Israelites killed Balaam in during the Midianite raid.

Well, now that you have heard the tale of Balaam and the talking donkey, I would like to highlight a few lessons that we can take away from the story.

1.) The Temptation toward Witchcraft

Like Balak, when many people (including Christians) get in a bind today, they are tempted to turn to witchcraft. I’m not just talking about overt forms of witchcraft like Satanism, Wicca, and Voodoo; I am talking about all forms like black magic, psychic healing, mediums, fortune telling, séances, Reiki, dowsing, Ouija boards, ghost hunting, and some forms of yoga.

Some of us ask the question “Does anyone really participate in these things?” Others ask, “Are these things really dangerous?” The answer is a resounding “Yes” to both questions. These practices can open people up to real demonic forces.

Many people get involved in these things out of mere curiosity. Others get involved to solve some problem in their life. They may seem outrageous to you now, but if you have a disease that the doctors can’t diagnose or you have a missing child, is easy to be tempted. If you ever find yourself tempted toward any form of witchcraft, run the other way!

2.) God’s Sovereignty

In this story, God shows his sovereignty over the physical and spiritual world. He shows his power over the physical word by causing a dumb donkey to speak a human language. He shows his power over the spiritual world by allowing the donkey to see the angel and causing Balaam to bless the Israelites.

God foiled Balak and Balaam’s attempts toward evil and used them for good. God protected the Israelites from a threat that they didn’t even know about. He does the same thing for us all the time. He protects us from harms we can’t see and he even uses evil to advance his purposes and accomplish his plans in our lives!

Also, just as God used this dumb donkey to humiliate powerful prophet, he is still in the business of using the foolish things of the world to humble the wise. He still uses the weak things to baffle the strong. So, just in case you think you have occasion to act proud or strong or independent, be careful! God just might make a donkey out of you!

3.) God’s Faithfulness

Finally, this story shows us how God was faithful to his people. He made a covenant with Abraham that he would multiply his people and give them the Promised Land. God was now making good on his promise in spite of this threat from Balak and Balaam.

God still keeps his promises today. Indeed, Jesus will return one day and defeat all of the enemies of God’s people once and for all. So, let’s thank God for his faithfulness to us by being faithful to him!

Have you ever heard of the medical condition called “arteriosclerosis?” It is a form of coronary heart disease that refers to the hardening of the artery walls throughout the body. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body. Healthy arteries are flexible, strong, and elastic.

Over time, however, too much pressure in the arteries can make the walls thick and stiff, restricting blood flow to your organs and tissues. If it is untreated, it can lead to a heart attack! The American Heart Association estimates that twice as many people die from arteriosclerotic disease as from all cancers combined!

Did you know that there is a comparable spiritual coronary disease that affects the human heart? I don’t have any precise figures on how many Americans have it, but I know it is a lot. This disease is known by a number of technical terms including “stubbornness, obstinacy, selfishness, pride, self-centeredness, arrogance, self-conceit.” It is basically the hardening of the heart. If this condition is not treated, it leads to broken relationships, a broken relationship with God, and ultimately spiritual death!

Many people in the Bible suffered from this spiritual disease, but the clearest case we know about is with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. When Moses and Aaron confronted him about freeing the Israelites from slavery, he refused to listen. He hardened his heart toward Moses and God, and it eventually led to his spiritual and physical death!

As we look at Pharaoh’s life today, I hope that it will serve as a check-up for the hardness of our own hearts!

Pharaoh’s Ego: A King and a god

It isn’t surprising that Pharaoh had this spiritual heart disease. His position made him predisposed to the condition. Pharaoh was the most powerful person in ancient Egypt. The title “Pharaoh” literally meant “the great house” and was given to the hereditary line of Egyptian kings. The pharaoh was the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: ‘Lord of the Two Lands’ which meant that he ruled Upper and Lower Egypt. He owned all of the land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners. His other title, ‘High Priest of Every Temple’, meant that Pharaoh represented the gods on Earth. He performed rituals and built temples to honor the gods.

Since Pharaoh had absolute power in Egypt, he was used to getting his own way. No one told Pharaoh what to do. That is why he ignored Moses’ commands to let the Israelites go. He was going to do what he wanted when he wanted, and he wasn’t about to give up the Israelites who had been their slaves for 400 years. His pride and arrogance made him susceptible to the hardening of his heart!

Pharaoh’s biggest problem was that he believed his own hype. He actually believed that he was a god! He actually believed that he was in control of his life. He actually believed that he was the sovereign ruler of his nation and his people! His ego and selfishness blinded him to God’s truth.

Many people struggle with this same spiritual disease today. Now I don’t know very many people that have the audacity to call themselves a god, but they tend to believe their own hype. They think that they are actually in control of their lives. They are so selfish that they act like their desires are the only ones that count!

How about you? Do you have a Pharaoh-sized ego? Do you actually believe that you are in control of your life? When you make decisions, do you think about how they will affect others? When we have a God-complex, God has a way of reminding us that he is the only one in charge!

Pharaoh Hardens His Heart (7:13, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34)

When Moses and Aaron first went to Pharaoh in Exodus 7, they displayed the Lord’s miraculous power when Aaron threw his staff on the ground and it transformed into a snake. In this famous episode, Pharaoh’s sorcerers did the same thing by their secret arts, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. And in Exodus 7:13, it says that Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them.

Since Pharaoh hardened his heart, God sent adversity on Pharaoh in the form of ten plagues. The purpose of these plagues was to show God’s power over the false gods of Egypt and to compel Pharaoh to free the Israelites. Unfortunately, Pharaoh responded negatively to every one of the plagues. Throughout the first five plagues and the seventh plague, we see the same pattern: Pharaoh is obstinate toward Moses’ warning, God sends the plague, Pharaoh appears to repent and let the Israelites go, and he changes his mind and makes a conscious decision to harden his heart toward God and his representatives.

This pattern is highlighted in the seventh plague, the plague of hail in Exodus 9:13-35. Pharaoh refused to comply with God’s command, so Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky and the Lord sent the most vicious thunder storm in the history of Egypt. Huge balls of ice fell from the sky and killed both men and animals, and it beat down the crops and stripped the trees.

The devastation was so severe that it caused Pharaoh to confess, “This time I have sinned. The Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.” (Exodus 9:27-28) But after Moses prayed and the Lord stopped the storm, he sinned again. He and his officials hardened their hearts and would not let the Israelites go. (Exodus 9:34-35)

I doubt if anyone here remembers the early 1980’s rock band Quarterflash. The band only stayed together for a few years and they were really only had one hit on the radio. Even though you probably don’t remember the band, you would recognize their one-hit-wonder “I’m Gonna Harden My Heart.”

Cryin’ on the corner
Waitin’ in the rain
I swear I’ll never ever wait again
You gave me a word
But words for you are lies

Darlin’ in my wildest dreams
I never thought I’d go
But it’s time to let you know
All of my life

I’ve been waitin’ in the rain
I’ve been waitin’ for a feelin’ that never ever came
It feels so close
But always disappears

I’m gonna harden my heart
I’m gonna swallow my tears
I’m gonna turn and leave you here…..

This song is about a woman leaving her man and staying bitter toward him.

Unfortunately, it describes decisions that many people make in their lives every day. Somebody hurts them with their words or actions, and they respond with anger, stubbornness, and bitterness. And instead of working through the problem, they break off the relationship and harden their heart toward them.

What is even more unfortunate than this is that many people do the same thing to God! When something bad happens to them or their prayer doesn’t get answered the way they want, they become frustrated with God and withdraw from him. When life doesn’t turn out the way they want, they become very self-centered, cut off relationship with God and harden their hearts toward him.

Pharaoh represents the pattern that many people fall into today. They refuse to listen to God or obey him. They pretend like he doesn’t exist and don’t take his word seriously. Then God sends one or more of his servants to speak his word to them. But their pride and selfishness causes them to dismiss it. Then God brings some adversity into their lives to open their ears. They become interested in God for a while, but then they harden their hearts toward him again.

Where are you in this pattern today? Are you listening to God’s word? Are you taking him seriously from the beginning? Is he speaking to you through someone else? Is he using someone to confront you? How are you responding to his truth? Has he brought some adversity into your life to open your ears? How are you responding? Is your heart getting harder or softer?

God Hardens Pharaoh’s Heart (9:12, 10:20, 27; 11:10; 14:8)

Plagues 1-5 and 7 very clearly place the blame on Pharaoh for hardening his heart toward God, but we find a very different and interesting picture in plagues 6, 8, 9, and 10. At the end of each of these plagues, the text says “The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, just like he said.”

We especially see this in the sixth plague, the plague of boils. Moses and Aaron took handfuls of soot from one of the furnaces and tossed it into the air. The Lord spread this dust all over Egypt and it caused festering boils to break out on people and animal throughout the land. Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t even attempt to duplicate this because the boils affected them so severely. Then in Exodus 9:12, it says, “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.”

God was very patient with Pharaoh and gave him plenty of opportunities to repent, and in the end, God simply gave him what he already wanted. Pharaoh was stubborn and hardened his own heart, so God went ahead and hardened his heart for him. Despite the evidence of the signs and miracles, he persisted in defying God. So, basically, God seconds Pharaoh’s motion to harden his heart.

This phrase raises the question for us, “Who is responsible for Pharaoh’s hard heart, Pharaoh or God?” If God is the one who hardened Pharaoh’s heart, how can he hold Pharaoh responsible for his actions? This question gets at the heart of the theological paradox between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will.

God’s sovereignty always trumps man’s free will. If God wants anyone to do anything, he has the power to make them do it. If God wanted Pharaoh to repent, he would have. But God chose to harden Pharaoh’s heart to display his great glory. Pharaoh’s persistence allowed God to show his power over the Egyptian gods and prove that he is all-powerful.

Martin Luther explained the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s free will this way, “If God did not bless, not one hair, not a solitary wisp of straw, would grow; but there would be an end of everything. At the same time God wants me to take this stance: I would have nothing if I did not plow and sow. God does not want to have success come without work, and yet I am not to achieve it by my work. He does not want me to sit at home, to loaf, to commit matters to God, and to wait till a fried chicken flies into my mouth. That would be tempting God.”

This should cause us great concern and give us great comfort at the same time. On one hand, God holds us morally responsible for every decision we make, including every sin. On the other hand, he has the power to bring good even out of our poor and sinful decisions.

The character of Pharaoh and the story of the 10 plagues on Egypt should cause us to take a look at our own hearts today. Have you been hardening your heart toward some person in your life? Have you been hardening your heart against God for some reason?

The only remedy for a hard heart is grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. He suffered and died on the cross for our hard hearts. Jesus wants to give us a heart transplant. When we repent from our sins, he replaces our hard and sinful hearts with his own heart!

Are you in need of a heart transplant today? The good news is that we don’t have to wait for a donor. He is ready to give us a new heart today! Will you accept his offer?

“So I have a younger brother and he’s super cool- he has awesome grades, and is a great athlete. Everyone always brags that he’s going to be the next Michael Jordan or whatever. However, nobody remembers me, or at least it doesn’t seem like it. I hated all the people from my high school, but it still hurts that I wasn’t really that popular at school. If someone did know me, it was because I helped them with their homework or I helped maintain the rules at school, or I was a good student who did everything the teacher would say- a teacher’s pet. By the time I got to be a senior at the school (my brother was a freshman), people were asking me already if I was related to my brother instead of if my brother was related to me.”This is part of a letter written by a college freshman!

Some of us know what it is like growing up in the shadow of an older sibling, but can you imagine what it would be like growing up in the shadow of a younger sibling? That is exactly what life was like for Aaron. He was Moses’ older brother. While Moses is one of the leading candidates to receive the award for “Best Lead Role in Biblical History”, Aaron couldn’t even scrounge up enough votes for “Best Supporting Role.”

When we hear the name Moses, we immediately think of the incredible encounter with the burning bush, the spectacular parting of the Red Sea, and the dramatic declaration of the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments). When we hear the name Aaron, we scratch our heads and say, “Uh, I know he did something in the Bible, but I can’t remember what it was!”

Well, today I would like for us to learn something about the life Aaron and something from the life of Aaron!

Aaron’s Golden Tongue (Exodus 4:14-17; 6:28-7:13)

When Moses received his calling from the Lord to lead the Israelites out of slavery, he protested on the basis that he had a speech impediment and was a poor public speaker. He said, “I am slow of speech and tongue.” He was afraid that Pharaoh would not listen to him, so he asked God to send someone else to do it.

God is never impressed with excuses and he wasn’t going to let Moses off the hook. He said to Moses, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? He is a gifted speaker! I have given him a golden tongue! And he is already on his way here to meet you. You will tell him what to say, and he will speak the words. I will help both of you!”

So, God used the golden tongued Aaron to become Moses’ mouthpiece, and the two of them confronted Pharaoh together. Aaron commanded Pharaoh to free the Israelites, but God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not listen to him. When Pharaoh challenged them to perform a miracle, Aaron threw his staff on the ground and it turned into a snake. His staff ate up the staffs of the Egyptian sorcerers. God also used Aaron to announce and execute the first three plagues on Egypt.

Aaron’s golden tongue reminds us how God gives people special talents and abilities to use for his glory. When we think about the Exodus story, who is the main character that comes to mind? Moses! But think about where Moses would have been without Aaron? Sure, Moses had the gifts of discernment and leadership, but Aaron had the gift of public speech! Moses couldn’t have accomplished what he did without Aaron.

This is the way it is in God’s church today. Nobody is talented in every area, but everyone is talented in some area. Like Moses and Aaron, God gives each of us a special ability to serve him. Our different gifts and roles are designed to complement each other.

What gifts and abilities has God given you? Discernment and leadership like Moses? Public speaking like Aaron? Teaching? Cooking? Listening? Building? Aaron used his talent of public speaking to glorify God and advance his plan, how about you?

Aaron and Hur Support Moses’ Hands (Exodus 17:8-15)

In Exodus 17, there is another episode that gives us a glimpse of the significance of Aaron’s life and ministry. As the Israelites continued their journey out of Egypt, they crossed the Desert of Sin and camped in the region of Rephidim. There they were attacked by the Amalekites, a godless tribe that descended from Esau.

Moses told Joshua, his aid, to gather up some men and fight against the Amalekites. He told him, “Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.” As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. After a while, Moses arms got so tired that he couldn’t hold them up any longer, but Aaron and another man named Hur came along and held Moses’ arms up for him. They did this the whole way until sunset, until Joshua and the Israelites won the battle.

This episode shows us that supporting ministry roles are just as important as leadership roles. Aaron was not called to be Israel’s leader, Moses was! Aaron was not called to be the general of Israel’s army, Joshua was. But God called Aaron to support these men. Moses and Joshua would have failed if it hadn’t been for Aaron and Hur. You wouldn’t think that holding up someone’s arms would be a very important ministry, but if they hadn’t played their part, the Israelites would have been wiped out.

I learned this same lesson when I was in college preparing for the ministry. I attended Parkview Presbyterian Church in Oak Park, IL, the first suburb west of Chicago. It was a small struggling church, but our pastor, Dr. Hassell Bullock, preached the gospel faithfully. About the same time I started attending Parkview, a group of students from Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College started attending too. Over the next few years, the church became fruitful again. Every time I see Dr. Bullock, he tells me, “You were like Aaron and Hur holding up my arms in the desert. I wouldn’t have survived if it hadn’t been for your support!”

Pastor Vawn and I have been called to lead this church community, but we could not do what we do if you didn’t do what you do. Whether you are in a leadership role or supporting role, I want to thank all of you for your faithful service to the Lord. As we continue to work together (some holding up the staff, others holding up the arms) we will win the battle against sin and the devil!

Aaron’s Golden Calf (Exodus 32:1-6)

Well, so far Aaron has been cast in a positive light, but we begin to see some weakness in his character in Exodus 32. After the Israelites left the region of Rephidim, they entered the Sinai desert and camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Moses went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets with the law and commandments on it and he stayed there for forty days and forty nights.

People always grow fearful when their leader isn’t visible, and even though God performed many miracles through Moses, the Israelites’ patients grew thin with him. Their faith was still weak and many of them wished that they were still slaves. They gathered around Aaron and put pressure on him by saying, “Come, make us gods like we worshipped in Egypt! As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what happened to him.”

Aaron was forced to make a difficult decision. Would he persevere through the pressure and remain faithful to God and his brother Moses? Or would he succumb to the pressure, turn his back on the one true God, and do what the people wanted?

Well, Aaron fell hard! He told them to give him all of their gold earrings and he melted them down and fashioned it into a golden calf. The people had the audacity of crediting the calf with leading them out of Egypt.

When Aaron saw that the people were pleased with the calf, he built an altar in front of the calf and declared that tomorrow would be a day of partying. So, the people worshipped the sacred cow by sacrificing burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. They celebrated their idolatry by feasting on the manna that God had provided and they indulged themselves in such drunken decadence and sexual perversion that it made Woodstock look like a birthday party.

We are put in similar positions all the time. There will always be people who put pressure on us to do what is evil in God’s sight. They want to drag us down to the pit of sin and give us all sorts of reasons why it is OK.

Like Aaron, sometimes this pressure comes from unlikely people. It is hard to imagine that the Israelites, who just experienced all of these miracles and were delivered by God, would so quickly turn their backs on him and put pressure on Aaron to do the same. Has a fellow Christian ever pressured you to do something wrong? Has your spouse ever pressured you to put them or something else before God? How about one of your parents, children, a sibling, a coworker, a classmate, a boyfriend, a girlfriend!

The question for us is: What will you do? Will you stand firm under to the pressure or will you cave into the pressure? Will you please God or will you please the people?

Aaron’s Excuses and Moses’ Intercession (Exodus 32:7-35)

While Aaron and the Israelites were indulging in revelry, Moses was still on the mountain receiving the tablets from the Lord. He told Moses all about the golden calf and the people’s corruption and threatened to destroy them. But Moses interceded for them and begged not to spare their lives. In one of the most interesting conversations in the Bible, Moses reminded God of the covenant he made with their forefathers and persuaded him to spare their lives.

When Moses and Joshua descended the mountain, they heard the people singing and saw them dancing around the calf. Moses became so angry that he took the stone tablets which God wrote with his own finger, and he hurled them at the people and they broke into pieces. Then he took the calf, burned it, ground it into powder, scattered it in the water, and made the people drink it.

When Moses confronted Aaron about his sin, Aaron shifted the blame onto the people by saying, “You know how prone these people are to evil” (22) and made ridiculous excuses for his actions by saying “Then they gave me their gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” (24)

The next day Moses went back to the Lord and made intercession once again. He forced the people to reckon with their sin and confessed their sin to God and begged him to forgive them.

This episode teaches us two lessons: the outrageous nature of excuses and the importance of intercession. We have all followed Aaron into the arena of excuses. When we are confronted with our sinful attitudes and actions, our natural instinct is to abrogate our personal responsibility with ridiculous reasons. We justify our own behavior by shifting the blame to others. The fact is that there is never a good excuse for our sin, and the faster we own up to it, the faster it can be forgiven.

Also, if Moses hadn’t interceded for the people, God would have destroyed them. If Moses hadn’t confessed their sin for them and try to make atonement, it would have been the end of them. Even though God did send a plague to punish them for their sin, he did not pour out the fullness of his fury.

This should evoke feelings of gratitude in our own hearts today. You see, we have an even better mediator than Moses. Jesus Christ died on the cross to satisfy God’s anger and grant us forgiveness for our sins. Jesus paid the ultimate price for us so that can receive full atonement.

Like Aaron, we have all sinned! Like Aaron, we are all guilty of caving into the pressure! Like Aaron, we all guilty of moral lapses! Like Aaron, we are all guilty of worshipping something visible over the invisible God! Like Aaron, we are all guilty of pleasing people over pleasing the Lord! But thank God, Jesus has interceded for us!

Well, I know that Aaron will never live up to the legacy of his younger brother, but I hope that you have not only learned something about him; I hope that you have learned something from him today!

Today I would like to share something with you that I have never shared with you before. It’s about my own life and it is a little awkward to talk about. It wasn’t until I became an adult that I discovered that the parents that raised me were not my real biological parents. I grew up thinking that I was someone, only to find out that I was someone else. You can imagine the shock and confusion I felt when I also discovered that I had an older brother and sister that I never knew about.

By the time I found out about all of this, my real parents had already passed away, but at least I was able to find out about them. I learned that they were both brick makers. They worked very hard every day, but their boss treated poorly and they never made very much money. When I came along, my parents already had my older brother and sister, and they never knew if there would be enough food to feed their family. It was a difficult time for everyone, but they continued to pray to God day after day.

Even though my parents were poor, they loved our all of us very much. I guess that’s why my mother cried so much. You see, not long after I was born, they thought I was going to die. My mother had to keep me in seclusion for the first three months of my life, and every time she nursed me, her tears rolled off her cheeks and dripped onto mine. She never knew if this was going to be the day she would lose me, but she constantly prayed that God would spare my life.

I don’t know if we ever fully understand why things happen in our lives the way they do—my mother certainly didn’t understand why this was happening to me. But the fact that I lived showed her that God had a special plan for my life! Even though she didn’t raise me, she always wondered how God was going to use me!

You must understand, when I was born, I didn’t have any disease or deformity. What threatened my life was a great act of cruelty. It didn’t only threaten my life; it threatened and took the lives of all the newborn boys in the land of Goshen. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, saw that my people, the Hebrew people, had become quite numerous. He was afraid that if war broke, we would join with Egypt’s enemies and overpower them. He didn’t want to lose his slave labor which made the bricks and built the great storehouses of Egypt.

So, to fix this population problem, he dealt with our people shrewdly and commanded our midwives to kill all the newborn boys. But they feared God more than Pharaoh and they refused to participate in this genocide. Then Pharaoh ordered that every boy must be thrown into the Nile River. In this way, thousands of little Hebrew boys were snatched from their mother’s arms and drowned to death. To this very day, our whole nation still mourns this tragedy in our history!

God Saves Moses at Birth (1:1-2:10)

This is why my mother kept me in seclusion for three months. She protected me as long as she could, but when she realized that she couldn’t keep me hidden any longer, she left me to the mercy of the Nile. Instead of casting me into the water to drown, she made me a little boat out of a papyrus basket and set me adrift down the river. My older sister Miriam was so heartbroken that she walked along the bank of the river to see what would happen to her beloved baby brother, and I am so glad she did.

With a stroke of divine providence, my basket boat got caught in the reeds. Now it just happened that Pharaoh’s daughter, the princess of Egypt, had gone to that area of the river to bathe that day. And it just happened that she saw my basket floating on the water. And when she opened it and saw me inside, even though I was a Hebrew baby, she felt sorry for me. As she was figuring out what to do with me, my sister appeared and asked her if she wanted her to get one of the Hebrew women to nurse him for her. And when she said yes, the most ironic thing of all happened. Pharaoh’s daughter actually paid my biological mother to nurse and take care of me. The princess named me Moses, which means “I drew him out of the water.”

Even though my biological mother nursed me for the first few years of my life, I have no memory of her. When I got a little older, I went to live in Pharaoh’s house and was raised by the princess. I grew up with all of the privileges of a prince of Egypt. For all those years, I had no idea that my true identity had been hidden.

When I finally found out who I was and heard the story of how my life had been spared, somehow I knew that it was the God of my ancestors who orchestrated these events. I knew that he delivered me from death because he had a special purpose for my life.

This is true of you also! God is always working behind the scenes of your life. He is always orchestrating the events of your life to accomplish his special purposes. You may not understand why things have happened the way they have, but someday you will. I didn’t understand why I was born to Hebrew slaves but was raised by Egyptian royalty until I was 80 years old. When God finally revealed his ultimate plan for my life, everything made perfect sense.

I think we all have questions about our lives! Why was I born where and when I was? Why did God give me the family he gave me? Why have I experienced the trials that I have? One day, you too will understand! But until that day comes, keep trusting the Lord.

Moses Flees to Midian (2:11-25)

When I found out that I was actually a Hebrew, I finally met my sister Miriam and my brother Aaron. As I started spending time with my people and I became more and more disturbed by the way the Egyptians treated them. My people were forced to work the fields of Egypt. Their bodies were broken from carrying bricks and their backs were bludgeoned by the slave master’s whips. A sense of injustice that was bubbling in my heart and it ran over one day when I saw an Egyptian brutally beating one of my people. After I looked around and saw no one, I took justice into my own hands and killed the Egyptian. I knew it was wrong, but my anger overtook me!

I covered up the murder by burying the man’s body in the sand. I thought that no one else knew about it, until the next day when I broke up a fight between two Hebrews. With all of the abuse they received from the slave masters, I couldn’t understand why these two were fighting. When I asked the one who was in the wrong, I was shocked by his response when he said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” I got scared when I realized that my crime was known.

When Pharaoh found out what happened, he got scared too. He wasn’t overly concerned about the man I killed, but he was concerned about my growing sympathy for the Hebrews. Now that I knew my true identity, he knew that I was a threat to his regime of oppression, so he tried to kill me. Just like when I was three months old, my life was no longer safe in Egypt. So, I fled across the desert to Midian.

When I arrived in Midian I found shelter under the tents of a priest named Reuel. I married his daughter Zipporah and she bore my firstborn son Gershom. Now don’t misunderstand me, my father-in-law was a good man, he treated me kindly and gave me his daughter, but as it is with most father-in-laws, he wanted something in return. So, I became his chief shepherd and tended his sheep for the next forty years.

The pastures of Midian were a lot different than the palaces of Egypt. My first forty years were spent in royalty; my second forty years were spent as a refugee. As I tended the flocks day after day and year after year, I began to wonder about God’s plan for my life again. Did God save me from the mouth of the Nile just to tend sheep in the desert? My life wasn’t turning out like I had planned or hoped!

Has that ever happened to you? Do you ever feel like your life isn’t turning out like you planned or hoped? Have you ever fallen from the peak to the pit? Have you ever been kicked from the palace to the pasture? It is a humbling experience, but sometimes that is exactly what we need!

I didn’t know it at the time but the Lord was using these years to prepare me for his ultimate purpose. Back then, I had no idea that he was planning to use me to confront Pharaoh and deliver the Hebrew people from slavery, but he used forty years of learning how to lead sheep to teach me how to lead people. The best place in the world to get an MPA (Masters of People Administration) is at Shepherd University.

The Lord may be doing the same thing in your life! He may be using your past mistakes or your present struggles to prepare you for his future purposes!

Moses and the Burning Bush (3:1-22)

On one very average day, I was out tending the flocks on the back side of the desert at the foot of Mt. Horeb. As I looked up at its tall and jagged face, I saw something very strange. There was a bush on fire, and yet, it did not burn up. Ordinarily, I never would have climbed that dangerous mountain, but I was so intrigued that I started up. When I got to the top and stepped forward to look at this sight, the voice of the Lord called out to me from the bush and said, “Moses! Moses! Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” I turned my head because I was afraid to look at God.

Then he told me that he saw the misery of his people and heard their cries. He assured me that he was concerned about their suffering and that he had a plan to bring about their deliverance. Then he gave me the biggest surprise of my life. He said, “I am sending you to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

I was overwhelmed and confused! I immediately protested, saying, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and deliver the Israelites. Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you know about my past? I’m a murderer! Don’t you know what I am now? I’m a simple shepherd, not an eloquent spokesman! Don’t you know that I have a speech impediment? Pharaoh will laugh at me. You can’t use someone like me! Surely there must be someone more qualified than me!”

But God said to me, “Don’t you know who I am? I am who I am! Don’t you know about my past? I am the God of your Father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! Don’t you know that I made a covenant with them long ago? Don’t you know that I promised that I would always be with them and bless them and give them the Promised Land? I intend to keep my promise and I will use you to do it!” At that moment, I understood why all of the events in my life happened the way they did. I was 80 years old and God finally revealed his ultimate purpose for my life!

I learned something about God that day! I learned that he really is all-powerful. If he can use stuttering murderer to deliver a whole people from slavery, he can do anything! Maybe you look at your past sins, present disabilities, or even your age and think, “God could never use me.” Well, I am living proof that he can!

Moses Delivers a Nation (4-15)

Well, God kept his promise! It wasn’t easy, but he used me to free my people from slavery. Pharaoh didn’t listen to me at first, but God wore him down with a series of ten plagues. And they were bad ones too—frogs, gnats, flies, locusts, etc. But it was the plague of the firstborn son that finally made him listen. I told Pharaoh that if he didn’t let my people go, the spirit of death would come upon Egypt and all the firstborn sons would die. I guess it was a little divine retribution for what Pharaoh did to the Hebrew boys years before.

So, I led our people through the Red Sea and to the brink of the Promised Land. God also used me to deliver his Ten Commandments, establish his laws, and to this day I still serve as judge over the people. It is amazing to think about how God can transform someone from a common criminal into a community leader—a murderer into a minister!

Now that I am old and think back over my life, I see that God was with me from the beginning. I now understand why I was spared from the Nile, raised by Egyptian parents, and spent forty years as a lowly shepherd. Even though I didn’t understand any of it at the time, he orchestrated all of the events of my life perfectly. You may not understand the events of your life now, but someday you will!

As my own day of death now draws near, there is still one question that I have. God used me to deliver his people from slavery, but I wonder if he will ever raise up other unlikely person to deliver his people from slavery to sin? I bet he will!

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to good people? Why do healthy people get cancer? Why do responsible people have financial problems? Why do hard working people get robbed and nice families get killed by drunk drivers? Why do Christians get persecuted for their faith? Why do some people suffer for doing the right thing while others prosper for doing the wrong thing? Well, if you have ever pondered these questions, the story of Joseph is for you!

Joseph: Daddy’s Favorite (Genesis 37:1-11)

Even if parents aren’t willing to admit it, they usually have a favorite child, and Joseph was definitely Jacob’s favorite son. Since Joseph was the first child of his favorite wife Rachel, he was his daddy’s favorite son, and everyone knew it. Most parents at least try to hide their favoritism, but not Jacob. He gave Joseph preferential treatment and he didn’t care what anyone thought about it. On one occasion, Jacob made Joseph a beautifully ornamented robe as a sign of his preference. What did he make for his other sons? Absolutely nothing!

Jacob’s favoritism for Joseph made his brothers and their mothers despise him. And Joseph’s behavior certainly didn’t help matters. He grew up as a spoiled little brat. He flaunted his beautiful robe and had a reputation as a tattle-tale. Every time his brothers did something wrong, Joseph went and told daddy what they did.

Joseph was also a dreamer. He had dreams that he would one day rule over his whole family, but instead of keeping his dreams to himself, he shared them with everyone else. In one of the dreams, they all had sheaves of wheat, and the sheaves of the ten older brothers gathered around that of Joseph and they all bowed down to it. In another dream, the sun, moon, and stars bowed down to him. This offended even Jacob, because it indicated that he (the sun) and Rachel (the moon) would be subservient to Joseph.

Joseph Gets Sold by His Brothers (Genesis 37:12-36)

By the time Joseph turned seventeen, his brothers had had all they could take! And when the opportunity came to teach Joseph a lesson, they pounced on it like a lion. While the brothers were out grazing their father’s flocks, Joseph went looking for them. When they saw him coming, they said, “Look! Here comes that dreamer” and they plotted to kill him, throw him into a dry cistern, and tell their father that he had been devoured by a wild animal.

But thankfully they changed their mind and decided to sell him to a caravan of Midianite merchants—they were on their way to Egypt to sell spices. So, for a measly twenty pieces of silver, they sold their own brother into slavery.

Joseph had his share of flaws, but he certainly didn’t deserve this! He was a spoiled little brat but he didn’t deserve a life of slavery. After all, these were his brothers!

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (Genesis 39)

Even though this very bad thing happened to Joseph, the Lord was with him. The humiliating experience of being sold into slavery seemed to cure Joseph of any arrogance left in his character. When the Midianites got to Egypt, they sold Joseph to a man named Potiphar, who was one of Pharoah’s wealthy and powerful royal officials. Joseph was a competent and hard worker and the Lord gave him success in whatever he did. Potiphar was impressed with Joseph and realized that the Lord was with him, so was put in charge of Potiphar’s whole household. Joseph was so trustworthy that Potiphar didn’t have to concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

Just when everything seemed to be going well for Joseph, disaster came over the horizon again. Joseph was a young heartthrob. Most women took a double take when they passed him, and it wasn’t long before Potiphar’s wife took notice of him. Maybe she was emotionally neglected or maybe she was just a cougar on the prowl, but she began to make sexual advances toward him. But Joseph showed his moral resolve by refusing her pleas. He said, “My master has trusted me with everything he owns; he doesn’t have to concern himself with anything. How could I do this wicked thing against him and sin against my God?”

One day when Joseph showed up to work, the house was mysteriously empty. None of the other servants were there, but Potiphar’s wife suddenly appeared (probably in some slinky Egyptian lingerie), grabbed him by his cloak, and demanded that he sleep with her. He refused and ran out of the house in a panic, leaving his cloak in her hands. She was so enraged that, like Joseph’s brothers, she plotted an evil scheme to destroy him. She called in her husband and accused Joseph of rape. Potiphar burned with anger and put Joseph in prison.

Again, we sympathize with Joseph in this episode. Even though he took the high road, he got hit with a low blow. He did the right thing and suffered for it. Is this the thanks he got for years of hard and noble work? Is this his reward for putting God first in his life? This story makes us ask, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Joseph in Jail (Genesis 40)

Even though this bad thing happened to Joseph and he now found himself in an Egyptian dungeon, the Lord was still with him! The Lord showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. Joseph again showed such noble character and leadership competence that the warden put him in charge of the whole prison. Can you imagine that? An inmate running the prison! The Lord again gave Joseph success in everything he did!

As time went on, Pharaoh’s chief cupbearer and chief baker landed in Joseph’s prison. We don’t know what they did to offend their master; perhaps the cupbearer dropped a piece of the king’s fine china or maybe the baker burned a loaf of bread. Regardless of what they did, they were assigned to Joseph and they all became friends.

One night, the cupbearer and the baker had strange dreams and when they woke up in the morning they were both distraught. When Joseph asked them what was wrong, they told him that they both had dreams and neither one of them could figure out what they meant. Now it just so happened that Joseph was dreamer too, and God had given him the special ability to interpret dreams.

So, Joseph interpreted their dreams for them. For the cupbearer, he had good news. Joseph told him that within three days Pharaoh would restore him to his position. He asked him to remember his kindness before Pharaoh and help him jet out of prison. For the baker, he had bad news. Joseph told him that in three days Pharaoh was going to hand him from a tree and that the birds would come and eat his flesh. Both of these dreams came true, just as Joseph predicted. Unfortunately, when the cupbearer was restored to his position, he forgot Joseph; so Joseph continued to suffer in prison for two more years!

Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dreams (Genesis 41)

As Joseph sat in prison, Pharaoh started having some troubling dreams. Joseph was the only one who could interpret Pharaoh’s dreams because God had given him a this special ability. He told Pharaoh that there was going to be seven years of abundant crops and that this would be followed by seven years of famine. The reason why God had given him this dream now was so he could make preparations for the famine. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders.” In this way, a Hebrew slave came to be second in command over the whole country of Egypt.

Joseph’s Brothers Come to Egypt (Genesis 42-50)

Pharaoh’s dreams came true just as Joseph predicted and Joseph did a wonderful job of storing away food during the time of abundance for the time of famine. The famine affected the whole Middle East, but thanks to Joseph, Egypt was the only country that was prepared for it. Soon people from other countries began to flock to Egypt to find food.

Back in the land of Canaan, Joseph’s father Jacob was running out of food and he was forced to send his sons to Egypt. (Yes, the same sons who sold Joseph into slavery.) When they got to Egypt, Joseph immediately recognized him, but they did not recognize him because he dressed and spoke like an Egyptian. After toying with them for a while to help them acknowledge their guilt, he was gracious to them and gave them grain and spared their lives. Eventually, Joseph’s whole family moved to Egypt and Pharaoh gave them the fertile land of Goshen. The Israelites flourished there and grew into a great nation.

After their father Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers became worried that he would pay them back for what they had done to him. But, Joseph responds with grace and acknowledges God’s providence in his life when he says, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:19-20)

This is one of the clearest statements of God’s divine providence in the whole Bible. Even though it didn’t seem like it to Joseph at the time, God was with him and was orchestrating every event of his life. It wasn’t an accident that he was his father’s favorite son or that he got sold into slavery or that he spent years in prison for a crime that he did not commit or that this Hebrew slave became second in command of the whole country of Egypt.

God allowed all of these things (even the bad things) to happen to him because God had a special mission for his life. God had a larger plan for Joseph that he could not see at the time. Yes, Joseph’s brothers were responsible for their evil actions, but God is in the business of bringing good out of evil!

Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? First, there is a flaw in the question. If we are really honest with ourselves, there aren’t any good people. The Bible tells us that we are all sinners and have fallen short of God’s glory. Bad things happen because we bad people. Suffering is the result of sin. Jacob’s favoritism, Joseph’s arrogance, his brother’s jealousy, Potipher’s wife’s lust, was the cause of his suffering.

But thankfully, there is a second answer to this question. God allows bad things to happen to “good” people because he always accomplishing his plans in the bigger picture of our lives. Like Joseph, we can’t see it in the moment, but God is always transforming human evil into a greater good. Joseph’s brother’s actions were evil and hurtful, but God used that event to get Joseph to the right place at the right time to save the lives of thousands of people. God does the same thing in our lives all the time.

If you are suffering in some way today…if you are the victim of some evil…if you are confused about your life…if you are wondering why you are experiencing so many bad things…know that God is using these things to accomplish a greater good and a bigger purpose in your life.

As I conclude, allow me to share with you the greatest example of God using human failure and evil to accomplish a greater plan. There is only one person who has ever lived a truly good life. His name is Jesus Christ, God’s one and only son. Even though he lived a sinless life, God allowed him to experience horrible things. He was misunderstood, mocked, and mistreated—he was stripped, stretched, and stabbed—he was prodded, pummeled, and pierced—nails were driven through his hands and feet and thorns were pressed into his skull.

Why would God allow his own son to suffer like this? Because he was bringing about the greater good and accomplishing the bigger plan of saving our souls! If God would have kept his son from suffering, where would we be today? We would still be lost in our trespasses and sins—we wouldn’t have any hope of forgiveness or salvation. When I think about it like this, I am so thankful that bad things happen to good people! How about you?

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Jacob “He Deceives” (Gen. 25:19-26)

Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah. For twenty years they tried to have children, but they were unsuccessful. But Isaac prayed fervently and faithfully to God and when he was sixty years old, Rebekah conceived and gave birth to not only one son, but two. Now anyone who has ever had twin boys would expect to see some knock down drag-it-out fights through the years, but these boys started going at it when they were in the womb. The pain from this internal wrestling match made her wish that she had still been barren.

This pregnancy caused her to cry out to God and ask, “God, why me?” God answered her question by revealing the destiny of her two sons. He told her that two nations were in her womb, and that one people would become stronger than the other one; the older would serve the younger.

When the time for the delivery came, the first boy was a real sight to see. His body was red and he was covered with so much hair that it looked like he had clothes on already. So, they named him Esau, which means hairy. The second son immediately followed his brother. As a matter of fact he was grasping at his brother’s heel. So, they named him Jacob, which means “he grasps the heel.” Ironically, this phrase was a common figure of speech that meant “he deceives.” His name foreshadowed of his destiny as a dirty rotten scoundrel.

Jacob’s Deception to Get Esau’s Birthright (Gen. 25:27-34)

As these two boys grew up, they couldn’t have been more different. Esau was a man’s man macho man. He was strong, loved the outdoors, and became a skillful hunter. Jacob was a quiet sissified mama’s boy who preferred to stay indoors. It comes as no surprise that Esau, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau more, while Rebekah loved Jacob more. All children bear resemblance to their parents, but we might say that Esau got his father’s brawn, but Jacob got his mother’s brains!

We begin to see Jacob’s craftiness when his brother returned home from a weekend at deer camp. Now we know that Esau didn’t pray for a deer because no one in their right mind would do that; nevertheless, he went home empty handed. After spending the whole day in a tree stand, you work up quite an appetite; and Esau returned hungry. And that is where our story gets interesting.

Jacob just happened to be cooking up a big old pot of lentil stew. It also just happened to be a reddish color. Esau just happened to go by the nickname Edom, which means “red.” I don’t think any of this was accidental. He set the whole thing up to trick his brother out of his birthright. Jacob was a master of manipulation, and he was actually cooking up some Esau stew. Esau’s decisions were dictated by his appetites instead of his intellect. He was about to get cooked by his brother.

Jacob made his brother an offer that he knew he couldn’t refuse. He offered him all the lentil stew and freshly baked bread he could eat in exchange for his birthright. The birthright entitled the firstborn so to inherit all of his father’s possessions. We see that Esau wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer when he reasons “What good is my birthright if I starve to death?” So, he swore an oath and traded his birthright for a bowl of soup. Oaths like this were binding and irrevocable, and from that time on, Esau despised his birthright. Jacob’s deception shows that he was a dirty rotten scoundrel!

Jacob’s Deception to Get His Father’s Blessing (Gen 27:1-40)

Some time later, Jacob’s dirty rotten deception stuck again. Even more important than a son’s birthright was his father’s deathbed blessing; this granted the authority to be the leader of the tribe. Like the birthright, once the father’s blessing was given it was binding and irrevocable.

Isaac was getting old and he knew he would live much longer. So, he determined that it was time to transfer the blessing to his oldest and favorite son Esau. He told Esau to take his bow and arrow to the wilderness and kill some wild game and prepare it the way he liked it, and then he would give him his blessing.

Neither Isaac nor Esau realized that Rebekah had overheard their conversation, and she came up with a plan for Jacob, her favorite son, to steal his brother’s blessing. Where did Jacob learn his tricks? From his mother, I presume! She told him to slaughter some goats and she would prepare them to taste like venison. (She must have been a good cook; I have no idea how you get goat to taste like venison.) She also said that she would dress him up to look and feel like Esau.

After Esau left for the wilderness, Jacob took advantage of his father’s blindness and tricked him. He pretended to be Esau and blatantly stole his brother’s blessing. We see the depth of Jacob’s treachery in his repose to his father’s question in verse 20. Isaac asked him, “How did you find it so quickly, my son?” And Jacob said, “The Lord your God gave me success.” It was bad enough that he lied to his father, but he actually invoked God’s name in his lie.

Well, it wasn’t much later when Esau returned home from a successful hunt. He was looking forward to receiving his blessing. When he realized that his brother stole his blessing, he was furious. He exclaimed, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? He deceived me out of my birthright and my blessing!” Unfortunately for Esau, it was too late. There wasn’t anything he could do about it. Again, Jacob shows himself to be a dirty rotten scoundrel!

Jacob and Laban: The Trickster Gets Tricked (Gen. 27:41-46; 29:1-30)

We have all heard the phrase, “What goes around comes around.” This is exactly what happened to Jacob. After he tricked his brother out of his birthright and blessing, Esau was so angry that he vowed to kill Jacob after his father died. But again, Rebekah found out about Esau’s plan and outwitted him by sending Jacob to live with her brother Laban.

As Jacob traveled east to Paddan Aram, he came upon a well where some shepherds were watering their sheep. Jacob asked the shepherds if they knew Laban. They said, “Sure, we know him. Here comes one of his daughters right now. When he turned around and saw Rachel, he was awestruck by her beauty and began to weep tears of joy. It was love at first sight!

When Jacob got to the tents of his uncle Laban, he made a deal to work for him seven years in exchange for Rachel’s hand in marriage. He worked hard for seven long years, but they only seemed like a few days to him because of his great loved for Rachael. When the seven years were up, Laban arranged the wedding. In those days brides wore veils that totally covered their faces and the veil wasn’t lifted until after the marriage was consummated. So, you can imagine the shock Jacob felt when he woke up the next morning and realized that he had married the wrong woman.

He immediately went to Laban and said, “What have you done? Why did you deceive me?” And Laban said, “Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you, it is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one.” Then he said, “I tell you what, I’ll give you Rachel too, if you promise to work for me seven more years.” So, he took Rachel and worked seven more years. And Jacob learned the lesson, “What goes around comes around!”

Jacob’s Family: A Scandal of Jealousy (Gen. 29:31-30:24)

Jacob soon discovered that being married to two sisters carries its share of problems. He loved Rachael more than Leah, so the Lord decided to play a little trick on the trickster himself. God opened Leah’s womb and she gave birth to four consecutive sons.

In those days bearing sons was a woman’s glory, and Leah received all of the glory. When Rachael saw that she wasn’t getting pregnant, she turned into a petty little drama queen and grabbed Jacob by the collar and said, “Give me children or I’ll die!” Jacob became angry and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”

Rachael’s jealousy became so great that she went back to an old trick that she learned from Jacob’s grandmother Sarah; she arranged for her husband to sleep with her maidservant Bilhah that she might build her family through her. Bilhah bore Jacob two sons.

By this time Leah had stopped having children and she became jealous. She jumped into the same game as her sister and gave Jacob her maidservant Zilpah. She bore Jacob two more sons.

As Jacob kept going through this revolving door of sleeping with four women, Leah gave birth to two more sons and one daughter. Eventually, Rachael did get pregnant and gave birth to two sons.

Therefore, Jacob fathered twelve sons and one daughter with four different women. Can you imagine what he must have paid in child support? This story seems like more like something we would see on the Jerry Springer than something we would read in the Bible. Two sisters torn apart by jealousy; two sisters using sex and getting pregnant to vie for the affection of one man!

All the while, Jacob sat back and pretended to be the innocent party in this mess. Can you hear him?—“I’m just doing what my wives tell me.” This episode reveals Jacob’s character—he was a DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDREL!

Jacob’s Sheep Stealing (Gen. 30:25-43)

After Jacob worked for Laban for fourteen years, he wanted to return to his homeland, but Laban gave him another offer that he couldn’t refuse. He said, “Name your wages, and I will pay them.” They agreed that Jacob would receive all of the sheep and goats that had spots on them, but Laban deceived him by having his sons hide all of the sheep and goats that would have gone to Jacob.

When Jacob realized what Laban had done, he said, “I can play this game too!” He acted on an old superstition whereby he put streaked stakes at all of the watering places. He believed that this would trigger the livestock to produce spotted offspring. He then saw to it that only the best animals went to those spots, thus insuring that his flocks would come from the strongest animals. Even though he had no knowledge of genetics, God blessed his plan and in this way he became very wealthy.

In order to avoid confrontation with Laban, Jacob pulled another deceitful stunt. He waited until Laban was away shearing his sheep and then he gathered up his whole family and all of his possessions and left without warning. To make matters worse, Rachael stole her father’s idols and hid them in her saddle bags and lied to her husband about it. In this way, they went back to Jacob’s homeland, securing his reputation as a dirty rotten scoundrel.

Jacob ’s Ladder (Gen. 28:10-22)

Tucked away in the middle of the story of his deception and sin against his brother, father, uncle, and wives we find the famous episode of Jacob’s ladder. After Jacob stole his brother’s birthright and his father’s blessing and before entered his love quadrilateral and ripping off his uncle, Jacob had a dream in which he saw a stairway that stretched from the earth the whole way to heaven. Angles were ascending and descending the ladder, and God stood at the top of it and reaffirmed the covenant that he made with Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the specks of dust on the earth and all the peoples of the earth would be blessed through him. And then, in spite of all of Jacob’s deception and sin, in 28:15 God promises that he would always be with him. God pours out his blessing on Jacob and turned this dirty rotten scoundrel into a dirty rotten blessed scoundrel!

Jacob is one of the dirtiest rottenest scoundrels in the whole Bible. His given name certainly proved to be his destiny. He bamboozled his brother, manipulated with his mother, took advantage of his father, swindled his uncle, and fathered thirteen children with four different women. And yet, God was faithful to him! God stayed with him! God kept his promises to him! God blessed him!

Jacob’s story is really a microcosm of the story of the whole Bible. The story of the Bible is about God’s love and faithfulness in spite of human failure.

Jacob’s story is really our story. Which of us has never told a lie? Which of us has never taken advantage of someone? Which of us has never manipulated someone or something for personal gain? Which of us has never committed a sexual sin? None of us! Like Jacob, we are all dirty rotten scoundrels!

But God is faithful to us in spite of our failures. While we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died on the cross to provide forgiveness and atonement for our sins. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are all blessed. We don’t deserve his grace, but he offers it to us freely. We are all dirty rotten scoundrels, but through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we can be dirty rotten blessed scoundrels!

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When I was in college, I had a friend named Randall who lived a few doors down the hall from me. Even though he was a senior and I was a freshman, we quickly hit it off. I suppose it had something to do with our mutual passion for the game of ping pong. On many occasions we played late into the night and had a lot of fun.

Randall was a peculiar fellow. He a deep thinker and had a pleasant personality, but he didn’t like anyone asking too many questions about his background or anyone taking his picture. His photograph never appeared in a single year book, even from when he was a kid. He said, “I just like to protect my identity. I always thought this was a little strange.

After college, Randall attended the same seminary that I did. While in seminary he became very interested in the relationship between theology and politics, and he took a lot of classes at Harvard. After he graduated, he got a job with the CIA and I never heard from him again. I always thought it was ironic that my non-photographed friend wound up in the CIA.

Has that ever happened to you? Has someone ever come into your life, had a profound influence on you, and then they were gone and you mysteriously never heard from them again?

Like my friend Randall, today’s Bible character is mysterious. We don’t know where Melchizedek came from or whatever happened to him. We know very little about his life, but he has had a profound influence on biblical history. The Bible only gives us three verses about his life (Genesis 14:18-20) but it gives us two whole chapters on his significance (Hebrews 5 & 7). Today I would like for us to try to unravel the mystery of Melchizedek’s life and see its significance for us!

Melchizedek’s Life (Genesis 14:17-20)

Melchizedek first appears in Genesis 14. It is the story of Abraham rescuing his nephew Lot from captivity. If you remember, Lot and Abraham parted company because their households and herds were getting too large to remain combined. Abraham allowed Lot to choose whichever part of the land he wished, and Lot chose the Valley of Siddum, known today as the Dead Sea. But it was not dead in that day. Rather, it was a lush, fertile valley, reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. Lot settled in a city located in that valley called Sodom. Abraham turned and went in the opposite direction.

One day a messenger arrived at Abraham’s tent with terrible news. A coalition of kings captured Sodom and enslaved all of its inhabitants – including Lot and his family. Abraham immediately organized a rescue party. He eventually caught up with the raiders and attacked them at night. He recovered his nephew and all of the wealth of Sodom.

However, the most unusual part of the story took place on the return journey. The king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh. This was presumably the place where kings came to negotiate. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, also came out to meet Abraham.

Melchizedek’s Name- “King of Righteousness” (Hebrews 7:1-2)

The first thing we notice about Melchizedek is his name. When we name our children today, it is often only because we like the sound of it. But names in the ancient world were full of meaning, especially among the Jews. Names were given to tell something about the character of the person. This is why you occasionally see a person whose name is changed in Scripture. This was the case with Abraham. His name was originally Abram, which meant “father of high places.” But God changed it later to Abraham, which meant “father of a multitude.” The name Melchizedek is actually a compound name. It is made up of two Hebrew words that have been joined together. “Melek” is the Hebrew word for “king.” “Zadok” means “righteousness.” So, as the author of Hebrews tells us, Melchizedek is the king with righteous character.

Melchizedek’s Rule- “King of Salem” (Hebrews 7:1-2)

The second thing we know about Melchizedek is where he reigned. Both Genesis and Hebrews tell us that he was the King of Salem. Salem is one of the ancient names for the city of Jerusalem. Before the city became the capital of Israel, it belonged to a people known as the Jebusites. Their city was alternately known as “Jebus” and “Salem.” Its name today reflects a composite of those two names: Jebus+Salem = Jerusalem.

But remember, names have meaning. And the meaning of the word Salem is “peace.” It is a derivative of the word many Jewish speaking people use as a greeting, “Shalom,” which also means “peace.” So Melchizedek is the King of Salem, ancient Jerusalem, or according to the meaning of his name, he is the King of peace.

Melchizedek’s Ministry- “Priest of God Most High” (Hebrews 7:1-2)

The third thing we know about Melchizedek is that he was a priest of God Most High. This is somewhat surprising because at this time the region around Salem was inhabited by Canaanites, and they worshipped false gods. Somehow Melchizedek came to know the One True God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth. God revealed himself to Melchizedek and ordained him a priest and he acted as a mediator between God and his people. He presented offerings to God, interceded on behalf of his people in prayer, ministered to their needs, and pronounced blessings upon them. As a priest and king, he was a religious and political leader, watching over the physical and spiritual well-being of his people.

When Melchizedek heard about Abraham’s victory against the kings in war, he went out to the Valley of Shaveh to meet him and performed two priestly functions: he ministered to Abraham by bringing him bread and wine and he pronounced a blessing upon him. Abraham showed his appreciation for Melchizedek’s ministry by giving him a tenth of the plunder.

Melchizedek’s Genealogy (Hebrews 7:3)

The fourth thing we know about Melchizedek is actually something that we don’t know at all—his genealogy. The author of Hebrews says in 7:3, “Without father or mother, without genealogy…” This doesn’t mean that he was supernaturally born; it simply means that he doesn’t have a recorded genealogy. Genesis doesn’t identify his father or mother and his role as a priest was not genealogically derived. Unlike the Levitical priesthood, he received it directly from God.

Likewise, when the author of Hebrews says, “Without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest forever” he doesn’t mean that Melchizedek wasn’t ever born or ever died. He means that his priesthood was not for a fixed term (as in the case of the Levitical priests). Under the Old Testament law, priests began their service at the age of 30, and the Levites served until they were 50 years old. (Num. 4:3; 8:24-25).

Since Genesis doesn’t say anything about Melchizedek’s genealogy, birth, or death, he didn’t have the right qualifications for the Levitical priesthood in the Law of Moses. The Levites were priests by virtue of heritage and ceased from the office upon death, but Scripture places no such limitations on Melchizedek’s priesthood. This is why Jesus is a priest forever, “in the order of Melchizedek.”

Melchizedek’s Superiority (Hebrews 7:4-10)

The fifth thing we know about Melchizedek is that his priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood. The author of Hebrews calls our attention to this in verse 4 where he says, “Just think how great he was…” The patriarch Abraham, the father of Israel, showed his spiritual inferiority to Melchizedek by receiving his blessing and giving him a tithe of the plunder. In Old Testament times, the greater person always blessed the lesser person, not the other way around. And since the Levitical priesthood hadn’t even been formed and the Mosaic Law hadn’t been given yet (it was still in Abraham’s body), Abraham’s tithe shows that Melchizedek’s priesthood is superior. Abraham established the practice of tithing a few hundred years before it was instituted in the Law of Moses.

Melchizedek & the Messiah

Now that I have told you everything we know about the person of Melchizedek, let me tell you about his significance. His primary role in the Old Testament was to foreshadow the coming Messiah. His primary role in the New Testament is to help us understand the Messiah that came. And we are still beneficiaries of his ministry 4000 years later. But how?

“King of Righteousness”

Melchizedek, a king of righteousness points us to Jesus, the true king of righteousness! Jesus Christ is the only human being who ever lived a truly righteous life. He is absolutely perfect; there is no moral wrinkle or blemish in him. He is the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. If Jesus had been a sinner like us, his blood couldn’t atone for our sins.

When we respond to Christ in faith, we are justified in God’s sight. He gives us his righteousness in exchange for our sin. Even though we are sinners who deserve eternal punishment, God sees Jesus’ righteous in us. Therefore, we can escape judgment and enjoy eternal life in heaven. Jesus offers us his righteousness because he is the king of righteousness! Have you put your trust in Jesus Christ and received his righteousness?

“King of Peace”

Melchizedek was also a king of peace, but he points us to Jesus, the true king of peace. In Isaiah 9:2 we read that one of the Messiah’s names is “Prince of Peace.” Jesus came to restore peace. Ever since Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden, the world had been at war with God and each other. Jesus’ death on the cross healed our broken relationship with God.

His sacrifice satisfied God’s wrath, paid our penalty for sin, and set off a great chain reaction of peace. Jesus restores peace to our relationship with God. When we have peace in our relationship with God, then we experience internal peace in our souls. When we have internal peace in our souls, then we can have peace in our relationships with one another. And when we have peace in our relationships with one another, then we can have peace in our society and world! True peace begins with Jesus Christ, the king of peace!

“Priest of God Most High”

Melchizedek, a priest of God Most High points to Jesus, our great high priest who sympathizes with us in our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he was without sin. The Apostle Paul said, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.” (I Timothy 2:5-6)

The Levitical priests sacrificed animals to atone for the sins of the people. But unlike the other high priests, Jesus does not need to offer sacrifices day after day. His sacrifice on the cross was once and for all. No other sacrifice needs to be made.

Jesus’ priestly ministry continues even now. After Jesus completed his ministry on earth, he sat down at the right hand of the Father and serves in the true tabernacle that was built by God, not man. He always lives to intercede for his people. As our great high priest, he is praying for us right now!

“Bread to Eat and Wine to Drink”

When Melchizedek met Abraham in the Valley of Shaveh, he brought him bread to eat and food to drink. That is a very interesting meal, isn’t it? This is actually a foreshadowing of a foreshadowing. Melchizedek’s meal foreshadowed the Passover meal that was instituted during the Exodus. Remember, Moses about to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. The night before, they had a meal of bread and wine. The bread was unleavened because they didn’t have enough time to let the yeast make the bread rise. This meal was reenacted every year to remind the Israelites of how God saved them.

The Passover meal was a foreshadowing of how God would save the world from its sins though his son Jesus Christ. As he and his disciples ate the Passover meal the night before he was crucified, Jesus showed how the meal foreshadowed his death. The bread represents his broken body. The wine represents his spilled blood. He instituted communion as a constant reminder of his compassion.

Melchizedek’s meal looked forward to Christ’s sacrifice. It was no accident that Melchizedek served bread and wine. This shows us that God planned for his Son to die on the cross 2000 years before it actually happened.

Well, as I mentioned, we don’t know much about Melchizedek, but we do know that his ministry of pointing to the Messiah is significant. I hope that Melchizedek’s ministry has pointed you to Jesus Christ!

When I was in elementary school, I was a terrible student. My attitude was atrocious and my behavior was unbearable. I never did my homework and I thought the purpose of standardized tests was to see how many cool designs I could make by filling in those little circles on the answer sheet with my No. 2 pencil. If it wasn’t for recess and gym class, I don’t even know if I would have gone to school.

Well, my outlook on education caught up with me in the 5th grade. It was the end of the school year and my grades were so bad that my teacher told me that if I didn’t pass the States and Capitals final exam that I would be held back. Mrs. Ripple even called my parents on this one. For once, I studied hard and aced the final exam. I passed into the 6th grade, and to this day, I can tell you the capital of all 48 states; just kidding, all 50!

As we go through school, teachers give us tests to measure our knowledge and see if we are ready to progress to the next level. Likewise, as we live the Christian life, every once in a while God tests our faith to see if we are ready to progress to the next level of spiritual maturity. God usually tests our faith by allowing some adversity to enter our lives. He wants to see how we will respond. I wonder if anybody here today is experiencing a test of faith!

As we continue to look at the life of Abraham, we can’t help but notice that he experienced three tests of faith. They are found in Genesis 16-22. Let’s see how Abraham scored when God tested his faith!

Abraham Fails the Test of Faith with Hagar (Genesis 16)

When Abraham was 70 years old, God promised him that he would be the father of a great nation. But at 85, Abraham still didn’t have a son. After waiting for 15 years, Abraham and Sarah began to wonder about God’s promise (after all their biological clocks were ticking), and their patience grew thin. God used these years to test their faith.

Unfortunately, they failed the test. They became so desperate for a son that they decided to take matters into their own hands. In Genesis 16:2, Sarah even blames God for not giving her a child. So, she suggested a custom where Abraham would father a son through her maidservant Hagar. This was a common practice in ancient times. Slaves could serve as surrogates to produce an heir that would be entitled to full inheritance.

Abraham should have said, “No, Sarah, we will trust God to keep his promise.” But Abraham went along with Sarah’s plan. As soon as Hagar conceived they began to experience the consequences of their sin. Hagar began to despise Sarah and mistreated her. Sarah went to Abraham and said, “This is all your fault, what are you going to do about this?” Abraham, playing the part of a spineless coward, says, “She’s your maidservant, not mine. You deal with her.” So, Sarah mistreated Hagar and she ran away. Eventually Hagar returned and gave birth to a son and Abraham named him Ishmael. This whole mess started by failing God’s test of faith!

Abraham and Sarah had no idea how many problems their failed test of faith would produce. Their impatience with God’s promise is the primary reason why we still have so much conflict in the Middle East today. 4000 years later, Abraham’s descendants are still fighting over rights to the Promised Land.

More importantly, we find ourselves in this same situation all the time. God has promised to bless us if we do what is right, but we often grow impatient. God asks us to trust him, but we are so tempted to take matters into our own hands.

In one of the early scenes in the movie Forrest Gump, Forrest’s mom, played by actress Sally Field, visits Mr. Hancock, the principal of the Greenbough County Central School. Mrs. Gump wants to enroll her son, but the principal informs her that the state of Alabama requires a minimum IQ of 80. Forrest’s IQ is only 75.

Mrs. Gump insists on enrolling Forrest in that school. She says, “My boy, Forrest, is going to get the same opportunities as everyone else. He’s not going to a special school to learn how to retread tires. We’re talking about five little points. There must be something that can be done.” Forrest’s mom ends up in bed with the principal. Later, the principal tells Forrest, “Your mama sure does care about your education, son.”

This scene reflects the philosophy of our age: “Do whatever it takes! The ends justify the means!” This is the same philosophy Abraham and Sarah followed, and they failed God’s test of faith!

How about you? Will you be patient with God’s plan, or will you take matters into your own hands? Will you cheat the system to get what you want, or will you do the right thing and trust God with the results? When God tests your faith, how will you respond?

Abraham’s Laughter (Genesis 17, 18, & 21)

Abraham failed another test of faith when he was 99 years old. God appeared to him again and reminded him of the covenant he had made 30 years earlier that Sarah was going to bear him a son. What was Abraham’s response? He thought it was funny so he laughed. Why, he and Sarah were thinking about checking into a nursing home, not about what color to paint a nursery! Sarah overheard this, and she too laughed in disbelief.

But, as always, God got the last laugh! Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age. As God had commanded him, Abraham named him Isaac. Guess what the Hebrew name Isaac (Yitzhak) means? It means “laughter.” When Isaac was born, Sarah was laughing again. This time she laughed in joy and wonder, not in disbelief. In Genesis 21:6, she says, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.”

God always has the last laugh in our lives too. There isn’t anything we can do alter his plans. When we sin and fail his tests of faith, he still accomplishes his plans. Even when we are faithless, he is faithful to us!

Abraham’s Greatest Test of Faith (Genesis 22:1-2)

As Isaac grew into a boy, Abraham experienced the greatest test of faith in his life. It was like the 5th grade States and Capitals, the NEECAP, the SAT, ACT, GRE, board and bar exam all together. God tested his faith by telling him to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering on Mt. Moriah.

Oh my! God’s instructions shock us. There’s nothing in the story of Abraham that prepares us for God’s stunning command. In fact, this is so disturbing that the narrator prefaces the account by telling us what God is testing Abraham. We know from the Old Testament that God condemns child sacrifice. Some pagan cultures did that, but God detests it. He never really intended for Abraham to take Isaac’s life. He wanted to test Abraham’s faith.

I can only imagine the anguish Abraham felt as he listened to God’s instructions. He must have been crushed! You can feel the tension mount as each phrase in verse 2 gets more specific and narrows the focus. The Hebrew text of verse 2 says, “Take you son…your only son…the one you love…Isaac.” Incredible! Here is the boy for whom Abraham and Sarah waited 30 years. And now God says, “I want you to sacrifice him as a burnt offering.” How devastating! God’s test forced Abraham to decide whom he would worship: God or Isaac?

Thankfully, God doesn’t asked many of us to kill our kids, but he does test our faith in other ways. God may even use one of your children to test your faith. Maybe your son wants to get involved in an all-star hockey league. The problem is that this will force you and your son to miss church for the next three months. You are being forced to choose between worshiping God and worshiping your child.

God may test your faith with your finances. You come across a good deal on something you’ve always wanted. Even though you don’t really have the money for it, you justify it as something you need. It just happens to be the monthly amount you give to God as part of your worship. If you took one month’s offering, you could get it. You may not like to admit it, but you are being forced to choose between worshiping God and worshiping your possessions.

As we go through life God continues to test our faith by forcing us to choose between worshiping him or worshiping the things he has given us. Every day we have to choose to worship God over our kids, careers, money, possessions, etc. What choice will make? Who will you worship?

Abraham Passes the Test of Faith (Genesis 22:3-14)

The story continues as Abraham woke up early the next morning and saddled his donkey. He took Isaac along with two of his servants. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. The trip from Beersheba was about 50 miles, roughly a 3 day journey. God must have planned it this way to give Abraham some time to think, some time to change his mind.

But on the third day he looked up and saw Mt. Moriah in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Did you catch the statement Abraham made to his servant “We will worship and then we will come back to you?” What an amazing statement! Apparently, Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead, because Isaac was the promised heir.

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. Then Isaac asked the dreaded question “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Do you see the tears welling up in Abraham’s eyes as he said “God himself will provide the lamb, my son.”

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But just before Abraham pressed the metal blade into his sons’ flesh an angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied.

God interrupted the sacrifice and said “Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.” Then Abraham looked up and in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. Abraham called that place “The Lord Will Provide.”

God intervened! He provided a substitute! Abraham passed his test of faith. Now God knew that he wouldn’t hold anything back, not even the most important person in his life. Abraham feared God rather than fearing the consequences of sacrificing his child.

It can be difficult to trust God, especially when we don’t understand his plan. Our culture tells us to put ourselves first. I have heard people say things like, “If I don’t look out for myself, nobody else will.” But where is the faith in that?

Our culture also tells us to put our kids first no matter what. I have heard parents say, “I want to give my kids the things I never had.” The reality is our kids don’t need most of the things we didn’t have. The most important thing you can do for your kids is not to worship them. The greatest thing you can do for your children is to worship their Creator.

If God asked you to sacrifice one of your kids, would you do it? If God asked you to give up the things that bring you comfort and security, how would you respond? God constantly tests our faith to see who we love more!

Abraham’s Payoff (15-19)

Perhaps, as you listen to this story, you are wondering if there is a payoff for putting God first. Maybe you are wondering if the sacrifice is really worth it. Does passing God’s test of faith make any difference?

Look at the conclusion to this story! God blessed Abraham with an astronomical amount of descendants. Through his son Isaac, God made Abraham’s descendents as numerous as the stars in the sky and sand on the seashore. This was one of the greatest blessings a person could have in Abraham’s day!

What’s the payoff for worshiping God above all things? Blessing! Passing our tests of faith always leads to blessing! Do you trust God to bless you?

As I conclude, go back to verse 8 for a moment. Remember Abraham’s answer to the gut-wrenching question that Isaac asked? Dad, where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham answered, “God himself will provide.” Literally, “God himself will see to it.” After the fact, in verse 14, Abraham called the place “The Lord will provide.” And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”

In the larger story of the Bible, Genesis 22 foreshadows the provision of another sacrifice. 2000 years after this, there was another son who ascended Mt. Moriah. By this time it was called Mount Calvary. This son carried the wood on his back too; wood that would be used for a sacrifice. The same God who provided a sacrificial lamb so that Abraham’s son might live provided the ultimate sacrificial lamb, his own son Jesus Christ, so that we might live.

The same God who provided his one and only son Jesus Christ to be sacrificed on a wooden cross may test your faith. He wants to know if you really trust him. When God tests your faith, I hope you pass!

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How many of you like Roller Coasters? How many of you don’t like Roller Coasters?

Most historians agree that the first roller coaster was invented in Russia during the mid-1600’s. Riders climbed stairs to the top of a giant ice slide and sped down a 50 degree drop. The slides gained favor with the Russian upper class and some were ornately decorated to provide entertainment “fit for royalty.” It is said that Catherine the Great was a large fan that she had a few built on her own property. During the winter festival, slides were built between seventy and eighty feet high, stretched for hundreds of feet and accommodated many sleds at once.

The first American roller coaster was called the Switchback Railway and it debuted in 1884 at Coney Island, New York. It was invented by La Marcus Thompson, a creative man who invented a number of other things. No one is sure why Thompson decided to go into the amusement park business, but coaster folklore says that he was a Sunday school teacher who was discouraged by all of the depravity found at places of amusement during his time.

Whether you find roller coasters thrilling or terrifying, most of us have discovered that life is like a roller coaster. It is filled with highs and lows and it takes us through many twists and turns. It goes fast and even throws us for an occasional loop.

Have you ever noticed that faith is also a lot like a roller coaster? As we go through life, sometimes we feel so close to God that we could almost touch him, but there are other times when we feel like God is nowhere to be found! Sometimes God’s will for our lives is so clear that we know exactly what to do, but other times we don’t have a clue what God wants us to do! Sometimes our faith is so strong that we will follow God anywhere, but there are other times when we wonder if he even exists!

The Bible holds up Abraham as one of the greatest champions of faith. In the great hall of faith in Hebrews 11, more verses are dedicated to Abraham that any other person in biblical history. But when we examine his life closely, we see that even Abraham experienced the roller coaster of faith!

Abraham’s Call (Genesis 12:1-3)

Abraham was a tenth generation descendant from Noah’s son Shem. He was born, raised, and lived the first 75 years of his life in Ur of the Chaldeans. After spending 75 years in the same town, one gets pretty settled in his ways. Abraham was comfortable there—after all his family had been there for generations. Ur was the capital of Chaldea and the largest city in the world in Abraham’s day. It had a population of 65,000 people and was strategically located along the Euphrates River as an important trade city.

It was a cosmopolitan city that boasted one of the strongest economies and some of the greatest technological advances in the ancient world. Most of the houses in Ur were two story villas with 13 or 14 rooms and plastered interior walls. Some of the homes even had in-door plumbing. (I have friends in West Virginia who didn’t get in-door plumbing until 1985)

Ur was the pinnacle of ancient civilization. It had all the comfort and security you could ever want. No one in their right mind would ever want to leave there. That is why Abraham exhibited such tremendous faith. God revealed himself to Abraham and told him to leave his country, his people, and his family, and move to a land he had never seen before.

Both God’s command and promise to Abraham is staggering. God was calling him to leave everything that was comfortable and secure in his life. In return, God promised to pour out his blessing on Abraham and make him into a great nation. All the peoples of the earth would be blessed through him.

Now this promise sounded great, except for the fact that he was 75 and his wife was 65 years old and they had no children. And now God tells him that he is going to make him into a great nation. It would have taken incredible faith to trust God here, but Abraham did. This was Abraham’s first mountaintop moment of faith!

Like Abraham, sometimes God calls us to leave our comfort and security behind to follow him. Sometimes he calls us to leave what is familiar and to trust his plan for our future, even though it may not make sense to us. Sometimes he calls us to leave the comfort of our home or the security of our career! Sometimes he calls us to leave the familiarity of our family to enter his Promised Land for our lives. When he calls, do you have the faith to follow him? Do you trust him even when his plan doesn’t make sense to you?

Abraham Settles in Haran (Genesis 11:31-32)

Well, Abraham’s faith hit a peak when he left Ur, but it was about to descend into a valley when he got to Haran. Let’s back up to Genesis 11:31-32 for a minute. It says that Abraham, his wife Sarai, his father Terah, and his nephew Lot, all left Ur to go to Canaan, but when they reached Haran, they settled there. Also, look at 12:1 again—the text says “The Lord had said to Abram…” God called Abraham to settle in the land of Canaan, not in Haran. Haran was only half way to the Promised Land.

We don’t know why Abraham settled in Haran. Perhaps he didn’t obey God fully because of family pressure. Maybe Lot said, “Uncle Abraham, I’m afraid! I’ve never been this far from home before.” Maybe Terah said, “Sonny boy, it’s OK to be religious, but you don’t want to go overboard.” Maybe Sarai said, “Haran seems like a really nice place to live. We don’t even know what Canaan looks like.” Whether it was the spirit of fear, compromise, comfort, or something else, Abraham showed a lapse of faith by settling in Haran.

This is the way it is with a lot of people today. They try to leave their life of sin and head for the Promised Land of abundant life by faith, but after getting off to a good start, they get about halfway and stop. How many people are dwelling in Haran instead of pushing on to the Promised Land?

Also, I believe there are a great many Christians who are what we might call Haran Christians. They only half obey God. They may go to church; they might talk a good Christian game, but when it really comes down to it, they are not sold out for the Lord!

How about you? Where is your faith? Are you marching to the Promised Land, or are you half way at Haran?

Abraham Goes to Canaan (Genesis 12:4-9)

Abraham’s faith hit another high point when he got to the Promised Land. After a five year hiatus at Haran, Abraham packed up everything that belonged to him and continued toward the land of Canaan. As he came to the great tree of Moreh at Shechem and the hills between Bethel and Ai, he pitched his tents and built altars to the Lord.

This text shows a progression of worship. As Abraham’s faith and obedience deepened by going further into the land of Canaan, so did his worship. God appeared to him and told him that this land would be his, and Abraham continued to build altars of worship and call on the name of the Lord.

Like Abraham, as our faith and obedience deepens, so does our worship. The more we trust God’s plan for our lives and the more we step out in faith and obey his commands, we experience more of God in worship. We call on his name more and we hear him speaking to us more.

When you don’t seem to be experiencing God’s presence in worship, check your faith! When you don’t hear God speaking to you in prayer, check your obedience. Our faith/obedience goes hand in hand with our worship!

Abraham in Egypt (Genesis 12:10-20)

Abraham’s rollercoaster of faith began to descend again as a severe famine hit the land of Canaan. Instead of trusting God to provide his needs and sustain his life in the Promised Land, he took matters into his own hands and went to Egypt. He probably justified this in his own mind by thinking, “God promised to bless me and make me into a great nation. If I die in this famine, he won’t be able to keep his promise.” (As if God needs any help from us to keep his promises.)

As they were walking along the road to Egypt, Abraham’s faith continued to dive. He got to thinking and said to his wife, “Honey, you are a really good looking woman. I am lucky to have you and I never want to lose you. When the Egyptians see how beautiful you are, they will say, ‘He is his wife’ and they will kill me but let you live. Let’s say that you are my sister so they will treat me well.” So, that is what they did! Instead of trusting God to keep his promise, they took matters into their own hands again and disobeyed God by lying to the Egyptians.

As you hear this episode, let me ask you: Have you ever doubted God’s promises by taking matters into our own hands? Do you ever think that God needs you to help him keep his promises? Do you strive to control things that were never meant for our control? If we stop striving to control our lives and trust God’s plan, we will have a lot more peace and joy. Unfortunately, Abraham had to learn the hard way! How about you?

Abraham and Lot (Genesis 13-14)

After Abraham’s faith dipped in Egypt, it really began to dive as he reentered the Promised Land. His flocks and Lot’s flocks had become quite large and a quarrel arose between their herdsmen. Abraham realized that both of their herds had become too large to graze together, so he suggested that they separate. Abraham told Lot, “If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right. If you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” But remember, God had called him to the land of Canaan; he made a mistake by allowing Lot to choose whatever land he wanted.

Lot saw that the whole plain east of the Jordan River was well watered. So, he selfishly chose what appeared to be the better land. Even though Abraham made the mistake of allowing Lot to choose whatever land he wanted, God’s providence allowed for Abraham to stay in Canaan, where God wanted him all along. Unfortunately for Lot, his selfish decision led to his downfall. Even though the land east of the Jordan looked better, it was close to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were well known for their wickedness.

How often is this the way it is with us? In spite of our poor choices and sinful decisions, God still blesses us! God continues to pour out his grace upon us and his providence even brings good out of our mistakes. He can turn our biggest blunders into blessings. He keeps his word and fulfills his promises in spite of our failures!

The Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 15)

Well, Abraham’s rollercoaster of faith ends on a high note today. Despite all of Abraham’s lapses of faith, God was still faithful to him. As the years went by, Abraham still didn’t have a son, but God said to him, “Do not be afraid Abram. I am your shield and your very great reward.” Then he took Abraham outside and gave him a little astronomy lesson. God said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them. So shall your offspring be.” Abraham believed the Lord, and he credited to him as righteousness.

God counted Abraham righteous because of his faith, not because of his actions. We all know that Abraham screwed up multiple times. He sinned against God in many ways, but through his faith, God counted him righteous.

The salvation of our souls today goes back to these words. Nobody enters God’s ultimate Promised Land because they are good people or because they have done good deeds. We are just like Abraham. We are all sinners who have fallen short of God’s glory. We have disobeyed God and we deserve to be punished for our sins. But God is rich in mercy; he counts our souls righteous in his sight through our faith in his son Jesus Christ!

You see, Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham. Jesus was the descendant who would bring blessing to all the peoples on the earth. We experience God’s greatest blessing today when we receive Christ’s righteousness through faith. Jesus Christ, Abraham’s seed, is the only way to eternal life and everlasting blessing. Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ?

Abraham’s life was a roller coaster of faith. His faith fluctuated between trust and doubt; between obedience and disobedience. I suspect that most of us have experienced this same roller coaster of faith. Where is your faith today?

When you find yourself on the mountaintop of faith, hang on as long as you can and enjoy the ride! When you are in the depths of doubt and despair, hang in there! It will be over soon! God will get you through it, just like he did Abraham. Keep the faith! We’re on the way to the Promised Land!

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I suspect that when most of us hear the name “Noah”, the words “and the ark” immediately follow. The person of Noah is rarely divorced from the story of the ark he built to save his family and the animals from the great flood. Likewise, I suspect that when most of us hear the phrase “Noah and the ark” it conjures up certain images in our minds—images influenced by illustrations that we have see in children’s Bible’s and Sunday school curriculums.

Let me paint you a visual picture, and you tell me if it is right! Noah’s ark is usually portrayed as a sweet tale of a pastel colored floating zoo, replete with images of two fluffy little Easter bunnies munching on carrots and a pair of cute giraffes poking their heads out the potholes of a clunky little boat. The background is a pale blue sky with puffy white clouds and a disproportionately large rainbow bending across the horizon. Noah is a short chubby man with a long gray beard; after all he was 600 years old when he finished building the ark. And he has a giant smile on his face with a caption by his mouth that says, “Yaaah, the animals are all safe!” Does that look familiar?

Portrayals like this have evoked comments from expecting parents like, “Aww, how pretty! Let’s decorate the nursery like Noah’s Ark!” How many of you have seen a nursery with a Noah’s Ark theme? That’s what I thought!

Now I certainly don’t want to knock anyone for having a Noah’s Ark nursery, but I do want to bring some reality to the story. Noah and the Ark is actually one of the most terrifying horror stories in the Bible. It more closely resembles “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” than it does “Care Bears” or “Peter Cottontale.” Noah’s Ark is a story about sin, judgment, and death! I hope that our reexamination of Noah will paint a more accurate picture for you!

Noah’s Wicked World (Gen. 6:1-8, 11-13)

The author of Genesis begins the Noah story with a chilling prologue. After Adam and Eve sinned, they were fruitful and multiplied. After Cain murdered his brother Abel, he and his wife were fruitful and they multiplied. As the human race increased, so did sin. Mankind became so rebellious against God that the Lord said that his Spirit would not contend with man forever, and he limited the human life span to 120 years.

The world had become so wicked (“every inclination of their hearts was wicked all the time”) that God actually grieved that he had ever created man in the first place. His heart was so filled with pain at the thought man’s violence and corruption that he decided to wipe humanity from the face of the earth. He decided to destroy everything he had created.

Now I have a question for you today! How many of you think our world is wicked today? Our world is filled with violence and corruption? In America alone, every year we have over 1,000,000 murders, almost 100,000 rapes, 400,000 robberies, and 800,000 aggravated assaults. When we think about the wickedness in our world today, it is hard to believe that it was even worse in Noah’s day, but it was!

I hope we feel the gravity of this prologue! Indeed, God’s Spirit will not contend with man forever. It is amazing that he has contended with us this long. The Lord is gracious and compassionate, but there will come a day when he holds the world accountable for its sin again. Just as he judged the world for its sin in Noah’s day, a day is coming when he will execute judgment again!

Noah’s Ark (Gen. 6:14-22)

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time because he walked with God. He had lived for 500 years and had three sons when God told him that he was going to destroy the whole earth because of its wickedness. He also told Noah to build an ark to save him, his family, and a male and female of every type of animal from the floodwaters. God gave him very specific instructions. The ark was to be made from cypress wood. It was to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, 45 feet high, and it was to have 3 decks, multiple rooms, a door in the side, and the whole thing was to be covered in pitch to make it waterproof.

The area of this ark was roughly equivalent to a football field. It was large even by modern standards; enormous by ancient standards. It took 100 years to build. Noah and his family certainly worked on the ark, and they probably had a number of hired men to help them.

God’s blueprint for the ark was very precise. His instructions and explanations were very clear. He communicated the exact dimensions and manner in which the ark was to be built. Notice what verse 22 says, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” Noah was a righteous man who took God’s word seriously. He obeyed the Lord completely by building the ark exactly as God commanded him.

God hasn’t called us to build an ark today, but he has given us his blueprint for our lives. He has given us precise instructions and has made his expectations very clear. The question that we have to ask ourselves is, “Will I live a righteous life and do everything as God has commanded me? Will I take his word seriously and obey him completely?”

The Great Flood (Genesis 7)

Noah completed the ark sometime after his 600th birthday. Then God showed up and said, “Get everything ready! The flood will begin one week from now!” So, Noah took his sons and their wives and all of the animals into the ark, just as God had told him.

When the week had passed, the springs that stored up all the tears from the violence that had taken place on the earth broke forth. The floodgates of heaven opened and God’s tears of judgment ran down his cheeks and pounded against the earth for 40 days and 40 nights.

As the water continued to rise, people ran to the high ground and watched all of their homes and possessions wash into the valleys. Soon the animals couldn’t find a place to stand and the birds couldn’t find a place to perch. Then as the waters overtook the hills and ascended the mountains, parents could no longer hold onto their children and husbands could no longer hold onto their wives. Every living thing that moved on the earth perished—everything that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Only Noah and those with him in the ark survived. The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days. It all happened just as God had said.

The story of the great flood shows us that God always keeps his word! In this case, it took him 100 years to make good on his promise to flood the earth, but he did it. I’m sure many doubted that the flood would ever happen. Can you hear the people say, “Ahh, that is just Noah’s fairytale! That ark, what a waste of time and money! God wouldn’t really flood the earth!”

People today say the same things—“God wouldn’t judge sin! The world won’t end in my lifetime!” Just remember what Jesus said! A day is coming when the sun will be darkened and moon will no longer give its light! The stars will fall out of the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken! With a great trumpet sound, the Son of Man will appear in the sky and his angels will gather the elect from all over the earth! He will separate the wheat from the chaff and the sheep from the goats and pour out his judgment upon the earth! Two men will be working in a field together. One will be taken, the other will be left! Two women will be grinding grain together. One will be taken, the other will be left! God always keeps his word!

Just as in the days of Noah, people today are eating, drinking, marrying, and simply living life as they always have, not expecting God’s word to actually be fulfilled. God warned the world of judgment through the words of Noah, the preacher of righteousness, but no one listened. He has warned the world again today through the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder if anyone is listening? He always keeps his promises!

Salvation Leads to Worship (Genesis 8)

After the floodwaters receded and the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, Noah sent out a raven and a dove to see if all of the water had dried up. The birds returned because there was nowhere yet to land. So, Noah waited seven more days and sent the dove out again. This time the dove brought back an olive branch which signified that God had made peace with the earth and the ground had dried enough to produce vegetation again. He waited seven more days and the dove did not return; then Noah knew that the ground was completely dry. He opened the ark and his family and all of the animals emerged safely. The ark saved their lives!

Noah recognized that God used the ark to save their lives. If it hadn’t been for God’s grace, they would have been swept away in the flood too. So, the first thing he did after he left the ark was to build an altar and sacrificed burnt offerings on it. He showed his gratitude to God through an act of worship. He put everything else on hold until he properly thanked God for the salvation he received.

Here again, Noah is an example for us today. Despite our corrupted hearts and wicked deeds, God has spared our lives. He has also extended his grace to us through the sacrifice of his own son for the salvation of our souls. When we recognize all that God has done for us, how could we do anything else but to respond with worship? Have you recognized what God has done for you? Do you that he is the only one who can save our body and soul?

The Noahic Covenant (Genesis 9:1-17)

The aroma from Noah’s burnt offering was pleasing to the Lord and he said in his heart, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” He established a covenant with Noah and his sons to never flood the whole earth again. Then he set his rainbow in the sky as a sign of the covenant he made with Noah. Every time anyone sees a rainbow it is a reminder that God will never again do what he had done here.

God blessed Noah and his sons and renewed his command to “Be fruitful and multiply. Increase and fill the earth.” After God poured out his judgment on the world for its wickedness and even though he knew sin still ruled in people’s hearts, he began to recreate the earth—new vegetation, new animals, and a new human race that would descend from Noah and his three sons.

When we see a rainbow appear in the sky today, it is not only a sign that God will never flood the earth again, but it is also a foreshadowing of the new creation that we will one day experience. God has promised us that he will never flood the whole earth or destroy all living creatures again, but he will judge the earth. When we hear that great trumpet sound and Jesus returns, he will judge the world for its sin. But after this, he will make all things new.

The first heaven and first earth will pass away and make room for the new heaven and new earth. The New Jerusalem will come down out of heaven from God and we will hear him say, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” He will wipe every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” We will experience a new creation devoid of sin. What a wonderful place it will be!

Noah’s Ark is a terrifying horror story, but it is also a story of redemption. Many years after Noah, there came a man named Jesus. He, too, lived a righteous life in a wicked world. He blameless in his generation and walked with God and obeyed him perfectly. God used both of these men to save the human race from its sin. He even used wooden structures in both stories. For Noah, it was an ark. For Jesus, it was a cross. God spared Noah when he punished the world for its sin! God did not spare his own son Jesus and allowed him to be punished for the worlds sin.

So, let me ask you: Are you on the ark today? Have you trusted in the cross of Christ? Have you asked him to forgive your sins? Is the hope of heaven in your heart?