Change the Conversation

In today’s conversation, we’re going to rejoin the Israelites as they leave the Red Sea and begin their journey into the wilderness. We’re going to start to understand why they are eventually described by God as a “stiff-necked people,” and we’ll discover our own tendencies toward the sin that mirrors theirs. We’ll see how God tests our trust—again and again and again if he has to. And we’ll continue to see the thread of grace woven throughout the entirety of God’s story, ultimately fulfilled through Jesus. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation.

In today’s conversation, we’ll continue on with our journey through the Exodus era of the Bible as we follow Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt and through the Red Sea. We’ll discuss the importance of trusting what we know about the character of God when we read things in the Bible that are difficult to understand. We’ll talk about the intentionality of God to take us on the route He knows we’re ready for—and the route which keeps us moving forward. We’ll be challenged to confront our responses to fear, and we’ll concede that sometimes we just have to be quiet and let God fight for us. We’ll watch God part the famous waters of the Sea, and we’ll continue to see how God's plan unfolds throughout every era of this amazing Book, all of them working together and pointing to our blessed Deliverer and Redeemer—the spotless Lamb of God—Jesus. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation.

Scriptures:

• Exodus 12:1-5, 12-13, 21-28, ESV
• Ezekiel 33:11
• 1 Timothy 2:4
• 2 Peter 3:9
• Exodus 13:17-22, ESV
• Exodus 7:4b
• Exodus 13:17-22, ESV 
• Exodus 14:15-25
• Exodus 14:26-31, ESV
• 1 Peter 1:18-19, ESV
• 1 Corinthians 5:7b, ESV

TEACHINGS & DISCUSSIONS:

• When God brings us out of one season, it is to lead us into a greater one. Or we could say a “higher” one—to level up. 
• They were equipped for battle, but they were not ready for battle—their minds weren’t ready. Sometimes we can feel like we’re so equipped for something, but God knows we’re not ready yet.
• Just because we’re not ready yet, doesn’t mean God doesn’t allow us to begin walking in what he knows we are or begin to call us by what he knows we are. 
• Trusting the path God takes us on. “Led” in verse 18 is not the same word as “lead” in verse 17. It’s actually the same word as “around” just a few words later in verse 18. It means God took them a roundabout way. He took them on a roundabout way to avoid the Philistines and to get them to the Red Sea. 
  • God has purpose for our path, even when it seems like He’s taking us on a long, roundabout way. God has purpose for our path, even when it looks to us like we’re stuck between “a rock and a hard place.”
• Their “stuckness” at the Red Sea was God’s way of keeping them moving forward. He could have fought for them either way—whether he was fighting the Philistines or the Egyptians—but if he had taken them the shorter way through the Philistines, the people could have turned back and gone back to Egypt—that’s what God said in verse 17. So God took them to a place where they were STUCK, so they couldn’t turn back! Their “stuckness” was God’s providence and protection!! What we might see as God's oversight is actually God's intentionality. 
• They feared greatly—and their fear turned into panic. This is a pattern we’re going to see with the Israelites over and over again.
  • Fear responses: Blame. You…You….We said this, but you…. Make dramatic assumptions and fail to think logically. We’re going to die in the wilderness…
  • Moses’ response—God will fight for us, but we have to be quiet. Moses says fear not, stand firm, and basically watch. 
• God stands between us and our enemy—even when his presence looks cloudy.
• The blood on the doorposts was symbolic of the cross. Jesus was crucified at Passover time, and the Last Supper was a Passover meal. Jesus is our ultimate Deliverer and Redeemer, and Jesus was THE fulfillment of the Passover Lamb.

In today’s conversation, we’ll continue on with our exploration through the 3rd Era of the Bible—the Exodus. We’ll pick back up with the story of Moses and the Israelites as God brings their time in slavery to an end, and we’ll discover that sometimes things get more difficult before they get better. We’ll discuss how God often shares the promise without sharing the process and how those times can cause us to become more deeply aware of our spiritual deficiencies and our reliance upon Him. We’ll confront some spiritual realities that often go overlooked and untalked about, and which might be a bit uncomfortable for many of us. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation.

Scriptures:

• Exodus 5:1-2, 6-9, 19-23
• Exodus 6:6-13
• Psalm 130:7-8
• Ephesians 1:7
• Jeremiah 6:10
• Leviticus 26:41
• Exodus 7:2-12, 20-24
• Ephesians 4:17-18
• Romans 1:18-23
• Exodus 8:18-19

TEACHING & DISCUSSION:

• When things get worse before they get better—when you’re walking in obedience in response to a command/promise!
• Re-Introduction, Redemption, and the covenant. 
• The people didn’t believe because their spirits were broken. When this is the case, there’s nothing we can say…….we have to let God do it His way and in His timing…
• “Uncircumcised lips” — I think this is not just about efficiency. Before he said he was “slow of speech,” but now he describes his inadequacy as “uncircumcised.” Same word is used when God is speaking to his people in Jeremiah 6:10 & Leviticus 26:41
• Sometimes when we walk into something, and the reality of it is much more difficult than we anticipated…..God brings us face to face with our own spiritual lack. Moses was talking more about his spiritual insufficiency here rather than his physical insufficiency… Before he was like, “I’m not physically qualified” and now he’s more like “I’m not spiritually qualified”
• There were 10 plagues, each one basically a judgment on a specific god of the Egyptians (Nile was life, frogs were fertility, etc.)—because in verse 5 God said The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.
• The revelation of God and Pharaoh’s hardness of heart. God reveals Himself to ALL people, so Pharaoh’s hardness of heart was his own doing. God worked from Pharaoh’s hard heart because Pharaoh himself had hardened his heart.
• The magicians. The magicians could do the first three signs—the staff becoming a snake, the water to blood, and the frogs. Later we find out that the next one they could not do—the gnats…
• Only two supernatural powers exist—God and Satan. So anything at all in the supernatural realm (magic, sorcery, witchcraft, ghosts, spirits, etc….) that is not God is Satan…GUARD YOUR HEART & YOUR MIND.

In today’s conversation, we’re going to begin the trek into the third era of the Bible, the Exodus, as we follow the story of the man of God, the first deliverer of God’s people—Moses. Again, we’ll watch God be the ultimate Orchestrator of events, and we’ll be inspired by the courage and holy defiance of those behind the scenes in Moses’ early life. We’ll see how God places passions within us to compel us toward his will, often long before He plans to utilize those passions. And we’ll talk about the toe-stepping truth that arrogance and insecurity are two sides of the same coin of self-centeredness—or pride. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation.

Scriptures:

• Exodus1:15-22
• Exodus 2:11-15
• Acts 7:22-29
• Hebrews 11:24-26
• Exodus 3:1-19
• Exodus 3:10-15
• Exodus 4:1-17
• Acts 7:22
• 2 Corinthians 12:9
  
  

TEACHING & DISCUSSION:

• The HOLY defiance of the midwives!! The courage. Notice that they were called out and honored BY NAME when the Pharaoh wasn’t even named. That was purposeful in order to show them honor. Have you ever been in a situation in which you had to defy authority out of the fear of God?
• God is the sovereign, ultimate Orchestrator of events!! 
• Moses was prompted by God to visit his people and look upon their burdens. 
• Moses’ action to go to his people was simultaneously a refusal of Egypt and everything it stood for. It was choosing his people and choosing their God.
• There are times God tells us to move, and there are other times he compels us to move. 
• The passion often comes long before the action. 
• Just like he introduced himself to the others, so he introduced himself to Moses here. Personally.
• How awesome would that have been to be the person God reveals himself to BY NAME.
• “I Am” —from a Hebrew word that means “to exist” or “to breathe”—it means I am AND I will be—and is actually “Am Am” or “Will be Will be”—the double use is for emphasis, just like God said “Moses, Moses”
• “LORD” —the “Tetragrammaton” taken from four Hebrew letters (YHVH or YHWH—the discrepancy is in the two Hebrew words God used in these two verses, which is very complicated)—the transliteration of these Hebrew words is YAHWEH or JEHOVAH and also means “to exist” or “to breathe” (“am” and “will be”)
• God’s name speaks to so many things: That he always was, he is, and he always will be (“was and is and is to come,” “is the same yesterday, today, and forever,” “the alpha and the omega,” etc.). That all things have life (exist, breathe) in him and through him (“in him we live and move and have our being,” “through whom all things exist”. There are no constraints around who he is and what he can do
• Who are you? — “I Am”
• What if they don’t believe me? — “let me give you a sign” — “let me give you THREE signs”
• Pride and Insecurity. Compare Moses at the beginning of the story to the Moses now…pride and insecurity are two sides of the same coin of self-centeredness 

In today’s conversation, we’re going to come to the end of our journey through the Patriarchal Era of the Bible as we wrap up with the second half of the story of Joseph. We’ll find relief in the fulfilled promise that God vindicates his beloved children in his sovereign timing and that the hardship we endure in the waiting will be the very thing he uses to discipline and train us to run the rest of our race. We’ll face the perplexing truth that God is the ultimate Orchestrator AND Redeemer of events—and that while we’ll never be able to wrap our human minds around his sovereign ways, we CAN know that he will always be with us, he’ll always be working for our good, and he’ll always be working for his purposes. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation.

In today’s conversation, we’re going to begin finishing up our journey through the Patriarchal Era of the Bible with the widely-known story of Joseph—the favored 11th son of Jacob, the one who was gifted that infamous colorful coat. While we aren't going to be focusing on his coat of many colors today, we will discuss the concept of favoritism and how it translates to our culture today. We’re going to talk about some rather ego-pricking and sometimes painful topics we see play out in the story of Joseph like pride, jealousy, regret, hurt, disappointment, and waiting on God to be our vindicator. We’ll watch God pour out favor in the midst of unfavorable circumstances; and we’ll discuss the tension of living with hope for a better tomorrow, while still “blooming where we’re planted” today. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation.

In today’s conversation, we’re going to keep on journeying through the Patriarchal Era of the Bible as we continue the story with Abraham’s grandson, Jacob—the man who wrestled with God and whose name God changed to Israel. We’re going to watch his internal wrestling for control culminate in an external wrestling match with God, as he learns to surrender to the God who can be trusted to accomplish his promises without our help. We’ll watch as God continues to be so kind and so faithful in spite of man’s shortcomings, and we’ll discover the redemptive and restorative nature of the God we serve. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation.

In today’s conversation, we’re going to keep on journeying through the Patriarchal Era of the Bible as we pick up the story with Abraham’s grandson, Jacob—the man who wrestled with God and whose name God changed to Israel. We’re going to watch his internal wrestling for control culminate in an external wrestling match with God, as he learns to surrender to the God who can be trusted to accomplish his promises without our help. We’ll watch as God continues to be so kind and so faithful in spite of man’s shortcomings, and we’ll discover the redemptive and restorative nature of the God we serve. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation.

In today’s conversation, we’re going to continue our journey through the Patriarchal Era of the Bible as we stay camped out with the first patriarch and his wife—Abraham and Sarah. We’re going to get real in talking about the pain of unfulfilled desires and how difficult it is to wait for God’s promises to unfold in our lives. We’re going to see the importance of going to God with our questions and how gracious God is to respond when we do. We’ll look at one of the most inspirational stories of testing in the Bible and how the faithfulness of God is displayed within it. And we’ll be introduced to a new name of God—the God who sees and provides. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation.

In today’s conversation, we’re going to start our journey through the Patriarchal Era of the Bible as we walk alongside the first patriarch—the father of many nations, the man who was called a friend of God—Abraham. We’re going to explore the reality that God still calls his people to step out before we know where we’re going and that it can sometimes be more difficult to finish than it is to start. We’ll see how God always gets us where he wants us when we’re walking in obedience and how he continually shows up to remind us of his presence and his promises. We’ll watch as God initiates his plan to call forth and set apart a people in preparation for his Son—to save the world from sin and crush the head of that serpent. So, pull up a chair at our table, and let’s dive into the conversation.