Sleepless in Egypt

In Bel Air, Maryland, in a few years ago, a man by the name of Roger Moore was given a traffic ticket for not having his child properly restrained in the car seat in his car. And so he stopped, of course, and kind of frustrated and upset. And he restrained the child properly in the back of the car and took the ticket, stuffed it in the glove compartment, angry at what had happened, and took off back down the road. 19 minutes later, he was involved in a horrible traffic accident. The little child lived because it was properly restrained, but Roger Moore died. Because all they had properly restrained his child, he never put on his seat belt. You see, sometimes obedience or the lackable obedience is the difference between life and death. Certainly, that was true on a sleepless night in Egypt some 3500 years ago. In the life of Moses, as we come to Exodus chapter 11, we come to a story that is familiar to most of us from our childhood days in Sunday school. We remember the story of the Exodus and the children of Israel actually leaving the land of Egypt. Their bondage is behind them and God brings them out as his people takes them out of bondage. But the key ingredient in this story is obedience. It is the lack of obedience that leads to death in Egypt. It is obedience on the part of Moses and the Israelites that leads to life and deliverance from bondage. Obedience means life, disobedience means death, and that is so true on this sleepless night when Israel would not sleep all through this night. When Egypt would not sleep all through this night, obedience is the key distinction and difference between why Israel did not sleep and why Egypt did not sleep. We are going to look at how it works out in the story in Exodus chapter 11 and 12, how the disobedience of Egypt and the obedience of Israel impacted both nations amazingly. But we are also going to seek to draw some principles for us and our obedience or lack of obedience to our Lord and his commands to us as well. So join me in Exodus chapter 11 where we see first of all God's word to Pharaoh. The obedience of Israel is set against the backdrop of God's word to Pharaoh. In chapter 11, look with me please, verse 1. Now the Lord had said to Moses, I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that he will let you go from here and when he does, he will drive you out completely. Now notice the tense of the verb, it's very important to see this in verse 1. The Lord had said, in other words before the conversation at the end of chapter 10, God had already told Moses what the last plague would be. Because at the end of the ninth plague, you remember if you were here last week that Pharaoh calls Moses in in verse 27. His heart is hardened and he will not let Israel go. But Pharaoh says to Moses, get out of my sight, make sure you do not appear before me again. The day you see my face you will die. Just as you say Moses replied, I will never appear before you again. But God had already told him what the tenth plague would be. So before he leaves the presence of Pharaoh, he announces the tenth plague and that's what we're going to read. The Lord had already said this to him so he announces this plague. Look at verse 2. Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold. Now why would God tell Moses to tell the Israelites to ask Egyptians for silver and gold? Well first of all, it was only just payment for all the years of slavery that the Israelites had to endure. But it was also because although the Israelites don't know this yet, God knows that once they get out into the wilderness, they're going to build a tabernacle. And they will need the materials to build that tabernacle with. They're not going to find that out in the desert. And so they are to take it with them. God will move in amazing ways even among the hearts of the Egyptians to make them favorably disposed if act in verse 3. It says that the Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh's officials and by the people. So God says to the people, it is time to go. And Moses is going to lay out to Pharaoh before he leaves his presence what the 10th plague is all about. In verses 4 through 8, he gives him five warnings. Number 1, something is going to happen at midnight. Number 2, what's going to happen at midnight is every firstborn son of Egyptians will die, including you Pharaoh. And even all the cattle of this land. Number 3, there will be national grieving, wailing, mourning like never before in Egypt. Number 4, Israel will be protected. This will not happen to them. And then number 5, Pharaoh, there will be an Exodus. We will go this night. And verse 8 ends with this statement, then Moses taught with anger left Pharaoh. I'm convinced, angry, at the fact that Pharaoh has been so stubborn and so resistant and so disobedient to God that it would take this stroke of God's judgment to cause him to let the people of Israel go. Angry at what has happened, Moses then leaves his presence. That is God's word to Pharaoh, chapter 11. But then God's word comes to Israel in chapter 12. Moses turns his attention to Israel and God gives him a message, a word to give to the nation of Israel. That message, that word to Israel calls for obedience in seven different areas. And we're going to go through them fairly quickly here. The seven different areas of obedience that God called Israel to. First has to do with their calendar, interestingly enough. Look at chapter 12, verse 1. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, this month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. So they're going to have to change their calendar. Their calendar will be adjusted so that this month, the month where God is going to do this great work of delivering them from Egypt, this will be the beginning of their year from now on. And throughout Israel's history, they would observe this event as the beginning of their religious calendar. It would happen in the spring. Their civil calendar still, in New Testament times, began in the fall with the harvest and the day of atonement. But their religious calendar would always, from this time on, start in the spring of the year, the Passover feast, and what would happen next. And so they were commanded to change their calendar to fit the significance of this event. Second thing they were commanded to do. And third thing had to do with the Lamb and the blood. Look at verse 3. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month, each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household, a skip down to verse 5. The animals you choose must be year old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the 14th day of the month when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Now, I want you to notice the detail of the command here as to what they are to do. Look at verse 7. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lamb. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire. It goes on to describe something that we will see in just a moment. Skip down to verse 12. On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be assigned for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. Very careful, very specific instructions as to how they are to kill this lamb. First of all, set it apart, then kill it, then do something with the blood spreading the blood over the top and on the sides of their doors, and then they are to eat the lamb with haste on that evening. Very detailed instructions. We kind of know the story and shrug. Oh yeah, we have heard this story since we were kids. What is the significance? What is the logic of this to Israel? Well we know that. We look back on it and we say, wow, wait a second. Blood on the top of the door and the two sides, that is the cross. That is the three points of the cross and the lamb, that is Jesus. And so this is the death of Jesus, right? And the forgiveness of sin and freedom and bondage is taken away through Christ and His shed blood applied to our hearts just like it was applied to their doors. But wait a second, hold on, they don't know any of that. They haven't sung the hymn. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. They didn't have the hymn. We know the story. They didn't have the hymn. In fact, they didn't have any of this yet. They didn't have any clue why this was to be done. They've never done this before. Take a lamb, kill it, put the blood over the door on the sides. What is that about? It is because God commanded it. And they are simply to obey. Even though they don't understand what this is all about yet and the significance of it, the part that blood sacrifice of a lamb will play in the forgiveness of sin, they as a nation won't really grasp that until the tabernacle is set up. God's law is given to them about the sacrifices and all of that. They won't fully get that until then. But they are commanded to do it regardless of whether or not they understand the why. And they are to obey God. So that was the second and third area of obedience they were to be called to. Fourth area of obedience is the meal. And God gives them express instructions, specific instructions again about this meal, verse 8. That same night, same night they killed the lamb, they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast, do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire with the head, legs and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning. If some of it is left till morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it. With your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand, eat it in haste, it is the Lord's Passover. Now again, they are to eat this meal quickly in readiness to leave that very night. This is not going to be a casual meal with lingering conversation around the table. They will be eating with their traveling garments on with their robes tucked into their belt ready to travel with their staff in their hand. This is going to happen tonight. You are going to leave on a moment's notice. And so be ready to go. They are to obey God in regard to this meal. The fifth area to obey God in has to do with an ordinance. Look at verse 14. This is a day you are to commemorate for the generations to come. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord, a lasting ordinance. So what they are doing this night by killing this lamb, eating this meal, being ready to go, they are to keep in Israel as a lasting ordinance. And he goes on to describe through verse 20 exactly how they are to do it. The Passover meal and the following feast of unleavened bread, which would take place for seven days, that is to be in lasting ordinance in Israel. It is to describe more in verses 43 through 49 as to who all is supposed to be involved in it, how it is supposed to be done. A lot of specific instruction given we won't take the time to go through. But let me just say this. They are commanded without understanding why at this point as to how to carry out this ordinance. That they are to do forever in Israel's history. Number six. They are also commanded to obey in this sense they are to teach their children. So teaching their children is a command that God gives them that night before they go out of the land. Look down at verse 24. Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you what does this ceremony mean to you? Then tell them it is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians, then the people bowed down and worshiped. God gives these people the night of their deliverance from Egypt. He gives them a specific and tremendous obligation to pass along this truth, this story to the next generation. And the passing along of the meaning of Passover and what that meal means they are to help their children understand. It is important to pass this truth along to the next generation as parents to model it, to teach it, to live it so that their children know what this is all about. It is absolutely critical to the story. God does not want what happened that night which will be fresh in the minds for everyone that goes through it. He does not want it to die there. And it is up to them to pass it along with passion to the next generation. And up to that generation to keep passing it along, that is part of what God commands them to do, teaching their children. And then lastly, God commands them concerning their journey in verses 29 to 42. Let's read part of that, verse 29. At midnight the Lord struck down all the first born in Egypt from the first born of Pharaoh who sat on the throne, to the first born of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and the first born of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night and there was loud wailing in Egypt for there was not a house without someone dead. During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, uh, leave my people you in the Israelites. Go worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds of you have said, oh, and also bless me. The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. Otherwise they said, we will all die so the people took their dough before the yeast was added and carried it on their shoulders and needing troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people and they gave them what they asked for so they plundered the Egyptians. The Israelites journeyed from Ramseys to Sukkoth. There were about 600,000 men on foot besides women and children. Many other people went up with them and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. So there's seven, seven different areas that God dealt with Israel about that they were to obey him in. And I want you to notice this is so important to see. This is really the emphasis of the passage is on obedience. The emphasis is not on the lamb. It's not on the blood. It's not even on Israel's release from bondage. The emphasis is on will you obey me because that's going to be the foundation of them understanding the covenant God will make with them in the wilderness to be his people. It is conditioned on their obedience. Just look through the passage again verse 24. Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. Verse 27, the people bowed down in worship. The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. Now down to verse 34. So the people took their dough before the yeast was added carried it with their shoulders and kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and clothing and then looked at verse 50. As the passage ends it ends with this emphasis. All the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. And on that very day the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions. The thrust of this passage is on obedience. It is the obedience of Israel that causes God to move them out of the land. It is the disobedience of Pharaoh that brings judgment upon the land of Egypt. So what can we learn from this story? This well-known story. What are the lessons for our obedience as we look at this story of obedience and disobedience? I think there are four clear lessons from this text and this story. The first one is this. Obedience means being sensitive to his voice. That's what obedience means. It means having an ear that is tuned to the voice of God and you hear his voice. First of all it means having an ear tuned to his word. His instructions, his warnings. They are for our good. God had given Israel a lot of warnings and a lot of instructions. Some of them very detailed, very specific as we saw. Some of them not clearly understood by the Israelites as to why. But still they were to obey whatever God told them to do. My question for you this morning is, are you listening? Are you hearing what God says to you through his word? There was an elderly gentleman who began to suspect that his wife was hearing problems. So he decided to test it one day. She is sitting across the room from him with her back toward him. So he said from across the room, can you hear me? No response. So he stepped a little closer. Can you hear me? Still no response. So he went a little closer. But now he is more than halfway across the room. Can you hear me? Still no response. So he got right up behind her chair and said, can you hear me? At this she whirled around and said for the fourth time, yes! Sometimes the problem is not with God. It is with us. It is not that God is not clear. It is not that God is not saying something. It is that we are not listening. The problem is with our hearing. We are not hearing what God is saying. So let us make sure we understand where the problem is. It is with us not hearing God's word. But it goes beyond just hearing his word. It also goes to hearing what he says to you in your heart about living for him and serving him. The application of his word to your specific life and your specific life situation. When God burdens you about something, when God speaking to your heart about something, maybe it is to serve him. Are you listening? Are you listening? When God is calling you and speaking and moving in your life and in your heart, are you listening? We must be sensitive to his voice. You see, I kind of feel like we have a tendency to get this all backward. Our question is, well how do I know God wants me to serve him like Mark Allen's challenge this morning? How do I know that God wants me to serve? Shouldn't we be asking how do I know he doesn't want me? Maybe we got backwards. Rather than saying what God doesn't call everyone does he? Maybe we should be saying yes, he does call everyone through the Great Commission. God has already called all of us. There are no exceptions. All of us who are as children are called to take the gospel. We're part of that Great Commission where Jesus told us disciples go into all the nations and make disciples, then baptize them, then teach them. Not all of us have the same place to go. Not all of us will go vocationally, but God's already called everybody. Don't wait for some call. Don't wait for some special voice. But if God specifically takes that general call for all of us to be involved in taking the gospel to people and applies it specifically to your heart about foreign missions or about going into the ministry to preach the riches of His Word. If God's speaking to you and calling you, burdening you and you can't get away from it, you heard the testimony this morning. Mark Allen sat in church and he kept hearing that voice of God, impressing on his heart and he couldn't get away from it. If you're there, my question to you this morning is are you listening? Are you listening to what God is saying to you? Will you respond to what God is saying to you? On May 7th, 1915, the RMS Lucitania, British Ocean liner, was struck by a torpedo from a German submarine and sank in a matter of moments. There were 1,959 passengers on board just under 1200 of them died in that terrible tragedy. In her book, Lucitania, an epic tragedy author Diana Preston in this 2002 book recorded the observations of one of the passengers, a bookseller by the name of Charles Laureate. Here's what he says, as the ship was sinking and his Laureate looked around the sea who needed life jackets, he noticed that among the crowds now pouring on the deck nearly everyone who passed by him was wearing a life jacket, had it on incorrectly. In his panic one man had thrust one arm through an armhole and he's head through the other armhole. Others rushed past wearing them upside down. No one had read the neat little signs around the ship telling people how to put them on. Laureate tried to help but some thought he was trying to take their life jackets from them and fled in terror. Preston continues, dead and drowning people were dotting the sea like seagulls, many bodies were floating upside down because people had put their life jackets on the wrong way up pushing their heads under the water. Can you imagine the tragedy of that? Sometimes I think in the church we've got it all backwards, we've got it all upside down. God's already called all of us. We're to be obedient to him. Now for some of you that passion that he puts in your heart may be for your office or your workplace or your neighborhood or your own family. For some of you it may be people in Peru or Ecuador or some other place in the world but when God starts making that general call for all of us to go very specific to your heart the question is are you going to listen rather than waiting rather than waiting to see if you're one of the few that God speaks to admit the fact God's already spoken to all of us. And he's already told all of us to go. He's already told all of us to be involved in his work of spreading the gospel in some way. The question that he will make personal to you is where and how that will be done and not everybody will be overseas but I'm convinced that to wait until you're sure of that before you even think God's called you is a mistake that's putting it backwards. I'm going to go until he stops me. Rather than saying I'm going to wait until I know exactly where he wants me. I'm going to go until he stops me. God doesn't want you on a foreign mission field. He'll stop you. But if God's putting a burden in your heart for that you better listen and you better go. And if he doesn't want you there if that's just the desire of your heart he wants you to carry out in some other way he'll stop you. So why wait till he pushes you wait till he stops you. Let's get the thing turned around the right way. All of us are commanded to go. I love what Tim Keller said in a message he preached back in March of this year well known pastor and author from New York City. He says the Lordship of Jesus Christ he calls it a life quake. He says when a great big truck goes over a tiny little bridge sometimes there's a bridge quake. When a big man goes on to thin ice there's an ice quake. Whenever Jesus Christ comes down into a person's life there is a life quake. Everything is reordered. If he Keller is saying Jesus if he was a guru if he was a great man if he was a great teacher even if he was the genie of the lamp there would be some limits on his rights over you. If he's God you cannot relate to him at all and retain anything in your life that's non-negotiable. Anything any view any conviction any idea any behavior any relationship he may change it he may not change it but at the beginning of the relationship you have to say in everything he must have the supremacy. I love what Keller has said I think he spot on. We are all called by God as believers to take the gospel to other people and we are to be obedient and then let him move us and open the right doors as to when and where that will be. So if God speaking to you the question is will you be obedient will you be obedient that really is the essence of the question obedience means being sensitive to his voice. Secondly obedience means trusting his provision. Now that's what scares a lot of us. If I think God is pulling my heart towards something that scares me to death we begin asking how are things going to be taken care of. Can you imagine all of the questions that the Israelites might have been asking or could have been asking as they started out on this night quickly on this journey. Where's our next meal going to come from. What about sanitation we got to get to million people what how how are we going to take care of sanitation needs. What about those who have dietary and medical problems. How are those going to be addressed out in the desert. What about protection from the elements you mean we're going to be out there with just here we are out in the desert. How are we going to be protected from the elements. Now please remember there's no book of Exodus yet. They don't know what's going to happen. I don't think Moses even had a three ring binder instructions for the Exodus. I don't think he had that. All they knew was that the God that spared them that night and told them to get out of Egypt could surely take care of them once they got in the wilderness. It was totally by faith. They had to trust God. If God can deliver us from bondage and he can take care of me when I get out there. You know one of the greatest things that scares us about being willing to follow the Lord is we can't plan it all out ahead of time. We can't see how it's all going to work out. We can't see how all the provisions going to come in. How he's going to take care of us. The God who calls and equips us is able to take care of us. I love what Henry Nguyen said. Henry Nguyen is a writer from another tradition than ours. But he tells the story of some friends of his who were trapeze artists. They were with the circus. Their lives had an effect on him. He had gotten to know them. They were called the flying rudelas. He tells their story. He says there's a very special relationship with high rise type trapeze artists between the flyer and the catcher. The flyer is the one that lets go and the catcher is the one that then catches him or her. The relationship is important especially to the flyer, the one who lets go. So when the flyer is swinging high above the crowd on the trapeze, the moment comes when he must let go. And he will fly through the air. And what the rudelas told him was this. His job is to remain as still as possible and to wait for the strong hands of the catcher to pluck him from the air. Trapeze artists told new and the flyer must never try to catch the catcher. The flyer must wait in absolute trust. The catcher will catch him. We're in the same position when you step out on faith and trust God. It means that you have to let go. You let go of your own plans, your own vision as to what your life looks like. You let go. But you're trusting that the catcher, the Lord Jesus Christ, is there with His strong arms to catch you. You've got to trust Him. You've got to trust Him to take care of you. That goes against the grain for us, doesn't it? We'd rather be able to see how it's all going to work out. How it's all going to be taken care of. One of the most horrifying stories to come out of World War II was the story of the North African flight crew that was supposed to run a mission to Benghazi. And it was at night. They did not have visual contact with the ground. And so they were trusting their instruments or so they thought. But there was a strong tailwind. And they were making it much faster than they expected. And when their instruments said they were near Benghazi and they needed to start preparing for the landing. They couldn't believe they thought the instruments had gone wrong. It wasn't time yet. And so they continued to fly on trusting their emotions and their own sense of where they were looking for a beacon that was quickly behind them and fading back into the distance. They eventually ran out of fuel and crashed in the North African desert killing all on board. Why? Because they were trusting their own eyesight rather than the instruments that were supposed to tell them where to land. We'd like to have it all figured out rather than trusting the one who sets the gauges on our lives. Rather than trusting him, we'd like to trust ourselves. He can't be right. I'm sure this won't be taken care of. I don't know how this is going to work. And so I'm going to trust my own instincts, my own way from my life. Obedience means trusting his provision. And then the third lesson we can learn about obedience is obedience requires teaching the next generation. We've got to help our children and grandchildren understand the meaning of why we do what we do. That's exactly what Israel was to do. Remember they were to teach their children what this ordinance is all about. What this night was all about. What this lamb business is all about. And this meal is all about. What's that all about? They were responsible to help their children understand the meaning of that. And we are responsible to help our children grasp what God is doing and enable them to do it themselves. So help your children understand why you pray before you gobble down your food. Why is it necessary to thank God? Or why is it important to thank God? Help your children understand why you go to church. Not just get ready. Yeah, we got another church. It's time to go to church. Why do you go to church? Help them understand the reasons why. You're the parents. Model this for them. Teach them. Why do we take that cracker and that juice in church sometimes? Model that for your children. I'm so grateful that our children's ministry gone all the way back to Brian and now with James. Has kept the children in here for communion so that their parents can teach them what this is all about. That's what God's word is saying here. How does someone know that God wants them to be a missionary? How do we know that we're supposed to witness to someone? Why do we go to Mercer Street or to the jail or wherever to try to help people? Why? Why? Why? We need to help our children understand the answers to those questions. We need to translate for them the wise and the wear force and model for them as parents what it means to serve God. I mentioned on Friday I was up at Mount Olive Correctional, Penitentiary and the amazing, amazing work going on there. Based on the Angola model down south where Bible college training and getting inmates all fired up about reaching their own population revolutionized that that whole prison. And this being done down at Mount Olive and these guys are on fire passionate for Christ their slogan is make time count. I love that make time count while we're in here we're going to make our time count. We're going to learn God's word we're going to understand the tools that we need to be flaming witnesses throughout this whole penitentiary of a thousand prisoners. But I noticed a sign at the front on the front wall it said the best Bible version is the exemplified version. I think about that one for a minute. I think we may get that on our wall up here. The best Bible version is the exemplified version. In other words the version you live out in your family and in your workplace and in your neighborhood. It is important parents that we model and teach and encourage and show how our children to serve God. We need parents that will not stand in the way but will encourage and model and show our children. This is what God's word teaches. This is why we do what we do now go for it. That's what we need today. My father's birthday would have been tomorrow if he was still living. He would have been 90 years old tomorrow. I will forever be grateful to my father and my mother. I believe that apart from God's sovereign call in working they are the human instrument reason as to why I'm in the ministry today. I told the story before but times like this when I celebrate one of their birthdays or whatever that's related to them it comes back to me. I'm between my junior year and senior year of high school planning my life trying to figure out where to go to college. I already had it set. I knew where I was going to go and knew where I was going to major in. In two weeks at camp that summer the second week as a counselor in junior camp just got me burdened. I really speak to my heart about going into the ministry. I put out some fleeces to God all of which in his grace and my naivety and youth not understanding how to determine the will of God. God answered all of those. So I knew that's what he wanted me to do. I came home from camp after those two weeks and I went to my mom and dad to explain to them what God has spoken to my heart about. Thinking it might be a disappointment for them to hear that it was not going to be Virginia Tech. It was not going to be engineering. It was going to be Pete Bible college and the ministry. And my parents started crying. But not tears of grief tears of joy. And they said we are so glad John we've been praying for these whole two weeks that God would call you into the ministry. Never once did they try to discourage me. They pushed me on. And every time I hit a low spot and wanted to quit my dad would be there. So thankful for that. I had their support. Obedience requires teaching the next generation what it's like to serve God. But I've got to end with this one. Obedience is rewarded with joy. Obedience is rewarded with joy. This is great. How did Israel go out of the land that night? Did they go out with fear? Did they go out with all those questions that I asked earlier? Did they go out miserable thinking we're going to be out in the desert all this time? They'll get there. But when they went out the Bible says in Psalm 105 they realized what was happening. I don't have time to read all these verses. It talks about he brought out Israel laden with silver and gold from among their tribes. No one faltered. Israel Egypt was glad when they left because dread of Israel had fallen on them. And then in verse 43 it says in Psalm 105 he brought out his people with rejoicing. His chosen ones with shouts of joy. Yes, they were shouting with joy. Exoration. Unbridled joy. There's a deep sense of peace. When you know you're following God, when you're obeying God, there's a deep sense of peace that nothing else can bring. Mark Dyke in his book from 2014. Gives this story. His book Yawning at Tigers says this. He talks about a recent TV commercial that he had seen about a young man who was struggling with whether or not to go through with an arranged marriage. You see in the country he was from arranged marriages were the norm. But after living in America he had gotten used to our ways and that seems so out of place. He was having second thoughts but he wanted to honor his parents and his arranged bride is on the plane. He's at the airport to meet her. And so there he sits, dutifully waiting for her. Flowers in hand, gloomy expression on his face. I wish I had some choice in who I could marry and then she stepped through the jet way into the terminal. And his expression changed, everything changed. She was absolutely beautiful. Suddenly a smile came on his face. Suddenly the thought of marrying this woman was no longer something he dreaded. He was anxious to get to know her. It was a delight. What changed? He had seen her. If you just serve God out of obligation, duty, supposed to do this, there's not going to be a lot of joy in your life. What will make the difference is if you see him, if you get into his word and you see the grace of God and the glory of God and who God is and what he promises you and how he wants to use you and how he wants to lead you and provide for you and direct your whole life for his glory and for your good. When you see him, it will all change. It will all change. And no matter what you have to go through to serve him, it will be with delight and joy. There will be difficulties, there will be hard times. My friend, have you ever considered that God may be speaking to you? He speaks to all of us through his word. Is he speaking to you today about living for him, about serving him, about witnessing for him, about getting rid of some sin in your life? Whatever it is that God's speaking to you about, the question is, will you obey? Are you listening to him? There are only two things in this world that are eternal. The Word of God and people. You cannot invest your life into anything more significant than that, taking the Word of God to people who need a Savior. I think there may be some folks here today who just need to go for it until God stops you. Let's get the thing turned around the right way, rather than saying, well, I'm going to wait until God pushes me or God, I can hear His voice. He's already called you. He's already said, go into all the world. So go for it, go for it until He stops you. Serve Him wherever you are now, and then as He opens other doors or impresses on your heart, other directions, go for it. Don't wait for some special, go for it and He'll stop you if that's not what He wants you to do. Let's pray together. Father, help us to be obedient to you. Just like Israel was in spite of not understanding what the future held, not even understanding all of the commands they were given. Lord, help us when we are being nudged by you about whatever it is in our lives, that we would be willing to obey and follow you and do what you say. Even if we can't figure out yet how it's all going to work out, help us to be obedient in Jesus' name. Amen.