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Listen to Bible Class 20250825 Jonathan Caswell Exodus 17-19 by tmvic MP3 song. Bible Class 20250825 Jonathan Caswell Exodus 17-19 song from tmvic is available on Audio.com. The duration of song is 47:48. This high-quality MP3 track has 128 kbps bitrate and was uploaded on 25 Aug 2025. Stream and download Bible Class 20250825 Jonathan Caswell Exodus 17-19 by tmvic for free on Audio.com – your ultimate destination for MP3 music.
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And then we're going to see that they're going to begin their trek to the Mountain of Sinai from in their journey to that being their next destination. And I think the next big period within the Book of Exodus, which is their time there on Sinai, from really chapter 19 through the rest of the book. So that gets you into that last section, at least third of the chapter, or of the book, excuse me. And so before we begin, we'll go ahead and open up with a word of prayer and then we'll jump into the text. Our most kind and gracious and merciful Father in heaven, we're so thankful, we're so mindful of the goodness that you do give us and show us each and every day. We're mindful and thankful at all that you do provide for the ability that you have given each of us to be here this evening. And we do thank you so much for what has been provided. We do ask that you be with those that are present here, or excuse me, those that are not present here of the local congregation due to illnesses and difficulty that they may face, that you will care and keep them as long as you can. And if it be that will to heal them at the next appointed time. But if that is not according to that will, God, we do ask that you will not allow their physical ailments and difficulty to be a stumbling block to their faith, but that we always keep in mind that our life here and our bodies here on this earth is all temporary and that we are striving for an immortal home with you in heaven one day. We thank you so much for the ability that we have to worship through your son Jesus Christ and the opportunity to have forgiveness of our sins through his blood. And do ask that you forgive us of anything that is before your sight this evening and that you will blot it out from your memory and blot it out from our charge. Again, dear God, we thank you and ask that you be with us during this period of study. And in your son's name that we do pray. Amen. So after they leave the nation or the land of Egypt, one of the things that they bring up and one of the things that they begin to mention is they start their complaining. And this is just a characteristic of this generation that is going to enter into really the wilderness and things of that sort. And what happens is they begin to complain about what they used to have in Egypt. Because in Egypt, it says they had meat, they had bread. Even back at the time where they were in Egypt, or excuse me, at the Red Sea, they mention we even had graves that they were missing out on. And so as they cry out to God and cry out to Moses, God is going to give them a test. And what is the test that God gives them? That's in chapter 16 of verse 4. How does God test his people? When a man of all faiths tells them to only collect what is necessary, that's the test. Very good. So manna. Manna is going to be the test that the people are going to have to pass. And this is really interesting because they don't stop getting manna all the way until the book of Joshua. You have several decades that go by that they are living on manna. And then when we get to Joshua, after they cross the Jordan, that's when we stop the manna. And so how is this a test from God? Because what God states is, what Yahweh is going to mention is that I will test them whether or not they will walk in my instruction. How is God testing his people? One, can you follow instructions? So that's the first part. As human beings, do we do a good job following instructions? No. So it seems very simple. But we struggle with instructions. Adam and Eve were given one instruction, don't eat of that tree. They broke the one instruction that they had and ate of the tree. We struggle with instructions. How often are they being tested by God? Yeah. So this is also a trust test because what is actually sustaining them as they are journeying through the wilderness? And this is what Jesus brings up when he's tempted in Matthew chapter four. What is actually sustaining them? God, right? And it's the word of God that was sustaining them, not the bread. And Jesus is going to state that man should not live by bread alone, but by what? Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And so this is an important test that he is providing to them because they had to trust and have faith in God's word that the man was going to be there the next day. And so you can only get so much and you could not doubt, even though you may doubt it as a well, you know, it's Saturday, God might forget or it's Thursday, God might forget. And so you get a little extra. No, no, no. You have to trust and have faith in God that when you wake up the next morning, that man is going to be there. And then the other aspect of the test is the word manna was translated like, what is this? You know, we're told it's some type of bread or wafer, but they had never seen manna before. Why is that a part of the test? That's not an interesting question. They can be satisfied with that. Yes. They don't trust this is okay to eat. Right. Yes. And I feel like we try to do a good job with our kids, but I know some people, I know some of my students, my kids a little bit, we try and branch them out. It doesn't matter what restaurant they go to, chicken tenders, french fries, chicken tenders, chicken tenders, french fries, whatever drink they're going to get. It doesn't matter if it's Texas Roadhouse. It doesn't matter if it's Wendy's. I want some sort of fried chicken and I want some fries. And they don't go outside of that. Okay. And now if you imagine you come to somebody's house and then they say something in front of you, you're like, hey, what did you cook today? Just know it's good and it's going to fill you up. Well, what's in it? Can you mind giving us some ingredients? What kind of ingredients? Just know it's good enough. It's going to fill you up. And that's literally what God is doing. Y'all have not seen this, but you got to know it's good enough and it's going to satisfy you because it's not the bread that's satisfying you. It's obedience that's going to hopefully both metaphorically and physically keep you full, keep you satisfied as you will need. And so this is a very important test that God brings up because this is something that's going to be referenced throughout the scriptures. And it was so important that we are told they were to take one provision per day and then they would take two days because they were not to go out on the Sabbath. So on the sixth day, they would gather a double portion. And we see that they're going to take some manna and put it in a container into a jar. And they're going to take that jar and leave it within the Ark of the Covenant so that all generations to come would remember how God provided for them and fed them when they were in the wilderness. And so they would do that for 40 years until they came into the land of Canaan. It was Joshua chapter 4 through chapter 6. Then the other thing that we found when we look at chapter 17 is that the people, you know, they have their manna now, but you know if people get hungry, they're going to get what else? Oh, they get thirsty now. And instead of, I guess just mentioning this to God or to Moses, however, what they do is they argue with Moses. It says that they quarreled with Moses or contended with him, your versions may say, stating, give us water that we may drink. And Moses rebukes the people because why are y'all testing God? Why would you test Yahweh in this way when he has provided all for you? But here y'all are thinking that God is not going to provide. And so as they cry out again, guess what they're going to say? Guess what? What do we have in Egypt? Oh, at least we have water in Egypt. Right. We had water in Egypt. Our animals have water in Egypt. Our children have water in Egypt. Really do miss what all we had in Egypt. And so what we have here is Moses tells the people to take the elders with him. And so they're going to go and they're going to go to the rocks here. And it states that he was to strike the rock and water was going to come out of it. And he does this at the place that is called Mesa and Meribah. And these terms are translated to test and to quarrel. And it was to signify is the Lord God among us or not when they had tested the people. Now, there's some difference on this occasion. This happens throughout their time as they are journeying through the wilderness. But how do you all envision and read? What do you think this looked like when water would come to provide for the people? Okay. Yeah. How do you imagine this looks? I don't know if there's a right or wrong answer. I'm just really kind of thinking. I know like as a kid growing up, I imagined the rocks and like a rock, you know what I'm saying? And you know, your tabloids, I mean, this should take a while. But I'm not sure. I just I don't know if it was a rock more so than yes, you know what I'm saying? Like a cavernous almost where Moses is striking a structure, if you will. And there's some validity, there's some questions on some things, there are some areas in the wilderness of sin that's still present where they wonder and they say this possibly is one of the rocks that this came from. And I'm talking, we're talking like hundreds of the hop, you know. And there's some geological evidence that show like where it was split and it was not split by any human being. It was not split by any natural causes. It's not erosion. It's not weathering. And they wonder if these are some of the occasions. But I just, I say that to say we had to get water for probably conservatively like a million people. So I don't think it was just a little trickle that comes out of a rock that's on the ground. Like I'm with you. I'm thinking this water is truly flowing out and gushing out to get water for the people. They would get canisters, I would imagine, get water for the canisters, for their animals, for the people, for the children. And that would be a lot of water. As the other side, I think about how much water you would need to care for, you know, this multitude of people here. So this is an amazing and miraculous feat that God has done and that he has accomplished in providing water here for the people that he will continue to do with his time as they journey through the wilderness. Anything else there on the water? One of the things that happens next as they're on their journey here in the second part of chapter 17 is that the Amalekites are actually going to come up against the nation of Israel. And in verse 9, it says, Moses said to Joshua, he tells him to choose men for us and go out and fight Amalek. And this is very important and very interesting because one of the things that we find is this is the first time that we are introduced to Joshua. This is the first time that Joshua is mentioned. He would have been in Egypt, but we're never told about Joshua. But here we're told, he tells this man named Joshua that he is going to kind of be the one to lead this army. He says, look, go get some men, some people that you think can fight, because you're going to have to fight against the Amalekites tomorrow. And Joshua does just that. And we see that they go up against Amalek, and Moses is able to put himself on this high position there on top of the hill. And what does Moses have to do for Israel to be victorious? Yeah, he has to hold his staff up. He has to keep his hands held up because he's holding up the staff. Now, when the staff is up, when his hands are up, what happens with Israel? Yeah, they're winning. They're doing good. But how long can you keep your arms up? And when his hands are going to fall, what happens to Israel? Yeah. Yeah. So, so again, this is the first time that we're introduced to Joshua. Yeah. So again, the tide of the battle changes. And so what happens is Aaron comes on top of the mountain, and Hur comes on top of the mountain, and they literally hold Moses' hands up in order to give the people victory over the Amalekites. And this is very important, very significant, because one thing that we have here, as Joshua says, overwhelm the people, God tells Moses, make sure you write this down. And he says in verse 14, as a memorial, and recite it to Joshua. Why does he mention that? Why do you mention for him to recite this to Joshua? Yeah. So what is God already kind of telling us about Joshua? Yeah, he's going to kind of be the next guy. Like he's already starting to plant some small seeds of that. He was chosen to bring victory to Israel in their real, their, technically their first battle that they had. Egypt kind of doesn't count because God did all the work. They didn't have to raise a sword. They didn't have to do anything. But they have their first battle that occurs. Joshua was chosen to lead. He leads, grants the people victory. God says, hey, you make sure you write this down, and you're able to tell Joshua about this victory in case he forgets. Because when Joshua actually takes the reins and started fighting, that would have been 40 years ago. Okay, so that's 40 years later that Joshua's supposed to remember this. All right, God's like, no, you write it down and remember so that Joshua won't forget. And then the other thing that we have here, Joshua is going to be in some other places as well that I think shows us that God is preparing him for leadership. But we see this promise that God makes. And Moses is going to build an altar here. And what this altar would say is, Yahweh is my banner. Or some would translate this as, because a hand is against the throne of the Lord, or because a hand upon the throne of Yahweh. So it's the idea that one has gone against God, and who proved victorious? God. All right, that God proved victorious even though the Amlekites came up against him. And so it then states that Moses would mention in verse 16, the Lord has sworn the Lord will have war against Amlek from generation to generation. Are we going to see the Amlekites in the future in the history of Israel? Yep. So they're going to have to come back and fight them again and defeat them again. And what's powerful to think about is you're going to also get to the point to where God is eventually going to say, hey, it's time for me to actually fulfill my promise that I'm done with Amlek. And I'm ready to wipe out Amlek. When does that happen? In Saul, first time in chapter 15, right? So in first chapter 15, God says, hey, y'all remember the promise that I made about Amlek all the way back in Exodus? Because we're talking about hundreds of years later. God says, yeah, I haven't forgotten. It's time that I'm done with y'all completely. And he sends Saul, and Saul and his army are going to be the one to completely annihilate the nation of Amlek and the Amlekites. And so this promise is important because he's going to come back to this. And so what an interesting battle that they have and what an interesting situation that's stated here in their victory and Moses holding his hands for them to have that conquering to occur. All right. Sir? You said relative or remnant? I don't recall. You might be right. I don't recall. I'm trying to go through my, let's see what we have. Hamas? Hamas and the Amlekites? Well, not that I remember, but like I said, I could be mistaken. And it maybe was something in the lineage that they could go back, but I'll double check on that. All right. In chapter 18, we have that Jethro. And who was Jethro? Yeah. So this is Moses' father-in-law, who he was also a priest, a priest of the land of Midian. And what we find is that he had heard about all that has been done to the land of Egypt and all that has been accomplished by the nation of Israel. And so we get to verse 2, and it says, And so there was a time, and we see a little bit of it, but you had this period to where Moses leaves Midian. We know that Zipporah and Gershom and Eleazar are with him because Moses kind of gets in trouble because he had not circumcised his sons. So we know that they were with him for that time. But at some point, they are sent back to be in Midian while Moses has to do his job of ultimately conquering Egypt. All right. And so now we've heard of what has happened in Egypt. Word has gotten back to Jethro about what is accomplished. So he gets Moses' family, and now he's going to bring his family back to him and to meet with Moses. Now, I always try and make a timeline for this, and I continue to try and struggle. But at least in my estimation, and we get some timelines here and there from when Moses gets to Egypt and they leave. And then we kind of get to Sana'a because at Sana'a, they get to Sana'a the third month after leaving or after technically the Passover was observed, because that's part of their calendar. So it's not a long time, right? So three months there at least at Sana'a. So here, you know, he's been away for a couple of months, and now his family is going to be able to come back to him. And so we get there. He brings his – Jethro, excuse me – brings his family there to him, and he tells Moses that he's coming, that he's coming along, and they greet each other. There's this wonderful embrace that's mentioned. He bowed down and they kissed him, and they asked each other of their welfare and went into the temple. And so what Moses does is he tells Jethro about everything that has been done. And notice he says, Moses told his father-in-law all that Jehovah that Yahweh had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake. Now, and this is just – y'all, be patient with me and my imagination for a minute. I could be a fly on the wall, right? Because Jethro – we're going to see Jethro's a faithful guy, and Moses is a faithful guy. But you're almost seeing them more in their familial setting. And I'm going to tell y'all, me telling a story to my parents or my in-laws is a level of directness, you know what I'm saying, to where you're telling this personally. But Moses – you know, we're reading it. Imagine Moses telling the story with his thought and his mind towards, like, man, now I have to go back another time. I told him what was going to happen, but, hey, he didn't want to listen. So then the Lord sent flies everywhere, right? I'm talking about flies are all – just seeing that and imagining that picture would have been amazing to think about, especially there from Moses's point of view, and he being the one to go through those things. But ultimately, he then tells him about the hardships that had been following him on the journey. So then, yeah, I say, man, you won't believe what else, all right? Then we actually leave Egypt, but people start complaining. They want to know, well, what are we going to eat? They actually even said they were going to start a coup to bring somebody to overthrow and to go back to Egypt. Can you believe that? And then guess what God says? God brings – man, it's like this wait for this bread, and he starts falling out of heaven. That's what we're eating right now. So Jethro would have experienced that. It was just like – just seeing and putting ourselves this – I think seeing this in reality creates a really a powerful situation here. And so – but then what he mentions how Yahweh had delivered them. And notice the verse now, Jethro rejoiced over the goodness of God and what he had done to Israel, delivering them from the hand of the Egyptians. But I thought Jethro was a Midianite. Why is he rejoicing over what God did with Israel when you're not even an Israelite? You better believe he is. He's a priest. He was a priest before this, when we're introduced to Jethro 40 years ago, right? Because remember Moses is gone for 40 years from when he killed the Egyptian past master. He leaves and goes to Midian. He's there for 40 years because he comes back 40 years later, and he's 80 when he goes to Egypt. So Midian – and so at this time, to where God was not disconnected from other nations, just because we follow the story of Israel within the text. And this is one of those stories that shows that. Jethro was a priest. He had already both known God. We see that his connection there, relationship with God even before, and as we mentioned that, but we definitely see it here. So he said, Blessed be Jehovah who delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians. And what he says is there's nobody. Now that I know – and he says now, in Noah verse 11, now I know, I have more evidence that Yahweh is greater than all gods. Indeed, it was proven when they dealt proudly against the people. And so he offers a burnt offering. He offers sacrifice. He worships God there in this, and then notice that it says, And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses' father-in-law before God. Now why do that? Why do we gather everybody for a dinner? Because Jethro's in town. You say what? Yeah. I mean, I guess my question would be why not? You know, you have your leader's father-in-law who's here, who's faithful, who's offering sacrifices, who's a priest, who's going to have some really good insights and things in just a moment. But even along with that, you have a guest who's like, Hey, y'all come here. Y'all come meet my family. Come be here with them. And we just see a powerful, I think, situation here that comes along that they all hear and share this meal and enjoy time with one another as it states before God. And in the next day, they're at Camp Moses. He's gone all day. And why is he gone all day? Yeah. So we have, like we said, we have like a million people. Is there going to be conflict? Who knows what Moses had to do with it? I mean, who knows what Moses had to go through, what he had to do with it? So he's gone all day. He says he wakes up in the morning. He doesn't come back until evening. And Jethro's telling him, what are you doing? What is it that you're actually doing and carrying out? He said, you're judging all of these people by yourself. And Moses is like, well, yeah, they come and then they ask me about what should be done or I inquire to God for them. And then if they have a dispute, they come and I'm a judge and I help them work it out. I help them solve it. According to again, what God has said. And what is Moses and what is Jethro saying? He said, that's not sustainable. Not sustainable at all. He said, the thing that you are doing is not good. Now, now hold up. Didn't he just say he's helping ten people? Didn't he just say, hey, you know, I'm helping them understand how they're supposed to work this out. What is Jethro saying is not good? Well, you're going to doubt it. He's not saying, well, you know, you shouldn't be doing it. Let them figure it out. That's not what he's saying. No, look, your method is not good. He says, you will surely wear out both yourselves and the people who are with you. Because how easy do you think it was to get to Moses? Probably not easy if we have a million people. All right. So who knows what the waiting line was for you to get Moses to help you sort it out. So he's like, look, you're going to get weird. The people are going to get weird. Like this, this is not sustainable. This is not going to work. So he says, you can't do this alone. So he's like, here's what I'm going to tell you. So notice in verse 19, so now listen to me, I will give you counsel and God be with you. What he tells him is, so here's what you're going to do. What you need to do is you need to select certain people. All right. And not just any old Joe that's present among the people. He says, you select out of the people, notice verse 21, men who fear God, men of truth, and those who hate dishonest gain. Now, I think this should be the only qualifications that we should hold people to, if you want to hold any sort of office. You want to be a mayor? Here's all I need you to do. You want to be the governor? Here's all I need you to do. You want to go in Congress? You want to be an alderman? Here's all I need you to do. I just got three things I want you to do. I want you to fear God. I want you to love the truth. And I want you to not like robbery and you don't want to gain from this division. That's all I need. And what do y'all think will be the difference in our system if we can get that done? All right. But notice who these men had to be. And I think this is very important when we think about both even men that we are entrusting things to, people that we are entrusting things to, when they come to the work of the church. When you talk about and you look at the book of Acts, where you had different individuals that would be trusted with taking the gift. I think about Epaphroditus. I think about Epaphras. I think about Odecephorus, Timothy, all these different ones. Paul was trusting them to sometimes carry money from one place to the next. Sometimes they were carrying letters from one place to the next. Sometimes these are the people that were entrusted by God to go and preach in certain places and they were chosen and they were elected out of groups of people to maintain a certain work. But it comes back, I still think, these base qualities. And so whether it be an evangelist, whether it be a preacher, whether it be a wife, whether it be a husband. I love these three because that applies to so much. Dear God, be one of the truth, behave dishonestly. And so it says you're going to place them, some of them you're going to place over thousands, some over hundreds, some over 50, some over 10. And what he was supposed to do in verse 20 was to teach them, teach them about how they are to delegate, how they are to deal with issues, the statutes and principles of the law and of God and the work that they're going to do. It says that you let them deal with the everyday stuff and the big stuff they can bring to you, Moses. Right? Like the major, the heavy issues, they can bring to you. But all the minor, let them figure that out. Let them judge because these are men of truth and they are able to do that. And then what Jethro says is, look, this is going to help the burden on you. And if you do this, and notice what Jethro says, if you do this and God so command you. So what is even Jethro's analogy? Yeah, if God is okay with the truth. And isn't that a faithful attitude? All right, like, look, here's what I'm suggesting, but make sure it's all right with God, that this is how this can be done. And then you'll be able to endure and all these people go to their place in peace. Verse 24, so Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said. And that's exactly what Moses did. And the system works out very well. It's a system that's going to continue. And then Jethro eventually is going to leave. And so Moses tells his father-in-law goodbye and he returns to Midian. Now, here's what I think is super interesting and super powerful about that. We are, and I think we talked about this before, but if not, we were able to see this through. God had placed his spirit upon Moses, correct? So, how is it that Moses needs or gets advice if he has a spirit even with him? How does that work? Okay, perhaps so. Good thought. Good thought. Anything else? Down there in the book of Acts, when, I'm thinking about Acts 17, just as one example, where Paul's with Silas. So, it's Paul, Silas, Luke, and Timothy. And they try and go to Dizzy, but it says the Holy Spirit forbade them. Then they try and go to another place where the Holy Spirit forbade them. And then he gets a vision, like, hey, you need to go to Macedonia. And he's like, okay, I assume this is a vision from God, and so he goes. And we have the story of Lydia, Philippi, and Jairus, things like that. But then notice Barnabas and Paul both have the Holy Spirit, right? But yet, they get into a disagreement over John Mark. So, I say those things to say, just because somebody was inspired, that didn't mean that they now had this infinite, omnipotent knowledge of how to do every single thing, right? Like, they had specific work and goal that they were able to accomplish, but that did not just now make you able to be flawless, for you to figure everything out perfectly. It just didn't do that. Yeah, exactly. Great thought there, as well. And so, even though he's in the position, right, and even though God is one, and he's in the position of the Holy Spirit, and he's in the position of the Holy Spirit, and he's in the position of the Holy Spirit, and he's in the position of the Holy Spirit, even though he's in the position, right, and even though God is 100% with Moses, that didn't mean Moses knew it all. And what that even meant is Moses did not know it all, and it was great that he had a great father-in-law to say, hey man, but you need some help with this. There's a better, more effective way for you to go about this. Try this. And it worked, all right? And it's great to see that, and I just love that aspect. It says Moses listened to his father-in-law. And he said, man, you must have forgot, I'm Moses. God speaks to me directly. I have to tell, I suppose, the right thing. Who are you to tell me how I should? No, no, no, that's not what Moses does. Yeah, no, you're right. We're going to do that. We're going to try that, and it worked really well for how that went about. Yeah, definitely. And all of the book of Numbers, Numbers 12, it says Moses was the most humble man of all the earth. So if you're humble, you know how to listen. You know how to listen when it's time to listen. So you bring up a really good point there. And it shows us the faithfulness of Jethro. Obviously, he ain't just a priest for nothing, okay? He is wise as well, and he is knowledgeable concerning both this very practical matter and the matters of God, too. Chapter 19. Got about eight or so more minutes here, eight to ten minutes. So third month, that's what we just talked about. They make it to Sinai, all right? So they come into the wilderness of Sinai. They camp at Rephidim, and then they're going to be at the base of the mountain. Now, again, if you've seen, and I don't know if we even see mountains like this, our best knowledge of mountains is what? Like, Smoky Mountains, probably. You know, this was a single mountain. I mean, you can't see a mountain, but like, you have one space here. And I say that in, when we, when you hear they're camped at the foot of the mountain, we have a million people that are surrounding the mountain, right? Just for that visual aspect, and in that particular area. And so they camp there at the mountain, and Moses goes up the mountain, and God was going to speak to him, because God had called him from the mountain. Here's what he says. He says, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the sons of Israel. Now, I think this is very interesting, because it's a very subtle point, but notice how God says this. The house of Jacob and the sons of Israel. What does he mean? Like, isn't that the same thing? Was Jacob not, didn't he get his name changed to Israel? So, God's point is, and let me make it be clear who I'm talking to. All right, the house of Jacob, the offspring of Israel, meaning all those that were his lineage, right? In his house, and then his sons, those that have ever gotten by, those to our children, let's know what I'm talking about. It's just a really, really neat aspect of how God says that. But what he says is, you know, I'll tell you what I did to Egyptians, and he uses this metaphor. He says, You saw that I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to, where? Myself. I brought you to me. What did Israel have to do to leave Egypt and to defeat the Egyptians? Yeah, that's it. They didn't have to do nothing. Really, the only thing that they had to do is make sure they have blood on the doorposts. Besides that, God did the rest. God and Moses were the ones that were really executing things. He's the one making the wonders happen, right? Like, they don't have to lift a finger. He says, So don't forget, I am the one who brought you here. I am the one who brought you here. He says, I did it in magnificent fashion. All right. I did it in magnificent fashion. And he uses this metaphor to say that he's done what? What is the explanation of that metaphor there? Of being born on a boar on eagles' wings, that's in verse 4. How do we explain that metaphor? So God provided. Very good. I like that. Why does he mention, or why doesn't he mention, Hey, you know, I put you on the wings of a pigeon. Yeah, they ain't no top bird. Pigeon got little wings. We eat pigeons. What about eagles? Yeah, that's top of the food chain right there. Okay. Eagles, yeah, that's top of the food chain right there. Okay. Eagles wingspan like six to seven and a half feet. That's taller than me. That's like, their wings are as tall as Shaquille O'Neal. Their wingspan. Do you think you could, would you miss an eagle as it's flying in the sky? Nope. Sure wouldn't miss him. And God says, I put you on top of that. To his point was, when I saved you, I put everyone beneath you. I bore you on eagles' wings. I bore you with my might. You were in the top of the sky, if you will. No one could defeat you at that time and moment because I was fighting for you because I had to bring you to myself. Okay. And so in that, in that, he says, now here's, here's, here's the thing. If, what does if mean? We got conditions. If you obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be my possession. Because remember, I brought you here. I brought you to me. And for you to be mine, you don't get to come to me under, with no criteria, with no circumstances. You will obey me. You will keep my covenant. And if you will do that, you will be to me. He states my own possession. It will state all, as he says, among all people, for all the earth is mine, you should be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. You'll be a kingdom. Notice priests would be the one that would go, they were to go between, between man and God. So you will be to me a nation that people will go between to access God. Right? And you will have access to me as God. And you will be a nation that is set apart. And God says, you go tell that to the nation of Israel. And Moses said, okay, he tells the people, here's what God said. Here's what y'all got to do. And what did the people answer in verse eight? They agree. Y'all know how you got to check. I agree to the terms and conditions on your phone and on the updates and on all the things. That's what they did here. Look, if you'll do this, here's the terms and conditions. They said, okay, we agree. We agree. We will be faithful that we will obey you, that we will keep your covenant in order to remain your people. God says, all right. And so then the Lord says, and he always says to Moses, behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud so that the people may hear my voice when I speak with you. And you may also believe, and they also believe in you. Notice in Moses, forever. And that's what God is going, or that's what Moses is going to tell the people. So God is both affirming who he is, and who else is he affirming to the people? Yeah. And who else? One other person. Moses. He says, look, y'all, you ain't getting access to me without Moses. So I'm making sure they know you're their leader. And I'm like, he's going to make me like three months. You know what I'm saying? But I want them to make sure you're their leader, that they know that, and I'm their God. And so we're going to establish that there. All right. Anything else? Don't know the exact November. Whenever I'm back, but we'll pick up in Exodus 19, and I put even a little bookmark. But if I forget, we'll pick up here in Exodus 19, is we'll start to break down the law, look at some of the different statutes and tenets that are here within the law. So to appreciate everybody's time and attention, we'll pause.
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