Just a few verses, but beautiful,
comforting truth. I pray the Lord will use this
to be a comfort to us. Verse 17 of Exodus 13. And it came to pass when Pharaoh
had let the people go, that God led them not through the way
of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God
said, lust for adventure, the people repent when they see war,
and they return to Egypt. But God led the people about
through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children
of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. God did
not bring them out the way he might be expected to, the shortest
way, would have been pretty much due north and would have taken
with that many people maybe two weeks to get from Egypt to the
land of Canaan. But God took them another way
and it took them 40 years to get there. He didn't take them
the short way and though the Philistines might have afflicted
them that way, the Lord could have prevented that if it came
to that, don't you imagine? After what he did to the Egyptians,
the country of Egypt was a howling wasteland when God got through
with it. So the Philistines wouldn't have been a problem for that
matter. The Lord has many reasons for
doing what he does and we We don't understand unless he reveals,
and he doesn't always reveal all of his reasons. He has reasons
for doing what he does the way that he does it. We have one
reason given here for this, and it's interesting that the Israelites
returning to Egypt is mentioned in the text. He said, lest they
repent and go back to Egypt, because they did in fact express
a desire to do that very thing more than once later, did they
not? Turn over, just thumb over to Exodus chapter 14 from where
you are there, just the next page or two, to Exodus 14.10
and look at that. And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the
children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold, the Egyptians
marched after them. And they were sore afraid. And
the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord, And they said
unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou
taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus
with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word
that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we
may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us
to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. Boy, those ungrateful, sorry
rascals. Yeah, that's us. That's us. And then in Exodus 17, 3, it's
a few pages over. Look at Exodus 17, 3. And the
people thirsted there for water and said, wherefore is this? And the people murmured against
Moses and said, wherefore is this that thou hast brought us
up out of Egypt? to kill us and our children and
our cattle with thirst. You should have just left us
there. We just go back to Egypt. They got water to drink there
at least. Does that sound like anybody? If you have to think
very far to think of somebody that sounds like, then you're
thinking too far. And in Numbers 11, four, let
me just read you this one. In Numbers 11, four, it says,
in the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting. And the children of Israel also
wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember
the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely. The cucumbers and
the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. We
have an appetite for some things that you're not providing for
us. But now our soul is dried away. There is nothing at all beside
this manna before our eyes. Let me ask you a question. If
God rained down food for you from heaven, now think about
this, who God is. And everything he does is perfect.
If it came from heaven, it's perfect. And he rained it down
every morning, plenty of it for them to eat. Do you think they
were telling the truth when they say our soul is dried away? We
don't have what we need. You reckon? Now we know a little
bit of something about this flesh, don't we? We lust after everything
that we don't have. If they had onions and leeks
and garlic, they'd have been lusting after watermelon. You
think? And peaches. Anything we don't
have. You put me on a diet that forbids
anything. I don't care what it is. And
what do you think I'm gonna wake up wanting? You can have anything
you want, Chris, except grapes. I can't do that for, I can last
about a week and I gotta have a grape. That's just, this is
the truth, isn't it? That's the way we are. Just don't,
just don't, don't deprive me of anything that I lust after.
But you see here, this was their desire of their heart to just
be back where they were. If God would have just left us
alone. would have been better off. So it seems that it was
not just to prevent them wanting to go back to Egypt that the
Lord led them this certain way. There's one difference besides
just the circumstance itself. And you know what it is? Time. Time. The Lord knows what we
can bear when we can bear it. and he deals with us thusly. Have you not found it to be so?
Just looking back on your own life. I know that's right. Wise Solomon said to everything
there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven. In verse four there of Ecclesiastes
three, It says there's a time to weep and a time to laugh.
And it wasn't time yet for these ones who had been in bondage
for 430 years. They'd had enough weeping for
a while. And the Lord gave them a little time to laugh. You reckon
that had something to do with it? The Lord let them laugh for
a little while first. They weren't ready for the Philistines.
They weren't prepared. They're gonna have some dealings
now with the Philistines. Israel's gonna have some dealings
with the Philistines, but not yet. Not now. And we know that
God does everything he does in such a way that he receives the
most glory. He deserves it. He's worthy of
it. When you do something for your
own glory, that's sinful and selfish. When God does something
for his own glory, it's just right. It's just right. And that's what he does. David
said in Psalm 23, three, he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness
and he does it for his namesake. Yeah, that's right. That's why
he does it. He does it for your good to your comfort and your
peace. And he thinking about you, no
question about that. He'd been thinking about you
since before you were born, but he does it for his namesake.
He leads you the way he leads you. May not be the way you expect. He does it for his namesake.
The Lord led them by way of the Red Sea into the wilderness of
the Red Sea. And we know what happened there.
Was God not glorified there? He said, stand still and see
the salvation of the Lord. And we've been talking about
it ever since. For how many thousands of years? We've been talking
about how, what a beautiful picture that is of how God shuts us up
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He hedges us about with our sin
and our hopelessness and helplessness. Brings us to the end of ourselves
and causes us to cast our souls upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And
what's revealed here in our text, the reason given why he led them
this certain way, it says he did it for them. He did it for
them. He's merciful to his Children. In our infirmity, is he not?
Psalm 103 13 David said, Like as a father pitieth his Children,
so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our
frame. He remembereth that we're dust. Isn't that what our text said?
He led them a certain way because he knew them. He knew them. He knows our frame. And here's
another thing that we know for sure about this, and then we'll
try, may God give us grace to apply this to our own experience
of God's tender mercies in Christ. One more thing that we know about
this, about why God does what he does when he does. Psalm 107,
turn over there with me please. Psalm 107. See if you can see yourself in
these verses and how God has dealt with you. Psalm 107.1. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed
of the Lord say so. Has he delivered you from bondage?
He did it for his name's sake. Would he let us in on that? Would
he give us grace, would he include us to praise his name among the
heathen, to tell everybody that will listen to us how great he
is, how merciful he is, how kind he is to a wretch like me. Say
so. Whom he hath redeemed from the
hand of the enemy and gathered them out of the lands from the
east and from the west and from the north and from the south.
They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way, They found
no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord
in their trouble. And he delivered them out of
their distresses. And he led them forth. You see,
you see which way he led them? The right way. Has he done that
for you? Has he led you forth by the right
way? You think about your life, you think about His mercies that
led you under the sound of His gospel one day. He led you all
the way to the feet of His Son. He led you out of darkness into
light. He led you out of yourself, the
sin and hopelessness and despair of self, into the glorious liberty
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He led you to Calvary, didn't
he? Revealed the lamb slain. He revealed his son and his redemptive
character. How that he shed his precious
blood for sinners like you. And you said that blood can wash
me clean. If he will, he can. The blood
of God can wash me clean. Has he led you by the right way?
That they might go to a city of habitation. a city that hath
foundations, whose builder and maker is God, that they might
go home. Hungry and thirsty, their soul
fainted in them, but they cried unto the Lord. And the Lord said
to Moses, I've heard the cry of my people, and I've come down
here to save them. That's what he did for me, and
then he led me by the right way. Oh, the world doesn't see that.
We don't see that. but by His grace. Lord, why this? Why that? Murmuring and complaining
like these Jews every step of the way, just about. But look
back at the way that He's led us. Oh, that men would praise
the Lord and quit murmuring. Oh, that we would stop complaining
and say, look what God, He's led me, He's put me, He's caused
my feet He shed a light upon my path and led me in the way
of righteousness. And every step of the way, He's
directed every step. I've devised my way, but He's
directed my steps. Oh, that men would praise Him
for that, for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the
children of men. Oh, that I would so much more
than I did, and so much better than I did. So here's what we
learned from this, three or four things tonight. When our Lord
turns us a certain way, we see all through our lives what people
call forks in the road. You have any of those in your
past? We thought perhaps things would happen a certain way. It
seemed at the time like the shortest and surest path to where we were
going. The Lord brought us another way. Why? Well, we talked about
this already a little bit, but he did it the same reason he
saved us to begin with. He did it for his glory. Whenever
he turns you a certain way, he does it for his glory. Listen
to Ephesians 1.5 now in this context. Very familiar scripture,
but listen to this. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself." Now God in
eternity predestinated us. He fixed our destiny beforehand. In eternity. And the culmination
of that, the realization of that, we will experience in eternity.
And everything that happens in time is taking us inexorably
to that glorious end that God has established from the beginning.
That we would be unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ himself,
that we will be conformed to the image of his son, that we
would have a habitation, that city whose builder and maker
is God. We're gonna dwell in Christ forever, with him, in
him, because of him. To the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Everything that happens to us
in time, is part of that predestinated end. And remember that when you
think things should have happened a different way than they did.
The way that God led you is going to bring you into the very arms
of the Lord Jesus Christ in his very image as a joint heir with
him, beholding his glory, being with him forever. That's the
way he led you. God led us to the Lord Jesus
Christ in the beginning, didn't he? He shut us up to Christ just
as surely as he did Saul of Tarsus. We were going our own way, our
willful, proud, haughty, anti-Christ way, just like Saul was. And
he led us. Did you see that word in the
text? He led them another way than what we would have gone.
Aren't you glad? You were going the short path,
the easy path, the happy path, the fun path, but it was the
path to hell. There's a way which seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death and destruction. He led us out of our natural
bondage to Christ and liberty in him. And he continues to lead
us home. I have a desire to depart and
be with Christ, Paul said. And we do, too, and He's leading
us there. The same God who led us to the water of life for the
first time leads us on now to that place that John saw and
described in Revelation 22.1, and He showed me a pure river
of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne
of God and of the Lamb. That's where we're going. In
the knee of the Son there, The Lamb is the light thereof. And
God said, I will dwell with him. That's where we're going. He's
leaving us there. Would you go a different way? This passage
in Exodus where we're studying is, with all of its context,
a picture of God's redeeming grace in Christ Jesus. and his deliverance of his people
from spiritual bondage and death. Cruel, cruel bondage where we're
forced by the law to produce that that we cannot produce.
How are you going to make bricks without straw? You're not. And
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified. You cannot
produce what is required of you. But he's delivered us from that
bondage and that cruel death. And he did so by the blood of
his lamb. our Passover, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who's redeeming blood, the power that's in that blood,
by a mighty hand, he delivered us. By the power of that blood,
he delivered us from self, sin, Satan, every enemy that we have.
And that redemption story includes this journey all the way to Canaan,
all the way to the Promised Land, until he takes possession of
what he's purchased. us body and soul. Another thing
that we see in our own experience is this. Our gracious Heavenly
Father has our good at heart every step of the way. Just like
He did here. He said, He knows us, doesn't
He? He knows us. He knows our frame. He remembers that we're dust.
Listen to what Isaiah said in 4011. He shall feed His flock
like a shepherd, and He shall gather the lambs with His arm.
and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that
are with you." That's the way He leads us, graciously, with
tender, loving care, and protection, and love. Our Lord made us. He knows us. He knows what we
can bear and when we can bear it. And He leads us gently along. When we have affliction and trial,
it's because we need it. It's for our good. When He chastises
us, He deals with us as with children. He said to His disciples
in John 16, 12, I have yet many things to say unto you, but you
can't bear them now. He knows what we can bear when,
later, but not now. The Lord tries that faith which
He gave us, just like He did Abraham's on Mount Moriah. What
a trial, like He did the Apostle Peter's. He'll try faith, like
he did the Israelites at the Red Sea. What are we going to
do? Here they come, we're goners.
But he knows exactly how to do so and when to do so in order
to bring about the desired result. He knows what we need, both what
we call good and what we call bad. 1 Corinthians 10, 13, there hath
no temptation taken you but such as is common to man. You're thinking,
oh, nobody knows. Yeah, somebody knows. Yeah. But God is faithful. You may
not be. You're not left alone. We know
that. You may not be faithful in the
trial. You may not honor him in it. But God is faithful. Who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that you're able. That's what he's saying there
in Exodus 13. That would be above what they're
able. So I'm not gonna take him that
way. They're not ready for that. But will with the temptation,
the trial, the trouble, also make a way to escape that ye
may be able to bear it. Every step that he leads us,
he's thinking of us. He loves us. He's caring for
us. He's got the charge. He's our
bishop. That means one given the charge of somebody. He's
responsible for us. And he's almighty and omniscient
and immutable. And he's love. And he's the God
of all grace. That's whose hand I'm in. That's
who's responsible for me. And then we know this, thirdly,
we know in every trial and in every heartache and sorrow and
chastisement and correction, no matter what the circumstance,
no matter how hopeless may seem the situation, that the way in
which our Lord leads us is the right way. It's the right way. That's what we said. Turn to
Psalm 23. I know you can quote it. I don't
want you to quote it, though. I want you to look at it, if
you will. Psalm 23. He's going to lead us the right
way. Do you trust Him? The One that led you against your natural will, having
broken your natural will, led you to His Son, led you the way
of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His
redemptive blood? Do you trust him to lead you
home? Look at this, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. We may murmur and complain like
the Israelites and say my soul's drying up because I don't have
any garlic to put on my bread. You're not ever going to lack
anything. And how honoring it is to him to acknowledge that.
I shall not want. Instead of complaining, say I
haven't ever lacked anything and I'm not ever going to. That's
the truth. Isn't that right? And he maketh
me, now, he maketh me to lie down. Oh, but I've got to do
this. I've got to do that. Lay down. Come to me and I'll give you
rest. But religion says, and my heart
tells me, I've got to, you know, I've got to, I've got to, I've
got to, lay down. He maketh us to lay down in green
pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters, waters of quietness. He restoreth my soul. That's
a far cry from my soul's drying up, isn't it? He restoreth my
soul. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness, for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. You're the one that led me here.
You're the one that'll bring me out and be with me every step. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. The rod and staff are used to
control the sheep, to keep them from straying. And boy, that's
a problem with religious manning. The Lord can do whatever he wants
to do, but don't control me. I don't want to be a puppet.
His rod and his staff comfort me. How about you? Don't, don't
let me go. Don't let me go my way. Don't
let me stray. Is that a comfort to you that he's sovereign and
he's on the field that he's hedged us about? That he directs our
steps, not us. A man deviseth his way, but the
Lord directs his step. That comforts me. Thou preparest
a table before me. And he does it in the presence
of all of our enemies. Isn't that beautiful? I don't
even know how to talk about that right. I don't know how to talk
about anything right. I'll just tell you what he said,
and we'll rejoice together in it. In the very face of those
who hate us, he gives us everything we need. And now anointest my head with
oil. My cup is running over. How about
you? Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me. How do you know, David? Because
they've been following me all my life thus far. Surely they
will because of who he is. I know he'll never leave. His
goodness and mercy will just keep following me. Pursuing me. All the days of my life. What
in the world are you worried about? What are you complaining
about? What am I? And then, when the
days of my life are over, I'm going to dwell in his house forever.
It just gets better after this. I will dwell in the house of
the Lord. We dwell in there now. Aren't
we? In a very true sense, in a very
real sense. The house of the Lord. That's
Bethel. We talked about from the book
of Genesis. That's Christ. That's dwelling
in Christ. We're sure enough going to dwell
in His house in a whole other sense then. After His goodness
and His mercy have pursued us all the way there. You see which way He leads us?
It's the right way. David understood what these Israelites
would eventually understand better. God's harness was on them. Did you notice that word in their
text? They went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. You
know what a harness is for? Sure you do. The word lead there
in the text. The word lead in Exodus 13, 18
means this. to turn about, to change the
direction, or to surround. He led them by the way of the
wilderness of the Red Sea. He led them. That's what David said. He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness. He's got me surrounding. He turns
me when I need to be turned. Lord, turn us and we'll be turned.
He's changed our direction, the direction that we would go, that
we did go before he met us. Saul of Tarsus didn't exercise
his free will. He was surrounded. He was harnessed
by God. That's what happened there. If
we find ourselves lying down in green pastures, plush, cool
grass, it's because he has made us to lie there. If we find ourselves
trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, a sheep that has everything he
needs, righteousness, sanctification, wisdom, he has made Christ unto
us everything we need. Redemption through his blood. That's the green pasture. What's
the green pasture to a sheep? Everything he needs. What's everything
I need? Christ. And he made me lie there. If we walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, he's leading us through that way.
He's the one that brought us in there. He's the one that will
bring us out. So I'm not going to be scared. When I realize
that and think on that and believe that, I won't be scared. When
I start looking at myself, it's going to be different. And His
mercy and His goodness are pursuing us all through life, cutting
us off from the paths that we would go and driving us in the
right way of God's good grace. Paul said, and we know. And I wonder sometimes if we
do know. God's people know. Do I know
that all things work together for good? to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His. Have we quoted that so
much that it doesn't mean anything anymore? All things for my good. And though we often complain
and murmur, if not with our lips, we surely do so in our hearts,
don't we? Look at what the Lord told these murmuring Jews after
leading them through the wilderness for 40 years. Look at Deuteronomy
chapter 2. Deuteronomy chapter 2 verse 1. Then we turned and took our journey
into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. Did you notice
how that was the word? Then we turned. Yeah, they did,
because God surrounded them and harnessed them and led them and
took them, changed their direction. We turned and took our journey
into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spake
unto me. And we compassed Mount Seir many
days, and the Lord spake unto me, saying, You have compassed
this mountain long enough, turn you northward. And command thou
the people, saying, You are to pass through the coasts of your
brethren, the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir, and they
shall be afraid of you. Take ye good heed unto yourselves.
Therefore meddle not with them, for I will not give you of their
land, no, not so much as a foot breadth, because I have given
Mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. You shall buy meat of them for
money, that you may eat, And you shall also buy water of them
for money that you may drink. For the Lord thy God hath blessed
thee in all the works of thy hand. He knoweth thou walking
through this great wilderness these forty years the Lord thy
God hath been with thee. Thou hast lacked nothing. Absolutely nothing. They had
a different opinion about that at times. But they lacked nothing. When the Lord sent his disciples
out to preach, he said, I sent you out without any food, no
money, no way to take care of yourself. Did you lack anything?
And they said, nothing. What do you say? What do I say? Our Lord teaches us a few things
along the way. Deuteronomy 8 just thumb over
to chapter 8 verse 1 He teaches us a thing or two and this will
be our final thought on the matter tonight Deuteronomy 8 1 All the
commandments which I command thee this day shall you observe
to do That you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land
which the Lord swear unto your father And thou shalt remember
all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in
the wilderness to humble thee. He leads us the right way, doesn't
he? The right way. He led him that way to humble
him. And to prove you, to know what
was in thine heart. God already knows what's in our
heart. Do you know what's in your heart? The Lord will make
you to know it. He'll show you. And by His grace,
it'll cause you to fall even more completely into the arms
of Christ. The more you know of your heart,
the more violently you'll rush into the arms of the Savior.
Whether thou wouldest keep His commandments or no, and He humbled
thee and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna. Which
thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know, that he might
make thee know that man doth not live by bread only. If they'd have had wonderful
food, fruit trees all along the way, there's a tomato plant over
there, there's some garlic growing over there. Let's go and just
get, they wouldn't have known this. You don't just live on
bread, you live on God. That's what we live on. And He's
gonna teach us that, isn't He? He's gonna teach us that. When
we have everything that we want, we usually can't see that, can
we? We live on Him. By every word
that proceeds out of His mouth. Thy raiment waxed not old upon
thee, neither did thy foot swell these forty years. Thou shalt
also consider in thine heart that as a man chasteneth his
son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee. We do that because we love
him. We do that imperfectly because
we love him imperfectly. He loves perfectly and he chastens
perfectly. Therefore thou shalt keep the
commandments of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to
fear him, to revere him, to respect him, to honor him, For the Lord
thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water,
of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills,
a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig trees and pomegranates,
a land of oil, olive, and honey, a land wherein thou shalt eat
bread without scarceness. Thou shalt not lack anything
in it, a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills thou
mayest dig brass. When thou hast eaten and art
full, then shalt thou bless the Lord thy God for the good land
which he hath given thee." You see how the Lord leads us every
step. He followed them with a pillar of cloud by day to shade them
from the hot sun and no doubt to frightened away any predators
that would harm them. And the fire by night, to warm
them from the cold and to keep away any danger, he followed
them all the way and leads us, if we can see the spiritual picture
here, into a land indescribable. Everything that's described here
naturally, everything that the flesh could enjoy, It's just
a picture of the spiritual truth that we're going where everything
that is a blessing and good and wonderful spiritually for the
soul. When this flesh dies and we're
raised incorruptible, every good thing is ours and we're going
to inhabit that and to enjoy that forever. What is that? What
do all these things represent? Christ. Paul summed it up this
way. I have the desire to depart and
to live in a mansion made out of gold and walk on pearly, you
know, golden streets and enter the pearly, you know. I have
a desire to depart and be with Christ. That's what's better. He's better. He's everything,
everything to the sinner. And when he leads us to a good
new life, can you see yourself in these words in Deuteronomy
8, then do what he said, do there, bless the Lord by God. May he
give us grace to bless his holy name. Let's bow in prayer. Gracious Father, thank you for
all of your mercy and grace upon us, for leading us to your Son,
for shutting us up, Lord, to the Lord Jesus Christ and salvation
in Him, causing us to abandon ourselves
and all that we've done and lay hold of Christ and all that He's
done. And Lord, you've led us every step. We look back on our
lives and we compelled to praise your name for all of your mercies.
We know, Lord, that your goodness and mercy will continue to follow
us all the days of our life. Cause us to dwell in your house
here, to dwell by faith in the Lord Jesus and to rejoice in
him and have no confidence in this flag. And Lord, we look
forward to that day when we'll dwell in your very presence. Thank you for the comfort, Lord,
of the gospel. We begin to think that the way
that you lead us, Lord, is too hard at times, and we begin to
murmur, but by your grace and in your house, we see that you
lead us in the paths of righteousness. You lead us by the right way.
Give us grace to bow and to be thankful, to bless you today
for all of your mercies. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.
Amen. You're dismissed.