Trusting Our Father's Heart—Exodus 12-14

Our journey with God can get very troublesome. I've come to believe that the final question God poses to each of us is, "Will you trust Me?" "Even when you don't understand? Even when life gets hard? Will you trust Me?" I think that if you look back on your journey with Him, you'll see that that's the driving theme. He yearns for us to come to the place where, no matter what, we will choose to trust Him. This passage makes it clear.

The story of The Exodus begins here, in 12:29: At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. (ESV) Note who it is that does the striking down, the killing of the firstborns. It is the LORD. This is not the gentle God so often heard about in our churches, some modern day, politically correct and green God, palatable to the ladies and children, and gelded from anything resembling masculinity. This is a God who personally intervenes in the lives of His own, to protect them and fight for them, fiercely! He doesn't even send an angel for this one, as He does in other passages. He does it Himself. God is a warrior.

Finally, it's time for His people to go, to leave Egypt for freedom from slavery. v 40 The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. Why so long? Do you ever wonder that? The people had endured suffering as slaves, and had surely been crying out for some time. Yet God waited. (Please note that silence or "No" doesn't mean that God didn't answer. "No" and "wait" are answers.) Perhaps you've been waiting. Perhaps you've been under hardship for a very long time. Perhaps you have a wayward child. Or spouse. Or an illness, or financial messes not of your own making. Or perhaps you've just grown impatient in having a dream realized, or having children, or finding a spouse. And God has been silent, seemingly saying "No". Without an explanation. It hurts and haunts us, being caught in that wilderness.We begin to doubt the Heart of God. We wonder if He cares, if He even notices, whether we matter at all.

There are some clues here that may help us better understand our own story. Remember how this whole Egypt thing started? There was a famine, which lead Jacob and his sons, except for Joseph, to Egypt for food. And surprise, who is there to receive them? Joseph, the one sold into slavery, intended for death. And so the 12 tribes remain in Egypt, 12 brothers, wives, children. Perhaps 100 of them. Now, back in Gen. 15:13-14 And God said to Abram, "Know for certain that your descendents will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve; and afterward they will come out with many possessions." (NASB) Now you may think that they were in Egypt for 400 years because God said that they would be. That's true, of course, but hides the real reason. Think of this, if you wanted to take 100 people and make them into a great people who would one day become a great nation, how would you do it? You really can't just have them move to the first vacant lot and set up camp, for surrounding peoples will come and destroy them as soon as they see what's going on. What chance do a hundred or two people have against mighty armies? You'd have to protect them. But how do you protect what turns into 600,000 men of warrior age, which is likely 2-3 million total with the other men, the women, and kids. Where do you hide that many people? God's answer: as slaves, where they can safely outnumber the host country, who will protect them! And when they leave, the Egyptians hand over the goods as a parting gift! Amazing. A people protected, and now enriched, and how could it happen any other way? If you're one of the Jews in Egypt, did you see that coming? Could you trust His purposes and His heart that there might be something bigger going on than you can possibly imagine? Could you endure a bit more suffering if you understand the larger story to unfold?

Gen 13: 17-18 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. It's easier for us to take comfort, when things are hard, in wondering if we've made a wrong turn, or suffer for our own sinful choices, or whether someone else is trying to hurt us, or even, if our spiritual eyes are open, to say that this is spiritual warfare which we must fight. But what do you say when it is God Himself who has led you to this place? There is no mistaking this story. God is leading. By day and by night. And we get a clue about His purpose: He isn't leading them in a straight line path since He knows their tendency. At the first sign of trouble, they'll bolt. He knows our tendencies, too. And sometimes He leads us into places where there is only one option: to trust Him. There is no other way out.

So where does God lead them? 14:1-4 Then the Lord said to Moses,  “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.  For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’  And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. A bit of geography, as I understand it, shows that God led His own people into a trap. On either side are steep mountains which 2-3 million people aren't climbing. In front is the Red Sea. Coming from behind? Keep reading...the Egyptian army! There's literally no way out, and these are God's people. Led directly by God to this place! Will you trust Him now? Seriously? When all other hope is gone? Because what we also learn in this passage is that God has another agenda: He wants Pharaoh and his army! What does this say? It says that He is using His own people as bait in the trap to accomplish His purposes. And we wonder why life is hard sometimes. Sometimes, it's because He made it that way! Sometimes, the story isn't even about us at all.

You know the rest of the story. He indeed destroys the Egyptian army, and rescues His people in a way that didn't make the list of "a hundred ways to escape this trap". After swimming, boat building, bridge building, even fighting back....parting the waters just never came to mind. But God's ways are not our ways. His purposes are way beyond us, and often, the story is not merely about us, but about others around us. Will we trust Him? No matter what?

Your Father's Heart (Part 2)—Luke 15

This story you know so well that I don't need to quote from it much. It's been mis-titled The Parable of the Prodigal Son in most Bibles. I say mis-titled because it's not really about that son. It's far more about the Father's heart, and it's told by Jesus, who knows the Father's Heart better than any, since it's His heart, too. (So in your own Bible, feel free to scratch out the prodigal son part and retitle it, The Father's Heart. Yes, you can do this, the little headings are not holy writ, merely something put there by people like us.)

Remember who's telling this story: Jesus Himself. We need not wonder whether He's got it right or what He means. He opens the story by talking about a father with two sons. Luke 15:12: And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. First off, we have this lunatic son who has the audacity to approach his father and basically say, "I can't wait until you're dead...I'm outta here now, give me my share." I wonder, how would you respond to your child coming to you like that? Right. Not well. It's crazy on so many levels. That a son would act like that, and would say it OUT LOUD! It really is crazy. But what's crazier is the next part of that verse. Dad gave it to him. Stop there a second and let that in. Dad didn't kill him. Or laugh at him. Or just brush him off. Or beat him up. Any one of which would have been appropriate. 


So here's our question again, Is the Father holding out? You have to say, NO. There's no other right answer since He in fact gives the son his inheritance, right then. But there's more....after the son blows it and is heading home....


In verse 20, it says, But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. Here's the twist, and an important one, to me. Scholars have usually maintained that the son was gone for a long time, and point to the long-suffering patience of the Father. Which is ok, really. But it's got a logic problem. Answer this: Did the Father expect things to go well for the son? Or badly? (I'll wait for your answer.........................) OK, here's the clue: if He expected things to go well, why would He await the son's return? If He figures the son will go set up a business or buy some property or cattle, get married and settle down, there's no reason to sit on the porch awaiting the return. Note that. The Father KNOWS that this is going to go very badly. Because He's waiting. He knows. And remember, it's Jesus telling the story. Now let's pause before we get to the next point. What do you think of the Father's Heart now when you realize that not only did He hand over the inheritance to an ungrateful son, but that the son would blow it all? It's even crazier than we imagined, isn't it? If you knew your child would blow the money, you surely would never hand it over. Never. Yet the Father does.


Now, back to the time issue. Is it a long time or a short one? I've always heard that it was long, but I don't think so. Let me ask you, if you've been insane before, ready to do something stupid, and got the cash to go do it as our prodigal did, how long would it take to burn through the money? I'm not thinking it's years! Maybe a month or two. More likely, a week or two. And maybe even one weekend would do it! Seriously. Because when you're going to go 'to Vegas' so to speak, you're moving at high speed, and you'll have a lot of friends until the cash is gone. Not that it matters much, but I just think it fits better logically. 


So the Father gives the money away, to a rebellious son, knowing that it will be blown, and quickly. How do you react to that? And haven't many of us acted the same way as that son? Now, when the son has blown it, horribly, embarrassingly, he realizes that there's only one place to go—home. As hard as that is, we've all been there. Most of us came to God at that exact point, when we had no where else to go. And when we return, what would we expect? Judgment, condemnation, "I told you so", or at a bare minimum, reluctant tolerance. We can stay, but barely, and it won't be fun. Right? Yet the Father runs to the son and hugs and kisses him and throws a party. Who's telling this story? Jesus. Wow. What is He revealing about our Father's heart?


One final point not to miss. Has there been even one harsh word spoken? No. Not until....the older son protests. And before we condemn him too quickly, how many of us are hard-hearted towards those who have blown up their lives and now want to come to God? Don't we think it's a wee bit unfair to those of us who have NOT blown up our lives, but just did what we were supposed to? Isn't there some part of us that identifies with the older brother? But this is where Jesus puts the harsh word out. Verse 32: ""It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” You have to listen closely to hear the condemnation, but it's there. He's saying, "You don't get it. I love him, too, and he's back from death now. Check your heart, dude." Ok, so that's a loose paraphrase. But we need to check our own hearts. The Father's heart holds nothing back! Yet ours do, all too often. We need to rejoice with Him when the broken are restored, the captives freed, the blind given sight, and not think it too unfair. After all, we were once broken, captive, and blind, too. Or could have been. Except for a Father whose heart is always for us, no matter how rebellious we are.