Ain’t No going back there
Numbers 14:1-4
1So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”
The Exodus is a classic story of how people respond to change.
A. The children of Israel were slaves in Egypt.
1. They had been beaten with whips like animals.
2. They had been abused, starved and worked beyond
endurance.
3. They were living in shacks, dressed in rags.
4. The Egyptians had taken their male babies and
drowned them in the Nile river.
5. The children of Israel prayed one prayer for
400 years.
“Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, send
us a deliverer. Set us free from Pharaoh
I. It Looks Impossible
A. "There’s no way God an get me out of this mess.
1. I know God created heavens in seven days.
2. He spared the family of Noah in the flood.
3. He held the sun still for Joshua.
4. I know he turned the sun back for Hezikiah
5. I know he raised that dead child when Elisha
prayed
6. I know he delivered Jehoshaphat & Israel from
Moabites,Ammonites and Menuites
7. I know he delivered Daniel from the Lions
8. And Peter while in Prison
9. But that was then and this is now…….
10. But he can’t help me, bless God.
Poor, pitiful me."
B. Nothing is impossible with our God.
1. "But you don’t know about my situation,
preacher."
2. God said, “all things are possible to those
who believe”
2. But Pastor, you just don’t understand… NO!
It’s you that doesn’t understand—God
said, “ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE IF YOU WILL
BELIEVE!!!
C. DEFEATED PHAROAH’S MIGHTY ARMY
1. Pharaoh’s army 3’ OR 30” water
2. 3,000,000 people to feed and clothe for 40
years----For water alone that was 480 trucks a
day—169,000 trucks a year—24,000 miles of
trucks a year
That is 180 trucks a day for 3 pounds of food—
9,360 trucks a year for food
3. Cloud by day-fire by night
D. You have to get out of Egypt to get to the
promised land.
1. It took God two days to get the Jews out of
Egypt, but it took 4O years to get Egypt out
of them.
2. The children of Israel could have been
content to live in the past but for the
barrier of the Red Sea.
E. Out text says they got together and decided to go
back to Egypt.
1.Do you know why they didn’t? Not because they
were spiritual, not because they were thankful
for what God did for them but because God closed
the Red Sea again.
(a) It looked impossible when the three
Hebrew chil¬dren were thrown into the
fiery furnace.
(b) When Daniel was thrown into the lion’s
den, it looked impossible. Those lions
had been starved so they would
attack Daniel with a fierceness that
would thrill the crowd
(c) It seemed impossible when the angel,
Gabriel went "to a teenager by the name
of Mary and said, "You’re going to be the
mother of the savior of the world." She
said, "How shall this be, seeing I know
not a man ?" The angel said, “The Spirit
of the Lord will move upon you.
(d) When the angel spoke to Zacarius and
told him he was to have a son and to
name him John.
II. Quit longing for the good ole days
The second challenge is to quit longing for the "good old days" and forget the past.
If the past was great, forget it. If it was bad, forget it. You can’t go home again. The past is gone forever.
You only have today. So live your life holding the hand of God, following the cloud by day and the fire by night toward the destiny God has for you.
A. Look at Israel. Three million slaves walked out of
Egypt and crossed the Red Sea.
1.72 short hours later, they came to Marah--the
place of bitter waters.
2.And they ran straight to Pastor Moses and
said, "Why did you bring us out here? We should
have stayed in Egypt." How quickly we forget the
great blessings of God.
3. Moses leads them out of bondage, with God’s
miraculous help, and three days later it’s his
fault
this happened.
B. It was God who took them from the Red Sea to the
bitter waters.
1. How do I know God took them? Because the cloud
by day and the fire by night were controlled by
God. They had no choice but to follow that
cloud, no choice but to stay under that fire by
night.
2. Why did God lead them to the bitter waters? God
had to let them see what was in them before
they could be what God wanted them to be.
3. When God brings you to the bitter waters, don’t
throw up your hands and say, "God, why did you
let this happen to me?" Just say, "Lord, I do
not understand why you’re doing what you’re
doing. But I trust that what you’re about to
give me is greater than anything I ever Had.
C. "Why did you bring us out?" they asked Moses. Has
God ever taken your well-ordered predictable,
business-as-usual, boring life and turned it
upside down?
D. The children of Israel did not go back to Egypt
because God closed the Red Sea and forbade them to
go back.
1. You can’t go home again.
2. Quit longing for the "good old days.
3. "You can’t go back to the past, no matter how
bitter or blessed, so forget it and press on to
the destiny God has for you.
III. Right and Wrong Thinking
A. The third challenge is the battle for the mind:
1. Carnal reasoning versus spiritual revelation.
2. It’s about doing things God’s way as opposed to
man’s way. But God purposely them the long way
The logical way to the promised land was a 14-day hike straight through the wilderness. Logic says that’s the way to go. But God purposely took them the long way around. Exodus 13:17 says, "When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to’ Egypt.”
B. The Bible says there is a war between your mind,
the carnal mind, and God’s mind.
C. Romans 8:7 says "the carnal mind is enmity
against God." Romans 12:2 says, "Be not conformed
to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind." Philippians 2:5
says, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus." The Bible says to serve the Lord
with all of your heart, soul, mind and body.
1. There’s a war going on for your mind.
2. The Lord knows the best way.
3. But if you let someone else lead you, they’ll
lead you into a deep ditch and you’ll die in
the wilderness and be nothing but bleached
bones, outside the promises of God.
4. You say, "Preacher, it doesn’t make any sense
the way God is leading." Hear this important
word.
D. You do not have to understand in order to obey
God. God’s way does not have to sound logical to
you.
1. Telling Elijah to pour 12 barrels of water on a
sacrifice when he was going to burn it up with
fire was not logical. It did not make sense,
but Elijah did it.
2. Telling Peter to go fishing to get tax money to
pay his taxes was not logical. Jesus
said, "Peter, I want you to get in the boat
this morning and go catch a fish. There will be
enough money in its mouth to pay our IRS bill."
3.What’s logical about a person walking into this
church full of sin, their life in ruins and
they walk to the altar and ask forgiveness and
are forgiven?
4. What’s logical about tithing? What’s logical
about giving 10% of your income to God and
expecting to prosper more than people who
don’t? There’s nothing logical about it.
IV. Holding on to the Familiar
God provided bread from heaven for the Israelites in the wilderness. Every day, without fail, enough to feed them all. But they longed for the old familiar things of Egypt. "We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost- also the cucumbers, melons, leekS, onions and garlic ... and huevos rancheros and jalapenos. Now all we have out here in this wilderness is manna and we’re tired of it."
A. Numbers 11 says the Lord became “EXCEEDINGLY
ANGRY” with them.
1. God said, "You want meat? I’ll give you meat."
2. Then he caused the wind to bring quail from the
ends of the earth, so many quail they could
knock them down with their hands.
3. All you could see, for a days walk in any
direction, was quail.
4. The Bible says “that while the meat was still
in their mouth, the Lord’s anger was “kindled
against them and he struck them with a plague”
(verse 33).
B. When God’s providing for you, you ought to be real
careful before you start criticiz¬ing the cooking.
1. The point is that when God says, "This is the
way, walk ye in it," don’t look back over your
shoulder at Egypt.
You can’t go home again.
V. Wrestling with Giants
A. The ultimate test, the last and the greatest test,
The test that comes just before the victory, is
the giants in the land.
I want to challenge you today. I’m looking at some wonderful people who are hypnotized by the familiar, lulled by the sacredness of sameness.
I want you to be all that God wants you to be. ’Risk reaching for a new horizon.
Be free from the familiar of Egypt.
Discover the excitement of following Jesus GLORY TO GOD!! GLORY . Give Satan no ground. We are the blood-bought church of Jesus Christ, the army of the Living God, and the victory is ours in Jesus’ name.
So when the giant marches up on your territory, or invades your home, kick that giant in the shins and say, "Back up, buzzard breath. I’ve been walking across this wilderness for 40 years. One step at a time until you reach the promised land flowing with milk and honey.
You will hear voices calling out to you to come back to the same old rut where it’s comfortable.
But there’s a voice within you that says, "Nothing is impos¬sible with God." Reach out for all that God has for you. And regardless of how good the past was, or how bad it was, forget it. You can’t live your life looking over your shoulder. You can’t go home again.
