Sermon Central
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Getting To Know God - Part 7 - The Lord Is A Warrior - Veterans Day 2019 Series
Contributed by Stephen Belokur on Nov 9, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: The LORD is a Warrior. What does that mean? Should that frighten us or should that give us a feeling of comfort? Does He expect us to be warriors, too?
Getting To Know God - Part 7 – The LORD is a Warrior - for Veterans Day 2019
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …
“To Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy –
“To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
Please open your Bibles to Exodus 15:1-11
Military Veteran - a person who has served and is no longer serving in armed forces
War Veteran - a person who has had direct exposure to acts of military conflict
Combat Veteran - a person who has engaged in combat with the enemy and may still be serving in the military
Recently we have been going through a series called Getting To Know God.
So far we have taken a look at:
- Who God is – What is His Name – Yahweh – I Am Who I Am
- The God Who Heals
- The God Who Provides
- The God of Encouragement
- The God of Forgiveness
- The God of Peace
And Today, we will be looking at an aspect of Yahweh/Jehovah found in Exodus 15, but, before we read the Scripture let’s take a look at some of the events immediately preceding what is known as The Song of Moses.
All of Israel has been in living in Egypt for 400 years; first in peace and then in slavery. Yahweh has raised up Moses to be His prophet who will lead the Israelites out of Egypt to the land promised to their forefather Abraham.
Egypt does NOT what to lose their slave labor but through a series of plagues upon the Egyptians they finally let Yahweh’s people go, so, they leave.
Egypt has a mighty army. Israel has none. The Egyptians have “loser’s regret” and decide to get their labor force back. Israel is caught with its back against the sea and no path of escape.
Yahweh delivers the Israelites by creating a path through the sea so that they could pass through on dry ground. But that’s not all. When the Egyptian army followed them through the sea there was a different ending to their story and that ending is found in Exodus 15 in “The Song of Moses”.
With that in mind let’s read Exodus 15:1-11
(prayer asking the Lord for help)
Wow! What an amazing delivery from certain destruction. Yahweh is INDEED a mighty Warrior!
But fast forward about 860 years to the time of Jeremiah. The nation has become so wicked that it resulted in a civil war shortly after the reign of King Solomon with 10 tribes of Israel in the north and 2 tribes in the south in a nation known as Judah.
At that time Israel has been taken into captivity and Judah is following in their footsteps. How do we see Yahweh the Mighty Warrior now? Is He still fighting? Yes, but not for Judah!
Jeremiah 20:3-7 says,
“But Jeremiah answered them, ‘Tell Zedekiah, (the king of Judah) “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I am about to turn against you the weapons of war that are in your hands, which you are using to fight the king of Babylon and the Babylonians who are outside the wall besieging you. And I will gather them inside this city. I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm in furious anger and in great wrath. I will strike down those who live in this city - both man and beast - and they will die of a terrible plague. After that, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the people in this city who survive the plague, sword and famine, into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will put them to the sword; he will show them no mercy or pity or compassion.’”
WOW! Yahweh the Warrior who delivered Israel from the armies of Egypt is now fighting against His chosen people! What has changed? The LORD has NOT changed! The people of Israel have changed. By their choices they have decided to forsake Yahweh the God of Israel to bow down to idols representing demons. They have joined the enemy against God!
