Call to commitment Exodus 19 v 1 - 6
We should expect God to challenge us and to call us to something higher than ourselves each time we meet around His word.,….what will you be challenged with today. What will you learn from God today In story today - Moses is the preacher and the Israelites are the congregation gathered to listen to a message from God. And in the message, God is telling them that He has brought them up out of Egypt with a mighty hand.· He doesn’t have to remind them of the plagues that crippled the Egyptians· He doesn’t have to tell them of the parting of the Red Sea He doesn’t have to tell them of the drowning of Egypt’s mighty army in the sea All He has to do is say… V.4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. That’s the message, …But then God asks them to do something great… God asks them for a commitment.
He asks them to stand up and pledge their loyalty to Him He says:
V 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
V 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel . Up Until this point, God has done what He’s done because of a promise He’d made to their forefathers: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
He’s brought these people out of slavery in Egypt and given them an opportunity for a new life because that was the promise He had made to men who were now long dead.
But now, He speaks to this new generation of Israelites and He tells them He’s their God and protector A relationship that promises even greater rewards than anything they’ve experienced before.
God is offering to make them
HIS holy nation
HIS kingdom of priests
HIS treasured possession
No other nation on the face of the earth was ever offered what He was offering them now…
But there was a catch………They had to accept His offer.
Notice the word IF in His proposal
V 5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
IF you’re willing to accept what I’m offering… you’ll have everything I can give.
God was calling them to something great.
God was calling them to stand up and MAKE A COMMITMENT to HIM.
NOW, Why would God do that?
Why ask the Israelites to make this verbal commitment to Him?
Hadn’t the Israelites followed Moses for the past month and a half?
Hadn’t they spent nearly 50 days in the desert depending on God for their food and water
Hadn’t they walked thru the Red Sea and thru the desert following a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night as God had guided them to this mountain? Wasn’t that enough?.......Apparently not
This wasn’t a casual relationship God was asking of Israel.
This was a lifetime commitment.
And this lifetime commitment called for a physical declaration of their intention to accept.
A vow was when someone deliberately dedicated/ or set apartsomething for God
A Nazarite (for example) would take a vow to dedicate himself to God’s service. All their lives they would refuse to drink fermented wine. They refused to touch anything that had died. They would refuse to even cut their hair.
Their entire lives were dedicated to God through this vow.
Someone who decided to make a special offering to God (above what was expected) was said to be making a vow.
And, of course, when someone got married, they exchanged vows before God.
A vow went far above a promise.
People break promises all the time in their lives. But when someone made a vow to God… God expected them to keep it.
Ecclesiastes tells us:
5.5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. V 6 Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands? Ecclesiastes 5:5-6
A vow was a commitment to a special relationship with God.
And vows impressed God because they were a statement of devotion and dedication
News from the Church New dates
3rd June..…..Friendship Group, (this covers all ages and the lonely people)
17th June …. Knit and natter is a time to finish old projects or learn new skills
if you just want to talk well that’s OK too
ANSWERS TO 17th May QUESTIONS
1) To go out 2) Moses 3) About 1400 yrs later 4) 400 5) He was afraid they would rise up against him 6) His own mother 7)Pharaoh’s daughter 8) Drawn out of the water 9) Amram and Jochebed
10) Aaron and Miriam 11) He killed an Egyptian 12) Zipporah 13) Gershom 14) Jethro
15) Sheepherder 16) In a burning bush
Bible Quiz this week’s Quiz is about Exodus
1 What name did God use in the burning bush?
2 What happened when Moses threw down his staff?
3 What happened when he put his hand in his coat?
4 How old was Amram when he died?
5 How much older was Aaron than Moses?
6 What does the Bible say was the state of Pharaoh’s heart?
7 Where in Egypt did the Israelites live?
8 What measures did Moses use to get Pharaoh to let the people go ?
9 What was the first plague?
10 What was the 4th plague?
11 What was the 10th plague?
12 How many Israelites left Egypt approximately.?
13 What sea was in the way of their escape?
14 How were the waters divided?
15 What happened to Pharaoh’s army?
16 How long did the people wander in the wilderness
God Bless