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A Modern Expression of a Timeless Tradition. A local church in the Glastonbury Neighbourhood of West Edmonton. Sr Pastor Brett Esslinger.
We're going to start with the Word. It's an excellent place to start. So would you turn in your Bibles to Exodus, chapter 2. Exodus, chapter 2. We're going to start in verse 1. When you're there, say I'm there. Try that again. When you're there, say I'm there. Okay, okay, we'll get there. We will get there. Exodus, chapter 2, starting in verse 1.
It says about this time a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile River. The baby's sister then stood at a distance watching to see what would happen to him.
Soon, pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe in the river and her attendants walked along the riverbank. When the princess saw the basket among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it for her. When the princess opened it, she saw the baby. The little boy was crying and she felt sorry for him. This must be one of the Hebrew children, she said. Then the baby's sister approached the princess Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to? She said. Then the baby's sister approached the princess Should I go and find one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you? She asked yes, do. The princess replied. So the girl went and called the baby's mother. Take this baby and nurse him for me. The princess told the baby's mother, I will pay you for your help. So the woman took her baby home and nursed him. Later, when the boy was older, his mother brought him back to Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted him as her own son. The princess named him Moses, for, she explained, I lifted him out of the water.
Now, sometimes we read from scripture, we read these accounts and we forget to see the individuals. We forget that they're real people. I mean, if you've read this account before, maybe a number of times, maybe this is only the first or second time, or maybe you had the flannel board stories when you were little, or maybe you watched the Prince of Egypt the flannel board stories when you were little, or maybe you watched the Prince of Egypt. It's easy to look at these accounts and see these people almost as if they were fictional characters. Sometimes it's hard to put ourselves into their shoes, to read and not just gloss over their story, but to see it and feel it and understand it.
So that's what we're going to do this morning with this account, because this is not just a fictional family, this is not just a fictional mother. This is a real family, a real story. And this mother, she's not just a nameless woman whose story didn't matter. In Numbers, chapter 26, we actually learn that this mother because she's not even she doesn't even have her name in here. Crazy story, but her name's not even in there. But later we find out her name is Yochabed and her husband's name is Amram and they have three kids Aaron, moses and Miriam. This is a mama. So you have to think that she's got a mama heart, that she loves her family, that she loves her kids. Again, this is a very real family, a very real mother. These are real lives.
This is a real story that is playing out across the pages and sometimes we have to think about the moments in between when we read this, to grasp and to understand and to learn from her. Understand and to learn from her. Now, I never, to be honest, really took the time to stop and just stare at this story, this account, for a little while, to really let it wash over me and to think and feel what she must have thought and felt in these moments. But actually, if you stare at it for a while, a good long while, you may come to realize that this is actually one of the most beautiful, realistic and practical pictures of how to walk by faith and not by sight, how to contend for and live out an absolute miracle story. Is there anyone in the room who would love to see a miracle a little more often? A little more often. I think we're due to see some miracles a little more often. I think we're due to see some miracles a little more often, but we have to stop and see what it took to get there, to see that miraculous rescue. So let's look at the story a little bit deeper. We read through it, but let's try and paint between the lines. We read through it, but let's try and paint between the lines.
So this is in a time when the Israelites are in Egypt and they're under Pharaoh, and the Israelites are a growing population, and this is a problem. This is a problem to Pharaoh, this is a problem to the king because he's going wait a second. These people are growing, they are growing in strength, they are growing in numbers, and to him that was a complete threat to his kingdom. And so what he did in order to attempt to cut off and slow down and cut them out under the legs is he said okay, we are actually going to wipe out every male baby, we're going to kill them, and so this is what we're stepping into here. Okay, this is the scenario that we are stepping into a time when baby boys are being put to death and this woman, yochabed, gets pregnant and immediately the joy of pregnancy for her would have been tainted by absolute fear, absolute fear. And can I just acknowledge that there are far too many women right now who know that very feeling, who know what it is to get that news and then to be wracked with fear for different reasons. And to that I'm so sorry that that is your experience, has been your experience.
Now you have to think that because she had no idea, first of all, she's pregnant, but she had no idea if her baby was going to be a boy or a girl. They didn't do gender reveal parties, there weren't these big like cannon things or planes that fly through the sky blue or pink, it's actually gotten way out of control. But that did not exist back then. There was no way of knowing. She would not have known if she was going to have a daughter or a son and so, because she didn't know, it actually didn't matter. She would have likely had to hide her pregnancy for the duration and not tell anyone that she was expecting, not tell anyone her joyful news, because if she did, there would have been a risk that as soon as that baby was born the soldiers would have come knocking to see. So she had to hide her joy and then she had to deliver her baby, praise God, without anyone knowing. I can't imagine, honestly, I can't imagine.
When I was pregnant with Kingston, our second, I remember the night we went into labor and delivery and we were the first of a wave of women who came in to the hospital that night to have babies and literally all you could hear was screaming everywhere. It was just lots of noise and lots of chaos and lots of motion. But here she had to be quiet, they had to keep this baby hidden. And then she had this beautiful baby and she discovered to both her absolute joy and dismay that she had a healthy baby boy. So again, what should have been a cause for celebration, what should have been a beautiful thing, what should have been an amazing moment, would likely have caused immediate panic within her heart and within her husband's heart, because, as soon as he was born, there was a death sentence on his head.
And I'm guessing, like many other women here, she probably played out every possible situation in her mind. I'm guessing, like many other women here, she probably played out every possible situation in her mind. I'm guessing her thoughts were reeling. I'm guessing her emotions like, let's be honest, your emotions when you have a baby are already way up here. But let's now add to that the sheer terror of how do I keep my baby safe, that the sheer terror of how do I keep my baby safe, and, truthfully, there was really no solution to this problem. There's no escape, there's no getting away, which begs the question what do you do when faced with the impossible? What do you do when do when faced with the impossible? What do you do when you're faced with the impossible? Do you give up? Do you just sit back and wait for the inevitable to happen? And bear in mind. All the while, she has likely also been hearing the cries of other moms all around losing their baby boys All around her.
The thing she fears the most is happening to other people and it would be so easy to assume that, because it happened to them, it's going to happen to me, that it's going to be no different and, truthfully, this is how we often think when we're put into certain situations, impossibilities, struggles, as we look around and we see who else is dealing with this and then immediately the first thought is oh well, if that's what's happening to them, that's what's going to happen to me. Oh, my goodness, that's what it's going to look like. Right, talk about a traumatic pregnancy and birth experience. This is what it looks like to stare into the face of impossible, no way out, no escape, no solution. The thing is is that when we feel like there's absolutely no choice, there actually is a choice. You can receive and accept the situation as hopeless, or you can make a dangerous choice and you can choose to hold on to hope. And I say dangerous because, truthfully, that choice is scary, it's terrifying and it hurts. In this case, this mama chose hope. But what I love is that this wasn't a quiet gentle, sit back and watch, kind of hope. This was a defiant, tenacious hope. This is a hope that said, I know that this is what's happening all around me. I see it, I hear it, I'm aware of it. I know that this is what's happening all around me. I see it, I hear it, I'm aware of it. I know what's happening and I see the reality of it, but I'm not giving up. I'm not giving up. It's not finished yet, it's not finished yet, finished yet, it's not finished yet.
We often say when, especially when we have baptism Sundays and we have people sharing their beautiful stories of what God's doing in their lives, we say there is power in your story, there's power in the testimony of what God is doing in and through your life. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. There's power in your story, it's how we overcome. And there's power in her story. And we would be wise to pay attention. And we would be wise to pay attention Sometimes because we now have read the whole story, we know the story, we know how it ends.
We forget that she didn't know the outcome. She made decisions one step at a time, without knowing the outcome. As far as we can tell, there were no angelic visitations, there were no dreams, there was no word spoken do this and this will happen and all will be well and all will be fine. There was no, that we know, of reassurance or guarantees. And how often do we find ourselves in these situations where we're thrown into something, we're faced with something, and it seems just so impossible or so dark, or so frustrating, and we feel hopeless and we have there's no guarantees, there's just no guarantees of how it's going to go. Here's what we can learn from Yokebed when facing difficult or impossible decisions.
Step number one and you should probably write this down, if you're not already, you should write this down Step number one you have to determine in your heart to hold on to hope, that defiant, tenacious, not letting go until he says it's finished. Hope. You have to make a decision, in spite of the facts, in spite of your fear, which you will probably feel. You have to decide. This is a hope that says I'm not willing to let the enemy decide when it is finished. I'm not willing to give him that power finished. I'm not willing to give him that power. I will let the Lord determine when it is finished. And here's the thing what we already know is that the enemy's version of it is finished always leads to death. The Lord's version of it is finished always leads to life, always, never fails.
So this mama, she had to face her fear and she had to keep going Into the unknown, into no guarantees, into I have no idea what to do right now. Keep going. She had to keep holding on to hope. Here's the thing To go from a place of disaster to the place of deliverance requires a defiant hope, requires a defiant hope. I'm going to hold on, no matter what. I'm going to hold on.
Step number two let's just go back to Exodus, chapter three, or chapter two sorry, verse three. It says this just the very start of this sentence. But when she could no longer hide him, but when she could no longer hide him, when she could no longer hide him, she had to face the reality of the end of her natural ability. That's step number two. We have to face the reality of the end of our natural ability. This mama did everything she was able to do within her own capacity, within her realm of ability. Somehow she hid a baby for three months, which I have no idea how she did that. She's super mama. Just for that. Three months of hiding which, by the way, if you just think about that for a minute three months of hiding a baby how do you hide the tears, how do you hide the crying? How do you hide that? And every time the baby cried, or soldiers walked by or people walked by outside literally hunting for these little boys, can you imagine the fear that she would face over those three months, every single day, 24-7, constant on the job, always thinking, always trying to find a way. I can't even imagine. But there was a turning point where she recognized she could no longer keep doing this. It came to a point beyond her ability and she had to acknowledge where human ability ends.
And sometimes it's really hard for us to acknowledge our frailty. It can be really hard to acknowledge our own inability, our own weaknesses. We don't like to admit that we can't fix it. We don't like to admit that I can't do anything else. That's a horrible feeling. There is a limitation to our humanity and to acknowledge that is both terrifying and humbling, because we always want to say no, but I can do more. There's got to be something else I can do. We're always going to be sitting there wrestling in our minds and hearts going what else can I do? What else is there? I have to do more to fix this. I have to be able to fix this. It seems like there's nobody else but me, so it's got to be me. If I don't fix this, it's done. If I don't solve this, it's the end. Everything in us wants to fix the problem. It's not just a husband thing. Everything in us is hardwired. We want to fix the problem. It's not just a husband thing. Everything in us is hardwired. We want to fix the problem. But our end is where he begins. We have to get to a place where we can acknowledge that where I end he starts. It's not the end, it's where he begins.
Jeremiah 32, 17 says O sovereign Lord, you made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you. Jeremiah 32, 27,. I am the Lord, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me? Luke 1, 37,. For with God, nothing and this is in the Amplified with God nothing is or ever shall be impossible. Luke 18, 27,. But he said the things that are impossible with people are possible with God. There is a point, a turning point, where we have to recognize that this is impossible for us. We have come to the end of our natural ability to fix this and we need to let him begin.
This is where step three comes in. Go back to Exodusodus, chapter 2, verse 3. So after she couldn't hide him anymore, it says this. It says she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds along the bank of the nile river.
Once she recognized she had come to the end of her own natural ability to protect her baby, she had to let go. She had to relinquish control. And to relinquish control is one of the hardest things to do, especially as a parent. Parents in the room, you know. You know, I was just having a conversation with a lovely friend this week and we were talking about the fact that your kids hit a certain age and then you actually have no control over what they do, how they act, whether or not they follow Jesus. It is a painful place to be.
But here's the detail that sometimes I think we misunderstand. Sometimes I think we think relinquishing control means giving up, but her relinquishing control wasn't her giving up it's. There's a difference. She couldn't do the rescuing. She realized that Three months, that was it. That's all she could do. So instead she set the situation up for the opportunity for a divine rescue. She set it up and you might ask well, how did she know what to do? I mean, she must have had some sort of I don't know laid out plan of what to do. We don't have, again, any written insight into that question, but here's what I know.
Proverbs 37, 23 says the Lord directs the steps of the godly. He directs the steps of the godly. Sometimes I think we think that that means that we stand here and we look ahead and all of these steps and where to go is all laid out. What I think it really looks like is I'm going to take this step and then he's going to direct me and I'm going to take this step. And it happens as you go, he directs as you go. He doesn't always lay it out for you. It's you take a step and then I'm going to help you take the next step and I'm going to help you take the next step. Proverbs 20, 24, the Lord directs our steps. So why try to understand everything along the way? I think we'd probably be a lot less frustrated if we didn't try and understand everything along the way, frustrated if we didn't try and understand everything along the way. She didn't have the solution or the answers, but I believe the Lord inspired and directed her one step at a time. So look, see our statement right there, one step at a time. Now, I love doing deep dives into Scripture and into pictures and symbolism and what more is the Lord saying in this? And so I want to just do that for a couple minutes here.
I want to start with the fact that she used a basket, because often a basket is a symbol or a reflection of provision and protection. She was setting herself up to let go of being the provider, to let go of being the ultimate protector. Not only did she have to build the basket or have it made again. Exodus 2 3 says she put the baby in the basket, she made it and then she put him in the basket. She had to place her child in it just just think about this for a moment and then she didn't just have to put him in the basket, she had to release the basket. She had to let it physically let it go. She had to release her situation, she had to release control. Can you imagine how hard it would have been to put that baby, her baby, in that basket, that baby, her baby, in that basket. I just imagine what it would have been like to be her to hold on so tight and weep and mourn and pray and grieve and wrestle.
I actually imagine her placing that baby in the basket and putting it in the water, only to take it out again, probably a hundred times. Putting it in the water, only to take it out again, probably a hundred times. Put it in no, I can't do it. No, god, I can't. This is too hard. No, I can't let go. God, I can't do it. Let me be very clear and very honest. To come to a point of surrendering control can be agonizing and painful. That is the reality. And painful, that is the reality. But the basket is what helped bring about miraculous intervention, thank you.
Now here's something else that I had never thought to pick up on before. Again, exodus 2, 3. She put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds. Do you ever think about the reeds? This is actually significant. This is actually significant. Reeds are thin, wispy, hollow plant things that grow and they lack strength. They have no strength and they actually show up in other portions of Scripture. What's significant is that they often represent human weakness. So her surroundings in this moment she is surrounded, her surroundings are an acknowledgement of her own weakness and inability. Now let's look at another place where reeds show up in Scripture. I think this is pretty incredible Matthew chapter 27. Maybe you should turn there, because this is important. Matthew chapter 27, starting in verse 27. This is Jesus in preparation and on the way to the crucifixion, says.
Some of the governor's soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment. They stripped him and put it on his head and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. They placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted Hail, king of the Jews, and they spit on him and grabbed the stick and they struck him on the head with it. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again and then they led him away to be crucified.
The soldiers made Jesus hold a reed stick like a scepter, while they made fun of him as if to say look at your human frailty, look how weak you are, look how pathetic you are. You lose, and to that I have to laugh at the thought that they thought he lost because in that moment he was actually carrying human weakness in his hand and he was about to turn weakness into strength. He was about to turn weakness into strength. He was about to turn it around. 2 Corinthians 12, 9 says each time he said my grace is all you need, for my power works best in weakness. There it is, on display.
I read this just little clip from a devotional as I was studying about the reeds, and it said Consequently a mock scepter, once an object of ridicule and hate, has now become a beautiful, beautiful symbol of faith. Therefore, let us contemplate what it means to us personally and how it might renew our hope that God is gently holding us in the palm of his hand. He's holding you in the palm of his hand. He holds your frailties, he holds your weakness, but he also holds the keys to unlock every situation, every circumstance, every sickness. He holds the keys. He holds the keys Isaiah 22,. 22 says I will give him the key to the house of David, the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them. When he closes doors, no one will be able to open them.
Revelation 1, 18 says I am the living one. I died, but look, I am alive forever and ever and I hold the keys of death and the grave. He holds the keys. He always holds the keys In every situation that you walk through. He holds the keys In every situation that you walk through. He holds the keys so you can hold on to hope. You can hold on to the one who holds the keys to everything you face. He holds the keys to your future. He holds the keys to your kids' future. He holds the keys to your future. He holds the keys to your kid's future. He holds the keys to your miracle. He holds the keys to your healing. He holds the keys to your finances. He holds the keys to your situation. He holds every single key.
It is that defiant hope that precedes divine intervention. Hebrews 10, 23. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. He is faithful, he is faithful. Hold on to hope and then step back and watch, because he is faithful. I love this verse in Habakkuk 2.1. It says I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post. Then I will wait and see what the Lord says and how he will answer. Will answer. I'm going to watch and I'm going to wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer Yochabed she held on to hope.
She recognized her inability.
She had to let go. She made that painful choice. She let go and then she stepped back to watch and in doing so, god took the reins and did the impossible. You know, the most beautiful part, the beautiful redemptive nature of our Father, is that she let go and miraculously, she got him back. She got him back. The place that should have been his grave was the place of his rescue and it was completely redemptive. And, truth be told, this is a beautiful picture of how God does exceedingly abundantly more than we can ask, think or imagine. She should not have had him back. He shouldn't be alive. She should not have been able to keep him. He shouldn't be alive. She should not have been able to keep him, to nurture him, to care for him. And she got paid to do it. You tell me why mama gets paid for that. She got her baby back, she got her miracle, and her miracle saved a nation. You don't know what your miracle will unlock. You don't know the potential.
Now, this is where I'm going to ask you to take out your communion elements, because I can think of no better picture of the hope that we profess. There is no better picture of the fact that he holds the keys. He died so that he could take back the keys. So we're going to take communion together and as you take of the bread, and as you take of the bread, and as you take the cup, would you in your heart take a moment to remember that he who promised is faithful, that you can hold on to hope, that you can hold on to hope, that you can hold on to him, that you can hold on to the one who holds the keys, and he is faithful. 1 Corinthians 11, verse 23 says For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, took the bread, and he gave thanks to God for it.
Can you just thank him for it today? Can we just thank him. His body was broken for you. His body was broken so that you could be whole in every way Body, soul, spirit. He took it and he broke it in pieces and he said "'This is my body, which is given for you. "'do this to remember me. Now we're going to very carefully open these up so as not to spill on all our nice clothes before we take pictures outside. In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying this cup is the new covenant between God and his people, an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it, for every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again. Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing that he holds the keys. Let's drink the cup together. Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus.
I just really felt this morning to pray very specifically Psalm 78, 22,. Talking about the Israelites, it just said for they did not believe God or trust him to care for them. And it goes on to say but he did this and he did this and he did this and he did this. He provided, he cared for, and I don't know who in the room today is at a point where it is a struggle to believe him. It is a struggle to believe his word. It's a struggle to trust him, to trust that he cares for you, to trust that he will care for you, that he will care for you. Would you stand with me? I just want to pray. I just want us to pray all together here in the room.
If that's you, if you have walked through situations and you have been left feeling defeated, discouraged, traumatized, taken apart. You have left feeling like it is really hard to believe God or to trust him to care for you. I want to pray for you this morning. If that's you, I'm not going to ask you to raise or wave your hands or I don't want to embarrass you, but would you just do something that is a sign for you of just receiving, whether that's just holding out your hands, whatever it is, I just want to pray for you and I would hope that everyone else in the room that you would be joining together. You would join your hearts, you would increase faith, because we need to raise the level of faith in the room. If you have a personal prayer language, would you just start to pray? Would you just start to pray? This is a healing moment. This is a restoration of hope. A healing moment. This is a restoration of hope. This is about a restoration of hope in him.
Jesus, we thank you right now that you hold the keys of the kingdom. We thank you that you hold the keys to every situation. We thank you that you are faithful, that you are good. We thank you that you are Jehovah Jireh. You are our provider. We thank you that you see every situation. You know every heart, you know every thought. You know what each and every one of us has walked through, where we've come, what we've been faced with, the impossibilities of life that stand before us. Thank God, we acknowledge that at a certain point there isn't anything else we can do. But you can. You can.
We just ask right now, holy Spirit, by your power, that you would just wash through the room. Would you just minister to every heart that has been damaged, broken, wounded, hurt. Would you bring healing and peace to every mind that is just struggling and wrestling to hold on to you, to hold on to truth, to hold on to your word. Jesus, thank you that you are the God of the impossible. Father, we just ask that you would increase hope in the room. Would you restore hope in the room, would you infuse life back into the room, into every heart and into every mind when the enemy has come and he has tried to tell you it's finished. It's not finished yet, he's not finished with you. Yet your story is not over. There is more. He has more for you. He has a plan and it's a good plan. Holy Spirit, would you just release freedom and peace and comfort and life over every heart and mind that needs it.
This morning, jesus, prince of peace, would you come? We thank you that, with the keys, you can unlock a new season of hope, a new season of hope, a new season of hope, a new season where there is capacity to trust you again, where there is capacity to hold on to you, where there is an increase in strength, just to hold on to see the salvation of the Lord. To see the salvation of the Lord, father, I just boldly ask that we would step into a season where we would see and you would unlock the miraculous, that you would unlock the miraculous, jesus. We thank you, we thank you, we thank you, we thank you. Would you just start thanking him in the room? Would you start creating an atmosphere of thanksgiving and expectation? Jesus, we thank you, jesus, we thank you, jesus, we thank you.