There are times during the human existence that have defined life for the hereafter. The garden of Eden was one of those times. When they sinned it ever changed the future for those that followed. Many years later we find the world so corrupt that God destroys almost every living human and starts over with the family of one man. The rules were changed and the administration of crime was put squarely in man’s hands. Those that followed would no longer have direct access to God to seek His will and advice to govern their steps. Man, for his part has sought to govern his own steps from the beginning with few exceptions.

Abraham was one of those men who decided to let his destiny be decided by God. Up until the time of Abraham the fate of mankind was not very bright. Very few decided to follow God and seek His righteous direction. But after the faithful life that Abraham lived, God made promises that He would make of Him a great people consisting of many nations and through these people, He would work to bring reconciliation to His entire creation. Jesus Christ was born of these people, the church was started from these people and God calls Israel His people. There is continuity of the scriptures that few in this world can see. God has had a plan to bring many sons and daughters into his family and those that he called in the Old Testament are linked to those in the New.

When I spoke last time we read through Romans 11 talking about Israel being God’s people and that he had not abandoned them and started over with Christianity. Remember we read in Romans 11 about how God had not given up on His People Israel. Romans 11:1-5 NKJ I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. We also read how it is non-Hebrews that will be grafted into the root which is Israel. God has a plan that has never changed. He would call a people and make of them the start of a great harvest of mankind to usher in a new age to this Earth. That plan has been in place since the foundations of the earth. But what can change and what has changed is who submits to God and allows Him to work in their life. We have been called according to that purpose and been given many similar promises that He gave to Abraham. He would be our God and we would be His people. We must submit ourselves to that calling and live according to His way of life and then the most wonderful future that anyone can have is ours.

Today I would like to take a look at Ancient Israel during the Exodus that blazed the trail for us to follow. Their story is one of triumph and tragedy. Although they lived many centuries before Jesus Christ taught about the road we are to walk. There are many New Covenant lessons we can draw from God’s people of the Old Testament. Today we are going to start a multi-part sermon entitled. Ten Times Too Many The idea came from a scripture I recently read in Numbers 14. Many of us are participating in the read the bible in a year that began in November. It has been wonderful to read God’s word, not in bits and pieces when we study or listen to a sermon, but in context book by book.

Recently I was reading about the children of Israel that God rescued from captivity in Egypt. God called Moses to become not only a prophet but a leader of this great multitude and to go face to face with the most powerful leader on earth at that time. The ten plagues, walking through the Red Sea, and receiving the Ten Commandments are the stories of legend. God did many miracles and revealed Himself to His people and gave them a better life and promised them a great future if they would only submit. We often times look down at these people for failing to submit to God but we have to remember that they did not have the Holy Spirit living within them. Without it they could see with the eyes but not with their heart. God taught them but they continually rejected him. As I was reading Numbers 11:22-23 and I was struck by a question.

First of all, let’s read the passage. Numbers 14:22-23 22 "because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23 "they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. God brought them out of Egypt, showed them a wonderful future and they disqualified themselves from receiving it because of their poor attitude and devotion to Him. The question I asked myself after reading this was; could this happen to us? Now I am not talking simply about disqualification. We know that Paul warned the Corinthians that even his future was not completely secure.

1 Corinthians 9:27 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. If Paul was extra careful with his future than all reading his epistle should also beware. But what struck me by this passage in Numbers is the way in which they were disqualified. He said because of these ten times they have put Him to the test. Now we know that there are examples in the Old Testament that were “Types” of what would come in the New Testament. The symbolism of the Exodus is ripe with these types and as such there is much we can learn. If you turn to Hebrews 11 and let’s read about how a New Testament concept of Faith is applied to Ancient Israel. Hebrews 11:22-29 22 And it was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, confidently spoke of God's bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt.

He was so sure of it that he commanded them to carry his bones with them when they left! 23 It was by faith that Moses' parents hid him for three months. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid of what the king might do. 24 It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25 He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of the Messiah than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the great reward that God would give him. Doesn’t that describe our journey? So we see the word faith applied to what they were doing. Then we see the concept of the Passover and Baptism from the perspective of the Old Testament. 27 It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt.

He was not afraid of the king. Moses kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. 28 It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons. 29 It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians followed, they were all drowned. What Ancient Israel, led by Moses experienced was an Old Testament Type of Conversion that each of us began when we were called. God taught them His way of life and made a covenant with them that they were not able to follow and ultimately kept that entire generation save two from the Promised Land. We too are waiting for a promised land that we know as the kingdom of God. God called us out of this world as a type of Egypt.

Ancient Israel was repeatedly reminded that God brought them out of Egypt so they could serve him and learn a new way of life. We see the New Covenant in view as a Type of coming out of this world as Israel came out of Egypt in Hebrews 8:8-10 Hebrews 8:8-10 8 Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah -- 9 "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. 10 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Israel repeatedly talked about how great they had it in Egypt but not the way God looked after them. They even discussed returning to Egypt and turning the back on God.

When you read the passage in Numbers 14:22 you see that God notes 10 times that they tested him. Now I wanted to know what were those 10 times and did any of their sins relate to the lives we live today. After all, if they journey out of Egypt is a type of our coming out of this world then we might want to lean a few lessons that got them rejected from entering the Promised Land. Now when I go back I could find many times that they tested God but I wanted to see the list. So I went to the commentaries. Some simply said that this word translated 10 just mean many times or often. Some attempted to list the 10 but each one differed from list to another on a few points and say whether there was exactly 10 or not does not really matter. My thought was, what does the scripture actually say?

Numbers 14:22-23 22 "because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23 "they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. 6235 rf,[, `eser {eh'ser} masc. of term hr'f'[; `asarah {as-aw-raw'} Meaning: 1) ten 1a) ten 1b) with other numbers Origin: from 06237; TWOT - 1711a; n m/f Usage: AV - ten 172, fifteen + 02568 1, seventeen + 07651 1, ten times 1; 175 What I found interesting is that one commentary I read said that no Jew would ever miss the importance of the number 10 in God’s complaint. The Number 10 is so integral to scripture. • There were 10 Plagues in Egypt • God Gave them 10 Commandments • The Tabernacle was made with 10 Curtains • The Boards of the Tabernacle were 10 Cubits high • Along the court of the Tabernacle was 10 Columns that fit into 10 sockets When God said He has been put to the test 10 times it is significant. And if the children of Israel coming out of Egypt serve as a type of the process of coming out of sin to conversion, then we should take special note if they make 10 mistakes that disqualify them from the Promised Land.

When I looked over the various times that Israel sinned I saw many things that are symbols for the New Covenant. I don’t believe that these are coincidental. God used these symbols to teach them lessons first and we would learn them again from a deeper perspective. So for the rest of this sermon we will go through those sins that got them disqualified and see what New Covenant lessons we can learn. We will continue this list next time and you may have ideas of your own on how they relate to your life. Please share them with me afterwards and I can include them (if you wish) when I continue on next time.

First of 10 Sins So let’s get started on this list of 10 and see what we can learn from them. that Israel sinned and tested God is found in Exodus 14: and starting in verse 11. 1 of 10 (Trapped by the Sea) Exodus 14:11-13 11 Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? 12 "Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness." 13 And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. So we have our first rejection of God and His deliverance.

One of the commentaries lists two separate sins here in noting verse 12 where it was a flashback to an earlier conversation while they were still in Egypt. Now, you might be willing, if you were God, to throw in the towel right here because after witnessing the 10 Plagues just days before they are out here blaming Moses and wishing they were back home in Egypt. But God is Merciful and how fortunate we are that He is. But we need to keep in mind how long they were in Egypt. Exodus 12:40-41 40 Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years -- on that very same day -- it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. Much of that time they were prisoners in their new adopted land. This became generational. I think about the correlation with Prison recidivism rates. Of every 10 prisoners released from prison, 4 will be back in Jail within 3 years.

These are very discouraging numbers for those wishing to be free of their old life and enjoy freedom. I ran across a quote from a recently released inmate discussing how hard it is to stay out of jail even though that is the only thing he wants to do. I found this quote from the Huffington Post article posted June 9 2012. "It's really easy to commit crime when you can persuade yourself that no one else out there is convinced of your rehabilitation," said Martin, an ex-offender who served six years in prison. The "tremendous amount of hope" with which people come out of prison is often buoyed, Martin said, "with a tremendous amount of fear of failure." God understood that captivity had become institutionalized. When people are pulled outside of their comfort zone they often revert back to familiar patterns in their lives. How many times in our lives that we have reverted back to some destructive behavior or attitude?

It defies logic and common sense. God Calls us from our own version of Egypt and shows us freedom from the penalty of sin and hope for eternal life. All we have to do is forsake that life that only brought heartache and emptiness and turn to God and live His way. It sounds good on the surface be we have been institutionalized by this world. We have examples all around us of how to live this world wrong but somehow, we get the backward notion that up is down and left is right. Romans 6:23 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So this gift is freedom from the bonds of death. Yet Satan has deceived the whole world and taught them that living a Godly life is Captivity and making your own decisions is actually freedom. You are told that the Bible tells you what you can’t do. A popular Billy Joel song states that “He would rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints.”

Brethren, we can never forget that this is a lie perpetuated by Satan himself. One of the ways you can test an idea is to play it out and see the fruits. People believe they are free in this world to find their own destiny. But the truth is without limitations, this life completely comes apart and then there is no freedom at all, only death. Let’s say you don’t want to work and earn a living. You also want to eat and have a nice place to live. If you were truly free you could decide for yourself how you want to live. If that means taking what you want so you don’t have to work for it then that’s freedom right? The problem with this approach is obvious. This world works when most people don’t subscribe to that point of view. There are many people that believe happiness is in obtaining nice things so they do whatever they can to get it. I was in L.A. in the early 90s when the riots broke out. I watched many people that normally would try to live honestly turn to blatant crime when everyone seemed to be doing it.

One night on the news a reporter interviewed a woman waking out of broken storefront window with her small children, her arms full of loot she had just stolen. The reporter asked her if she thought this was wrong. She said if it were wrong then someone would stop them. People know deep inside that they have to work to get what they want and that cooperation is better than conflict. But we like to pick and choose our battles don’t we. I will go to work, pay our bills, be nice to people but then we will let some other area go. Like our health, or charity, or morality. We might cheat on our taxes, or not tell the teller they gave us too much change. We can justify any kind of wrong and tell ourselves we deserve this or that until at some level, we are no different than those in the rest of the world. We are surrounded by a world that picks and chooses. Some are great examples in some ways and very poor in others.

We only have to look at the rich and famous to see this over and over. We can become institutionalized by a world that sets its own standards of right and wrong. The Jews of Thessalonica accused Paul and his company of turning the world upside down. And in a way they did because people learned the freedom preached by Jesus and this was very different than the accepted norms of their day. Just like God’s way of life is different than the society that we live in. This is what God understood when He brought Israel out of Egypt. So many lessons were taught to the Children of Israel using their release from Captivity. Turn over to Deuteronomy 30. In chapter 29 Moses is reminding them of where they came and telling them where they are going with a warning. He reminds them of the captivity they were released from and the nations they walked through in their 40 years wandering and tells them they have been shown a different way to live.

But He warns then that if their future generations go back to the ways of this world of idolatry and abominations that they saw then God would bring every curse written upon them. He said they would try to bless themselves with peace but they cannot find it following their own hearts. They would scattered among the nations and forced to go back into the world God pulled them out of. Let’s read what God tells them in Chapter 30. Deuteronomy 30:1-3 NKJ "Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you, 2 "and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 "that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you.

You see, this freedom we live in is not freedom at all but a death sentence. You cannot find peace without God. You cannot find Love without God because we are told that we love because God first loved us. Everything that is good in this world is merely a shadow of traits of God. God is not given the credit most of the time but it is Him that is responsible for every good we see in the world. God created the whole world and everything in it and it was good. It is Satan that wants the world to forget about the real author of what is freedom. God’s way of life is freedom to live a life of Love, peace, and happiness. Someday the children of Israel will get a chance to know this freedom and finally come out of captivity. I did a word search and to find the phrase that God used time and time again, “Brought you out of Egypt and out of the house of bondage and I found it 13 times. With another dozen times he brought them out of land of Egypt. This is something He does not want us to forget when we think about where we came from and came out of.

Second and third sins The second and third sin of Israel against God involved the want of water. Looking at the symbolism of Water is vast and could take a whole sermon in its own right but we will begin this topic looking at the context of this sin. Now man can survive many days without food but only a few without water. It is one of those things that keep us grounded. We cannot think too highly of ourselves when we consider the need we have for water and food. And here would be another lesson for Israel as they travel into the wilderness.

Turn over to Exodus 15. In chapter 14 we see them being delivered from their enemy when the Egyptian soldiers are drown in the sea and Beginning of Chapter 15 we see the praises that they sang to God going on almost throughout the chapter till verse 21. But what a change when we get to verse 22. Exodus 15:22-26 22 So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. 23 Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24 And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" 25 So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet.

There He made a statute and an ordinance for them. And there He tested them, 26 and said, "If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you." So in this test of God He uses this complaint about not having water and uses it to teach them the lesson that if they follow God in all He says then He will keep them from serious health problems. He does so by healing the only water around. He is teaching them that nothing is impossible for Him. Because they are thirsty they are listening. You know God knows that we hear better when we our bellies are empty. In Deuteronomy 6, one of reminders God gave them about freeing them from Egypt and the House bondage involved a warning about a full belly.

Breaking into verse 11 of Deut. 6. Deuteronomy 6:11-12 ………-- when you have eaten and are full -- 12 "then beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. This was not the first time that they complained about water. Picking up the story in Exodus 17. Now we are skipping over Chapter 16 and we will get to it next time but we will take this sin out of order because it is the same topic of thirsting for water. Exodus 17:1-4 NKJ Then all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of Sin, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, "Give us water, that we may drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you tempt the LORD?" 3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, "Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" 4 So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!" There is so much here.

First of all, we will read next time that in the previous chapter that he gave them Manna to eat and it appeared every day of the week except the Sabbath so the people had the miracle of God on a daily basis but still they complained. They even talk about stoning Moses. It all comes down to the question they ask in verse 3. "Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt”. It was not Moses that brought them out of Egypt and it is clear they still want to back in Egypt when the water was always nearby. God uses water in so many ways to relate to us. We fast to draw close to God and do without Food and water. We wash away dirt and disease in water throughout scripture. We are baptized in water that picture the death of the old self, so we can symbolically be raised to live a new life as a new creation. When Christ came to this earth he used Water and thirst to explain a very important spiritual lesson.

Turn over to John 4: John 4:7-19 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." 11 The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 "Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" 13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." 15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." 16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." 17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' 18 "for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." 19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Jesus is telling here that if she wants to even think about this eternal life that is symbolized by water then she is going to have to address the lack of morality in her life. God Has called us to be His special people.

He does not want us to desire the life we had before we were called and he wants us to be special. For our final passage, today turn to 1 Peter 2 and look deeper at this idea of becoming a special people to God but also to be an example to the rest of the world. 1 Peter 2:9-12 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. 11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.