August 28, 2022 – Sunday Service Live Stream

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome to the corporate worship of our God. Please stand. The Lord reigns. Let the earth rejoice. Let the multitude of isles be glad. Clouds and darkness surround him.

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. A fire goes before him and burns up his enemies roundabout. His lightnings light the world. The earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

The heavens declare his righteousness and all the people's see his glory. Let all be put to shame who serve carved images who boast of idols. Worship him all you gods. Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments.

Oh, Lord, for you, Lord, are most high above all the earth. You are exalted far above all gods. You who love the Lord hate evil. He preserves the souls of his saints. He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright and heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holy name. Amen. Please pray with me. Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we joyfully come to you assured, confident because of Christ and his righteousness and his love for us.

We pray that you would attend our prayers, that your spirit would fill us, that you would enlighten our eyes that we might see more and more and more of the glory of Christ. And we pray that this worship would be acceptable and pleasing in your sight.

We have great confidence because of the merits of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and whose name we pray. Amen. Please kneel if you're able for the corporate confession of sin. Let us join together with one voice and confess our sins.

Almighty and most merciful Father, we have heard and strayed from your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have.

Offended against your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done. And we have done those things which we ought not to have done. And there is no help in us. Oh, Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders.

Spare those, oh God, who confess their faults. Restore those who are penitent, according to your promises declared unto mankind. In Christ Jesus, our Lord, grant that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, to the glory of his holy name.

Amen.

Covenant Forgiveness and the Assurance of Pardon

Please stand. This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds. Their sins and their lawless acts I will remember no more.

Oh, people of God, if you be in Christ, take heart today. In him your sins are forgiven. Amen.

Take up the hymnal and turn to number 173. Praise him, praise him. The insert.

Find the one that says 270 in the left corner, Psalm 134. Alyssa's going to play through one time and we are going to sing through it twice since it's so short. Psalm 134.

And it happened in the same year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, king of Judah, in the fourth year and in the fifth month, that Hananiah, the son of Azur, the prophet, who was from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests, and of all the people, saying, Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.

Within two full years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord's house that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took away from this place and carried to Babylon. And I will bring back to this place Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, with all the captives of Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.

Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who stood in the house of the Lord. And the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen, the Lord do so.

The Lord perform your words, which you have prophesied, to bring back the vessels of the Lord's house and all who were carried away captive from Babylon to this place. Nevertheless, hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people, the prophets who have been before me and before you of old prophesied against many countries and great kingdoms of war and disaster and pestilence.

As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent. Then Hananiah, the prophet, took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah's neck and broke it.

And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people saying, thus says the Lord, even so I will break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, from the neck of all nations within the space of two full years.

And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after Hananiah, the prophet had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah saying, go and tell Hananiah saying, thus says the Lord, you have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made in their place yokes of iron.

For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and they shall serve him. I have given him the beasts of the field also.

Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah, the prophet, hear now Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie. Therefore, thus says the Lord, behold, I will cast you from the face of the earth.

This year you shall die because you have taught rebellion against the Lord. So Hananiah, the prophet died the same year and seven months in the seventh month. Now these, this is the word of the Lord.

Ask Ms. Zara to come forward and everyone else to be seated. Come stand here so we can hear you next to me. Zara, we're very thankful for you and your participation in the life of our church. So I'm going to ask you some questions and if you can affirm these things, I want you to say I do or I would.

Zara, as you enter into the privileges and responsibilities of membership, we ask you to assent to the following declarations and promises by which you enter into a solemn covenant with Christ and his church.

Do you acknowledge yourself to be a sinner in the sight of God, justly deserving his displeasure and without hope save in his sovereign mercy? Do you? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the son of God and savior of sinners?

And do you receive and depend upon him alone for salvation as he is offered in the gospel? Do you now resolve and promise in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit that you will endeavor to live as become the followers of Christ?

Do you? I do. Do you promise to serve Christ and his church by supporting and participating in its worship and work to the best of your ability? Do you? I do. Do you submit yourself to the government and discipline of the church and promise to further its purity and peace?

Do you? I'm going to ask the entire congregation to stand and I'm going to ask the members of Ascension to respond with we will or we do. Congregation of Ascension Presbyterian, do you resolve to remember your membership vows and resolve to hold this new member accountable to covenant membership for the glory of God and the peace and purity of Christ's church?

Do you? We do. Amen. That testimony of faith of this, your servant Sarah, oh Lord, we pray that you would bless her and her Christian walk and that you would use her mightily for your kingdom work and that she would revel today in the love that you have shown her, not only in taking her as your daughter, but putting her into a local expression of your church, a body of believers who love her, who will serve alongside with her, will bear her burdens with her and encourage her to walk in your righteousness.

Oh Lord, we pray your blessing on this, your servant today in Jesus name. Amen. Let us now confess our faith in the singing of.

The Apostles Creed. Please take up the red hymnal and turn to number 32. Great is thy faithfulness, number 32. After this manner therefore pray ye. Pray that we may glorify.

God in all that we do as we live and work in the creation that displays his power and be pleased.

To dispose all things to his glory. Pray that satan's kingdom may be destroyed and that the.

Kingdom of grace advanced ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it and the kingdom.

Of glory hastened. Lord hear our prayers. Pray that God for Christ's sake would freely pardon.

All our sins. We are encouraged to ask this because by his grace we are able from the heart.

To forgive others. Lord hear our prayers. Cleanse us of our unrighteousness, that we may better love and serve you, that we would do right by one another, that we would love our neighbor as ourselves.

Father be with us as we walk our lives day to day. Help us to earnestly seek you, to seek justice, love mercy. Is there something we pray? Pray that God would either keep us from.

Being tempted to sin or support and deliver us when we are tempted. Lord hear our prayers. Our father taking encouragement and prayer from you alone. In our prayers we praise you ascribing kingdom power and glory to you and to testify of our desire and assurance to be heard.

We say together and please stand. This is the psalm of the month and this will be the last time we'll.

Be singing it in august. Psalm 76 ask you to turn to the book of zechariah and it is the next to.

Last book of the old testament i know it's hard to find sometimes but it's very easy when you know that zechariah our attention will be on verses one through six. But i'm going to read the whole chapter.

Zechariah’s Call to Return to the Lord

Zechariah chapter one this is god's holy and infallible word. In the eighth month of the second year of darius the word of the lord came to zechariah the son of barakiah the son of iddo the prophet saying the lord has been very angry with your fathers.

Therefore say to them thus says the lord of hosts return to me says the lord of hosts and i will return to you says the lord of hosts do not be like your fathers to whom the former prophets preached. Saying thus says the lord of hosts turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds that they did not hear nor heed me says the lord your fathers where are they.

And the prophets do they live forever. Yet surely my words and my statutes which i commanded my servants the prophets did they not overtake your fathers. So they returned and said just as the lord of hosts determined to do to us according to our ways and according to our deeds so he has dealt with us.

On the 24th day of the 11th month which is the month of shabbat in the second year of darius the word of the lord came to zechariah the son of barakiah the son of iddo the prophet i saw by night and behold a man riding on a red horse and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow and behind him were horses red sorrel and white.

And i said my lord what are these. So the angel who talked with me said to me i will show you what they are. And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said these are the ones whom the lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth.

So they answered the angel of the lord who stood among the myrtle trees and said we have walked to and fro throughout the earth and behold all the earth is resting quietly. Then the angel of the lord answered and said oh lord of hosts how long will you not have mercy on jerusalem and on the cities of judah against which you were angry these 70 years.

And the lord answered and the angel who talked with to me with good and comforting words. So the angel who spoke with me said to me proclaim saying thus says the lord of hosts i am zealous for jerusalem and for zion with great zeal.

I am exceedingly angry with the nations at ease. For i was a little angry and they helped it but with evil intent. Therefore thus says the lord i am returning to jerusalem with mercy. My house shall be built in it says the lord of hosts.

And a surveyor's line shall be stretched out over jerusalem again. Proclaim saying thus says the lord of hosts my cities shall again spread out through prosperity. The lord will again comfort zion and will again choose jerusalem.

Then i raised my eyes and looked and there were four horns. And i said to the angel who talked with me what are these. So he answered me these are the horns that have scattered judah israel and jerusalem.

Then the lord showed me four craftsmen and i said what are these coming to do. So he said these are the horns that scattered judah so that no one could lift up his head. But the craftsmen are coming to terrify them to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of judah to scatter it.

May the lord be pleased to bless the reading and hearing the proclamation of his word. Please pray with me. Oh lord i i ask that you would be pleased to do a mighty work in our hearts as we consider your prophet your servant and zechariah's words.

I pray that more and more of the glory of christ would be unveiled to us that our hearts would take comfort in the victory that you have won in him. And oh lord i pray that today that we would heed the simple message that we would repent that we would return to you.

And we ask these things in jesus name. Amen. Please be seated. I'd like to offer only one point of outline for you today. The message is going to be the easiest. Probably that i'll be preaching through zechariah.

The problems start for me next week in the night visions. But today i'd like you to write down if you're taking notes. Repentance and recommitment to the covenant is the foundation of god's kingdom work.

Repentance and recommitment to the covenant is the foundation of god's kingdom work. You probably have never heard a sermon series on the book of zechariah is considered by many to be one of the two hardest books of the bible.

To interpret and to apply is going to be difficult but i think it's going to be a very fruitful journey for us to consider this great prophet of god. We often misunderstand the title this is the longest of the 12 minor prophets.

And we often mistake the idea that the minor prophets are somehow inferior. But that designation minor is really in terms of length in comparison as we see as we're reading through the book of jeremiah very lengthy works in the major prophets.

And you might ask yourself why would we today study the book of zechariah. Well i'll remind you it's very important for christ church to be under the whole counsel of god. You might also ask yourself where is jesus in the book of zechariah.

Are we going to hear anything about jesus in zechariah. And the answer is he is everywhere in its pages. The old testament ultimately is about jesus just as the new testament it is. And in fact the gospel writers quote chapters 9 through 14 of zechariah extensively and probably more than any other biblical source in relationship to his suffering and death on the cross.

Another more familiar section to us is found in matthew's account of the triumphal entry. You remember the king on that palm sunday comes in on the full cult of a donkey zechariah 9 9 that comes from our book that we're studying here.

The language that john used to describe the crucifixion is taken from zechariah 12. In reference to that he says and points to jesus's suffering and says they looked upon him whom they have pierced. And zechariah very well articulates the coming betrayal of the good shepherd messiah and the rejection of him by israel.

Zechariah also develops some other important things. That grand messianic allusion to the branch which sees a union of the offices of priest and king. The crowning of joshua will be an important thing for us to consider is nothing short than a glorious picture of the lord jesus christ.

It points us directly to him. You should be reminded that jesus's name is really joshua. It's the same name. Jesus is the greek derivation of that yeshua would be the aramaic form of that. But jesus's name was yeshua.

His name was joshua. So this picture is a direct connection to the lord jesus the king priest joshua of zechariah will point us to christ. But then there's some other remarkable things. All of this be profound and delightful.

What about the night visions. The man in the midst of the myrtle trees. Who is he. What about these horses. What about the four horns and the four craftsmen that we just read about. What about the plum line.

The man in the measuring line. What about the garments. The clean garments necessary for a high priest. What about the golden lamp stand. And the two olive trees and children. There's even in zechariah a flying scroll.

How wonderful is that there's a woman in a bushel basket. And there are at the ending of those visions four chariots. All of these things i believe will help us to see more and more of christ. And at the end of the book even the bells of the horses will be inscribed holiness unto the lord.

Every pot and every bowl in jerusalem and judea shall be holy to the lord of hosts. What does that mean. Every implement every beast of the field everything is going to be consecrated to the lord in holiness in his service.

Is this merely hyperbole. Is it hyperbolic language. Is it merely symbolic languages or does it speak of something about our future. I believe that zechariah prophesies nothing less than the full realization of christ's kingdom.

The historical background of zechariah is the same as haggai. It's the people following cyrus's decree. Nearly 50 000 of them have returned to israel after captivity. And they're rebuilding the temple.

Haggai's focus is more on the work of the temple building. And it seems that zechariah's focus is on the rebuilding of the hearts of the people that they might have a future lived in faith in covenantal obedience.

So let us begin praying that this will be a transformative season in our lives as a church in your family you individually that the lord would use what the world and the church today sees as an obscure book to change our lives.

It is the very words of god coming out of his mouth to us the prophet zechariah. Let's look again at verse one of zechariah. There are three important time stamps and i'm going to save some of this more for next week.

So i'm not going to talk a lot about verse one but we have a very decisive timeline for when zechariah's prophecy was written it was written after haggai's prophecy started and before haggai's prophecy ends.

So it is entirely enveloped in the timeline of haggai's prophetic work as well. Itto's name pops up in places like ezra and nehemiah to give you a context of of where this falls. His grandfather was a notable high priest prophetic man i should say in the history of israel.

But they're going to talk more about that in relation to the vision the night vision next week. So what does zechariah begin with. What is the body of the language that he uses in his prophecy. Look at verse two.

The lord has been very angry with your fathers. If you come off of i -4 there's a church. It's called grace church and it says the lord is not angry. I don't know if it's still there. Have you seen the billboard ever saw this morning.

I am here to tell you the lord is angry with the wicked every moment of every day. The lord's wrath is kindled against all the sons of disobedience. We have soft-pedaled the gospel to make it no gospel at all.

It is a terror to fall into the hands of the living god. Our god is a consuming fire and he will mete out his justice. Now contextually i've already alluded to this. The people have been set free from the exile of the babylonians.

The persians under cyrus and aldarius have treated them very favorably. It's a very wonderful time in their history. The oppression. The boot of babylon is now off of their neck and they've returned to the land.

Why does he start with a call to repentance. This is a time of happiness and joy. He wants to remind them of something very important. The lord has been very angry with your fathers. The call to repentance.

You can go back to the land. You can rebuild the temple and these are certainly emblematic of a greater purpose faithful obedient communion with god. You can have all the accoutrements of religion. You can have the great forms of prayer.

You can have a sound liturgy. But you can miss the substance. The rebuilding of the temple is to reflect the hearts of the people that they've turned back to god and that he has come to them. You can build a structure and god not be there.

You could go through with exact exacting detail all the precise elements of worship and never invest your heart in it. It's the danger that zechariah is warning the people who've come out of exile. It should be no surprise to us that the foundation stone of zechariah's prophecy is repentance.

When you deeply study the idea of repentance you realize that it is at its heart. Genuine repentance is therefore in this regard a return to god. We talk a lot about repentance. I wonder if you are hearing me say we got to repent.

Your eyes glaze over. You might say i know that i'm a sinner. I don't need the pastor to tell me i'm a sinner. Again it's a normal response for people. I think we have that response to messages of repentance because we have a deficient understanding of what repentance is.

We do need to turn away from our sin. We need to mortify the flesh. We need to purge all in our life. That is displeasing to god without exception without qualification. That must be true. But the call of zechariah the call to repentance is deeper and better than we imagine.

Christ's call to us to repent and believe the gospel is deeper and better than we can imagine. It's not merely reforming our behavior. It's returning to god. That's what real repentance is. Is my heart longs after god.

Therefore i have to get rid of all of this. We have to put this in the right order. To repent truly is to run back to god and faith and love and obedience. It's relational. It's covenantal. It's not merely behavior modification.

Many authors have said using different words different phrases. They say something to the effect. And i've created my own little statement regarding it. Christian obedience and faithfulness is the perfecting of repentance.

Say what. Christian obedience and faithfulness is the perfecting of repentance. What do i mean by that. As we grow in our christian maturity we repent quicker and more comprehensively. When thoughts of pride enter into my head the mature christian should be putting that to death that it might not manifest itself in the mistreatment of wife and children and brethren and sisters in christ.

The christian life and maturity and godliness is the perfecting of repentance. It's spotting sin early. It's turning swiftly. It's repudiating and feeling. It's repugnant because it distorts my vision of god and my union with him.

I don't want to sin because that muddies the waters of the communion and fellowship i have with god. That should be the mature response when we look at our sin. Christian obedience faithfulness is the perfecting of repentance.

Consistent quick comprehensive repenting. And we have to acknowledge today we even have to repent of our repenting. So what do you mean by that. We must repent of our repenting because our repentance has been halfway.

We have been content with coming back to god part way not all the way. So even the repenting that we've done requires repentance. The history of israel is one of their failure to keep covenant. I often think as christians we unnecessarily discriminate against israel and their failures because we look at them and say i can't believe they do that.

I encourage you to look into the mirror because you do the very things that you mock in them. We look upon them with disdain. How could they do it. We have to look at ourselves and say we do those kinds of things as well.

Israel continues to fail. God has unveiled a glorious covenant. He's bound himself to the people. And when they fail he is relentless in his pursuit of them. He bids them continually to come back to him.

He is more eager and more zealous to forgive and to restore than we are to be unburdened by sin and to be restored. Did you catch that. He's more willing to unburden us of our sin and restore us than we are eager to have.

That it should be the opposite. We're the penitents. We're the ones who have fallen. We should be zealously clinging to god and say please forgive us please cause my heart to and turn back to you. But he's the one it seems that does.

The pursuing this call of repentance better stated returning extends to the wayward church of the new covenant. He's given us eternity and blessing and we forget. And we return to our sinful passions our self-interest.

It's true on the micro level as well. It's not only the story of israel it's not only the story of the church. It's not only the story of your family. It's your story. So the message today is very simple.

Return to him return to god and faith. Look at verse two again setting the stage. They are standing in the land the land of promise. And they see all the ruins. When so when zechariah says the lord has been very angry with your fathers.

All they have to do is look out upon the landscape the walls of jerusalem her her strength the sign of her protection and god's protection. And hedge around them had been toppled over. The prosperity of the land flowing with milk and honey is desolate the the temple is in ruins.

So the words of zechariah are accompanied with this sensory experience of they see with their eyes the consequences of a failure to keep covenant with god. The lord has been very angry with your fathers.

And in the hebrew there is an interesting thing that's employed here. The verb form of angry its root i should say. And the noun of angry are woven together. So we get this translation which is not great english.

You don't want to use very a lot to describe something but it says here the lord was very angry with your fathers. That should give us pause. I believe the lord has been very angry with our spiritual fathers as well.

Our spiritual fathers have compromised the authority sufficiency inerrancy infallibility of the scriptures our spiritual forefathers the continuing presbyterian church the pca they have b-side christianity.

We we have some of this in our tradition too. We have a lot of failure in our past. So the words to zechariah they're timeless. We can read the pages and we'll read a little summary statement of the failures in just a moment we can read these pages and say these are things for the past zechariah.

That's a long time ago. That's ancient history. Zechariah speaks clearly to us today. The lord has been very angry with your fathers. This is what you should go tell them. He says to zechariah. Say to them.

Thus says the lord of the hosts. This is the word of the lord. This is the word that proceeds out of god's mouth. Three words return to me. What an incredible thesis of the life we have with god. Return to me.

The returning means that there there is a people who belong to god and they have a propensity for waywardness. This speaks to his ownership of them and of us. He says you're my people. You're being fools.

You're reaping the consequences of your unbelief. And you're and you're transgressing my holy laws. I love you so much. Come back to me and experience the warm embrace of perfect fellowship with me. Have you thought of sin that way boy.

It promises so much. As a christian you have fellowship close communion. You somehow can walk into the holy of holies into the presence of god because of christ. Have you thought of that recently. The holiest men of god can't enter in and you and i rank and file ordinary christians.

We can walk into the throne room of heaven because of what christ has done. What a loving father who whose wayward children run away and and rebel. And they're obstinate and they're hard-hearted. He says return to me.

Come back to me. And he says in doing this i will return to you. I'd like you all to turn with me to the book of acts in chapter seven there is a faithful man named stephen. I'm going to read a sizable portion of this because it gives an accounting for some of the reasons that the lord is very angry with our fathers.

This is stephen's incredible little sermon and it's a condensation really of the history of israel. I'm going to read it quickly. I want you to stay with me that we understand the basis of god's anger and judgment.

He says brethren and fathers listen. This is verse two of chapter seven. The god of glory appeared to our father abraham when he was in mesopotamia before he dwelt in haran and said to him get out of your country and from your relatives and come to a land that i will show you.

Then he came out of the land of the chaldeans and dwelt in haran. And from there when his father was dead he moved him to this land in which you now dwell. The place that they are standing. The audience is hearing zechariah is at least a significant realization of the abrahamic promise regarding the land.

They've just been in exile. They've just been under the tyranny. They've not lived in the land. Their place has been torn up and vandalized and they've been away from their land. And now god has brought them back.

Verse five. God gave him no inheritance in it not even to set his foot on. But even when abraham had no child he promised to give it to him for a possession and to his descendants after him. But god spoke in this way that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them 400 years.

That's egypt. So we have egypt assyria and babylon right now. We have a friendly relationship contextually with zechariah with persia and cyrus now darius. But there's going to be another oppressor called rome.

They're going to come in. You can say the church today lives under the oppression of hostile regimes against god. Wouldn't you say this is. This is not unusual for the people of god to experience this.

His descendants are dwelling in a foreign land. They would bring them into bondage oppress them 400 years. And the nation to whom they will be in bondage. I will judge said god after that they shall come out and serve me in this place.

Remember that's how it's posed in in exodus. They've got to be released from egyptian bondage that they might return to the lord and worship. That's why they have to return. They have to get out of there because under that heavy system they couldn't freely worship the lord.

Verse 8. Then he gave the covenant of circumcision and so abraham begot isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day. And isaac begot jacob. And jacob begot the 12 patriarchs. And the patriarchs becoming envious sold joseph into egypt but god was with him and delivered him out of all of his troubles and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of pharaoh king of egypt.

And he made him governor over egypt and all his house. Now a famine and great trouble came over the land of egypt and canaan and our fathers found no sustenance. But when jacob heard that there was grain in egypt he sent out our fathers first.

And the second time joseph was made known to his brothers and joseph's family became known to the pharaoh and joseph sent and called his father jacob and all his relatives to him 75 people. So jacob went down to egypt and he died he and our fathers.

Now i want to stop here a reminder about how we look at history. If you're joseph and you love your family and you love your brothers and they sell you into slavery and you're thrown in prison and accused by potiphar's wife and all these things it all looks bad.

The next to last brother the son of jacob his imprisonment and slavery and trial became the salvation of the nation of israel. Our god works in mysterious ways. On the surface things could look very bad but we don't know what god is doing to redeem it and to to plan for the future.

Down to verse 17 when the time of the promise drew near which god had sworn to abraham the people grew and multiplied in egypt till another king arose who did not know joseph. This man dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers making them expose their babies so that they might not live.

At this time moses was born and was well pleasing to god and he was brought up in his father's house for three months. When he was set out pharaoh's daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son.

And moses was learned in all the wisdom of the egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. When he's 40 years old it came into his heart to visit the brethren the children of israel and seeing one of them suffer wrong he defended and avenged him who was oppressed and struck down the egyptian presuppose that his brethren would have understood that god would deliver them by his hand but they did not understand.

And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them saying men you are brethren why do you wrong one another. But when he did this his neighbor who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away saying who made you a ruler and judge over us.

Do you want to kill me as you did the egyptian yesterday. And at the saying moses fled and became a dweller in the land of midian where he had two sons doesn't seem like a very good life for moses. Verse 30.

When 40 years had passed the angel of the lord appeared to him in a flame of fire and a bush in the wilderness of mount sinai. When moses sought he marveled at the sight. And as he drew near to observe the voice of the lord came to him saying i am the god of your fathers the god of abraham of isaac and of jacob.