"A Stranger in a Foreign Land"

God’s Covenant Promise and the New Exodus in Christ

Well, we're not quite done with chapter 2 yet. We will save that very end of chapter 2 for next week, which is of course a very pivotal point in the story as it Prepares. The way for the self-revelation of God to Moses in chapter 3.

This morning we want to continue where we began last week in Exodus 2. We're reminded when we take a large step back that the great theme of chapter 1 has been the increasing affliction of God's people in the land of Egypt even as God had foretold it in Genesis 15 when the darkness fell upon Abram and God made the covenant with him.

He foretold that these very days would come that the people of God would be afflicted. But that he would bring them out with many great possessions. With the bondage of God's people were brought to see more of the storyline of Genesis in the book of Exodus more in other words of the fall and the serpentine kingdom that is at enmity with the kingdom of God and the results of the fall the sort of warped Brutal cruel effects of the fall amplified under the Tyranny of Pharaoh to the great wound of God's people.

We've seen the alienation between God and man alienation between man and his neighbor the very things that the revelation of the Ten Commandments seeks to address. What had once been a perfect society of Righteousness as we said last week in the Garden of Eden.

That perfect society between man and God and man and woman Has now been darkened blinded affections have been disordered man's nature has been stained by the effects of sin and the will of man has been put into bondage even as the Israelites are into the bondage of Pharaoh.

And we began last week with the birth of Moses and with the birth of Moses. We beheld the greater Deliverer who is to come unto us. A child is born a child is given for our Redemption a son born to deliver us from bondage.

We read last week that Pharaoh's daughter named the boy Moses meaning drawn out emblematic of the whole book of Exodus where God has drawn his people out of bondage drawn them out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage to take them in to the land of Promise.

And this of course reverberates to God's larger redemptive pattern where he is bringing a new Exodus in the person and work of Christ Jesus. That's a theme that we'll be tracing almost all the way through to the end this new exodus where God has brought us out of Our bondage and in the person and work of Christ in the great Deliverer He will bring us in to the land of promise.

Now. This also doesn't reverberate forward in a redemptive history. It also takes us back to the very beginning of Genesis. It's the reversal of the effects of the fall as a result of the fall in Edom Adam and Eve were drawn out of the place.

Of God's presence.

But then he covered them, of course sacrificially emblematic of the great sacrifice. Emblematic of the Deliverer who would come who would bring them back in to God's promise. God's presence the land the new heavens a new earth.

So all of these things are opening up as we begin and press forward in chapter 2 Moses was drawn out of the waters of death to save his people. He prefigures the experience of Israel as they're drawn through the waters of death and Brought to deliverance safe on the other side and also he prefigures the Lord Jesus.

Drawn out of the the waters of judgment drawn out of death. To save his people. Well this morning we want to consider this deliverer in more detail. We want to consider three vignettes of Moses that we have in verses 11 through 22.

Moses the Defender and the Question of Authority

First we'll see Moses as the defender. Second Moses as the deliverer. Third Moses as the stranger. So three vignettes and then lastly three applications to follow on. How we can have the faith of Moses.

Moses the defender the deliverer and the stranger. Moses the defender beginning in verse 11. Now it came to pass in those days when Moses was grown that he went out to his brethren and he looked at their burdens.

According to Stephen's summary in Acts chapter 7 Moses is now 40 years old. The last data we had on him was he was a three-month-old. Now he's 40. From the period the beginning of a new sentence. We have passed over decades of the life of Moses.

Whatever the day-to-day experience in his royal upbringing may have been were given almost no details whatsoever. Decades have passed by and we've found him at the age of 40. Going out from the palace to look at the burdens of his brethren.

Notice that that's how we pick up the life of Moses in verse 11. If you follow though, you know some arguments are made. This is a for instance Robert Alter who's famous for his work on translating the Old Testament different books of the Old Testament.

He argues that however a character is first introduced in terms of their first Activity that is meant to sort of give that the biggest picture of their character of their persona. So how a man is introduced in the narrative?

It's emblematic of the the sort of spinal cord of that man's integrity. And so perhaps that's going on here. Where do we pick up? Moses we passed by 40 years of his life. 40 years of Egyptian influence.

We begin in verse 11 not learning so much about Moses himself. But learning about the very concern of Moses for his brothers that is for his fellow Hebrews. That's how we pick up the life of Moses. Isn't that interesting?

We don't begin to have. You know 30 minutes of filler material of Moses chariot racing with his brother as the the famous Animated movie would have it we simply begin with this when Moses was grown 40 years old.

He went out to his brethren and he looked at their burdens. That's our introduction to Moses. He went out and he looked at the burdens of his brethren. He went out for this very purpose. He went out from the palace to look at the burdens the insufferable yoke of his fellow men Hebrews Israelites those of Abraham.

Now this prefigures God's activity. Maybe it's providential that we read all the way through chapter 2. It prefigures what God does the very end of this chapter. He sees as a result of hearing the groans hearing the cries.

He looks at the burdens of his people and that'll take us right in to chapter 3 and what God has been Preparing with with Moses. So Moses here is prefiguring the activity of the Lord. He goes out and he sees the burdens of his people and he wants to act.

God has put it on his heart to look at the burdens of his countrymen so that he might act. Here I am Lord. Send me is the subtext of Moses. Now some argue that this going out to see his people is an indication that he had become aware of God's purpose to rise him up as a deliverer.

In other words, there was something that took place within these 40 years. Whether it was the patient instruction and the patient testimony of Jochebed. Maybe it was more of a divine revelation or something that the Lord had placed upon him.

There's something that he understands. Perhaps scholars argue of his mission of his Destiny to be raised as a deliverer to his people as one who had been drawn out of death that he might draw them out.

Of death the text doesn't give us that but at least the text says this much. He never counted himself as an Egyptian. He counted himself as a Hebrew and the Hebrew were his brethren and he left the Egyptian Court to go look at the burdens of his brethren.

He would be numbered among them rather than numbered among the royal court of Pharaoh. Divine revelation or not He certainly has the Spirit of God prompting and guiding him To be filled not with desires for the pleasures of the palatial life.

But rather filled with a desire for his brethren's liberation. And what does he see when he goes out? He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way and when he saw no one He killed the Egyptian and hit him in the sand.

It's the same verb there for beating and killed. Maybe that means the Egyptian was in the process of killing or That Moses simply struck the Egyptian and it was more manslaughter than anything else. But of course we translate it as killed because he hides him in the sand as a result Moses goes out to see the burdens of his brothers and In seeing their plight he becomes incensed.

He looks around and he sees the misery the groaning that will be the chorus of chapter 2 that stirs God to act. Moses sees this and he's incensed. I Remember. Seeing this is some sort of dramatic recreation, but you can only imagine if you've ever seen the series band of brothers there's an episode where they liberate one of the concentration camps and They silently walk through Past the barracks barrack after barrack and they see the the miserable condition of the people.

You know, some are throwing up. No one's talking and there's a certain rage that's filling them a rage Toward even the townspeople this was going on all around them and they played ignorant to it. There's a rage That's building in Moses as he looks at the plight of his brothers the bondage that his fellow Hebrews are in.

And when he sees an Egyptian most likely a Slave master a taskmaster Mercilessly beating a Hebrew even nigh unto death. He looks this way. He looks that way. We'll talk about that in a moment. He sees no one.

And so he strikes back. He strikes back. Remember it's the same verb. And then killing the Egyptian II he hides the body in the sand he sees an Egyptian Beating one of his brothers. And what are the Hebrews think when they see Moses?

They probably think what the Midianites think when they see Moses, who's this Egyptian? He's dressed like an Egyptian. He walks like an Egyptian. He's as cultured and as educated as any Egyptian clearly.

He's an elite Egyptian. That's how they view him. But how is he viewing the Hebrews? These are my brothers. This is flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone and When he sees an Egyptian who looks like him Beating a Hebrew who looks nothing like him.

He counts himself. He numbers himself with the Israelites. He goes to deliver the Israelites. He turned thus and thus he watches as this beating is unfolding. What happened this week? Did anyone see the video of Tyree Nichols being beaten in Memphis?

Five officers. Five officers surrounding him beating him. It's sad that Tyree Nichols is being used as a political pawn that always happens. But let's not forget what actually took place. A young man's life was snuffed out by being beaten.

That's what Moses is seeing in this passage. He turned thus and thus. We automatically assume this means he was looking around to make sure he could do this little murder in secret. And as you're looking around okay, all right, I think it's safe.

I'm gonna take my activity that's possible. It seems to correspond to him hiding the body in the sand. But but another way of understanding him looking around is he's looking for someone to help. He's looking for someone to act.

He's looking for some authority to say stop. That's how some of the rabbis took it and of course they'd have good reasons to want to take it in that way. But we can go a step beyond the rabbis as we'll see shortly.

And so Ben Jacob argues it may mean he saw there was no one to do justice. And so he took it upon himself. He's looking left. He's looking right. Who is there to intervene. Who is there to deliver? Who is there to rescue when my brethren my my flesh are being crushed?

Like Isaiah 59 when the promise of the Redeemer is given to Zion the Lord saw it displeased him. There was no justice. There was no man. He wondered where is the intercessor? You have something like that going on here in Exodus 2.

Where's the man? He's looking left and right. Where's the intercessor? Where's the Redeemer come unto Zion? Now John Calvin he takes up Stephen's summary in Acts 7, which I think must be the definitive answer on this.

And we'll consider it shortly, but he says Stephen bears witness that Moses was not Impulsed by zeal rash zeal. To stay the Egyptian, but rather he knew he was divinely appointed To be the deliverer of his nation.

But then Calvin says and still he he looked about to see whether anyone would see him. He dared not to punish the wrongdoer except by a secret blow. And so Calvin's explanation is a he of course was righteous and he was a man of justice.

And this is on the way to him becoming the mighty deliverer of Israel. But at the same time Calvin says he wasn't a perfect man. And we clearly see here He had good intentions and he started out with the right desire and yet he went about it in the wrong way.

This is something that God's gonna have to work out in Midian. That's possible. That's possible. But Stephen says really nothing of the kind.

Now.

We'll get to Stephen in a moment, but let's just keep reading in our text verse 13. He went out the second day please notice that he went out the very next day and Behold two Hebrew men were fighting so you get the sense that he's going out Continually vexing himself burning himself with the condition of his people.

He goes out day by day Beseeching the Lord to act day by day seeking what he can do to deliver and behold two Hebrew men are fighting. And he said to the one who did the wrong. And he comes on to the scene and he's able to ascertain who is guilty.

Why are you striking your companion? He has a better sense of brotherhood than even these two Israelites. Why are you striking your companion? And they said He said who made you a prince and a judge over us.

Do you intend to kill me like you killed the Egyptian? So Moses feared and he said surely this thing is known and When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian.

Notice that first of all we begin he went out the second day he preferred to expose himself To these very risks these very possibilities. There's a documentary coming out might already be out. I saw the trailer for it the other day called the hard places about a missionary doctor who for decades lived in Afghanistan through all the turmoil of the 80s 90s 2000s and beyond and he stayed there To help heal.

He was an eye doctor enough ophthalmologist. But at the same time he was there ultimately to represent Jesus and to spread the gospel. He was in the hard place he put Himself in risk sway every day. And that's what Moses is doing the very next day.

And if he's around the day after that and the day after that he's in the hard places. Because he's driven out of a concern for his brothers. And of course, he's trying to reconcile The brothers that are fighting and he says to the guilty one.

Why are you striking your companion? You're looking at him the wrong way. Why are you treating him this way and the man simply replies who made you a prince and a judge.

Over us.

The word there is guilty. The one that was in the wrong the one that was guilty. It's. It's the language that belongs to the court. It's the language of a judge and. The issue that this man has is what authority do you have to speak to me or try to correct me now?

That's important in terms of the narrative when we get to chapter 5. That's the issue that Pharaoh has. Who gave you authority to come address me by what authority do you speak Yahweh? I do not know your God.

So the issue of authority is being front-loaded here in chapter 2 notice. It's among the Israelites themselves. This is going to be a recurring theme for the Israelites who gave you authority over us Moses.

Not just in Exodus, but in numbers as well all throughout numbers even Miriam. Even Aaron can begin to to question in great at the authority of Moses. Couldn't we do a little bit better than he. Couldn't we just take the reins for ourselves and God comes and his answer is not you know.

What. Miriam and Aaron you're thinking rightly you're thinking clearly you should be vindicated. Moses has had his day in the Sun. It's time for you to shine. No, what does he do?

Leprosy.

Cast out of the camp. Moses is forced to intercede for his sister. God is a god of order. God is a god of authority. He loves authority. Moses has come and he's using this language of the judge and the man replies who made you a ruler and a judge Over us.

Isn't that like a guilty person? Not actually dealing with their guilt or their offense. But simply hurling back the insult hurling back the offense at their accuser. Is that something that we as believers have been guilty?

If someone comes hopefully lovingly hope hopefully in a meek way, but maybe not. And They touch on the nerve of our offense. They expose something that we are guilty of. Are we able to stop our tongues and Stand and say you have spoken rightly.

Are we able to do Judah's confession? When it all comes tumbling out or do we hurl back? Who are you? How could you say that to me you of all people? Let's let's take a look at your life. What about this this this this the secret Rolodex we have on everyone to justify anything they might ever bring against us.

May it never be. The innocent man, of course was happy to have Moses come to save his skin. Now for some they argue Moses really wasn't authorized to take this matter into his own hands. Who made you a ruler.

Who made you a judge over us and and their answer is simply no one not yet. Not yet. No one has made Moses a judge yet, and then they'll go on to basically argue. Well, this is a great failure everything that begins before Midian is Moses well-intentioned attempt but ultimate failure to deliver his people and then God's gonna work him and prepare him in Midian to send him back and Actually through God's grace and God's might Moses will be a success for others and I tend to be more on the latter side.

Of it.

He's the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He can intervene with authority with impunity. He can pretty much do as he pleases if he would like to kill one of his servants. Not a question will be asked. Usually a royal figure a figure associated with a royal court could escape almost any social consequence including accusing or judging others.

Impromptu including including even beating to death in.

Underling.

Moses really could have handled this any way he pleased but the the sticking point is what the writer of Hebrews says in 1124 The sticking point is that Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

If he had clung to that impunity he could have been Half royal Egyptian elite and then to soothe his conscience half Charity worker and social worker to the Israelites. He could have had his cake and eat it too, but notice Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

He didn't want any association with Pharaoh's court whatsoever. So he was on his own. He wasn't accepted by the Israelites clearly. Neither was he accepted by the Egyptians clearly. We could say he was a man of sorrow well acquainted with grief a man who in different ways Didn't have the holes that foxes have or the nests that birds have.

He had nowhere to lay his head. There was a rift in other words that had already been Tearing Moses away from Pharaoh's court and it's not very hard then for Pharaoh to treat Moses like a renegade. When he caught wind of what Moses had done he sought to kill him.

Moses had already left the court decades before first of all in his affections in his mind and heart and then quite physically he left the court going out to unite himself to the plight of his People and then that brought the the tyranny and the rage of Pharaoh against him and he had to flee to Midian In any case we see here an attitude Against Moses that reminds us of an attitude against the greater Moses Jesus.

Who are you.

To be a ruler over us. Who are you to be a judge of us? Stephen and Stephen's great speech when he's summarizing The very events that we've been reading in Genesis and Exodus in Acts chapter 7. He's all over this and he's insinuating something about the Jews rejection of Jesus.

The next day he appeared right he captures the details that are significant to the way he's reporting the narrative. The next day this was intentional. The next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting and tried to reconcile them.

Very important vocabulary there for the early Christians. Here has come the deliverer seeking to reconcile the brethren. Here's Stephen as Men are standing with stones in their hand up across from him.

Men, you are brethren. Why do you wrong one another? But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away saying who made you a ruler and a judge over us. So Stephen is insinuating don't you see that's what you've done to the Lord Jesus if that's not clear Acts chapter 7 and 35.

Stephen even goes further this Moses whom they rejected saying who made you a ruler and a judge is the one God Sent to be a ruler and a deliverer. So they're rejecting the very one that God had appointed to rule them to deliver them.

They reject the authority even as they had done before. Stephen is simply saying you are as the Israelites were even in Exodus chapter 2 you reject the authority Of the one that God has appointed. You reject his rule in your life.

You will not have him over you. That's the issue. What I love about Stephen's summary overall is that the picture we get in my mind the way I Understand the narrative and the way the narrative is flowing and the way it's taken up by Stephen as we're not to see here Moses as the failure.

Moses tucking his tail between his legs and running to Midian. No, no, no, we're looking at by faith Moses even here in Exodus chapter 2. What we see is not Moses the murderer. Trusting in the flesh and needing to go to Midian to learn how to trust in the Lord.

I don't think that's what the narrative is giving us. What we see is Moses the defender. Moses the defender prefiguring God the avenger of his people. Stephen's summary in Acts 7 if we begin in verse 22 Moses was learned and all the wisdom of the Egyptians was mighty in words and deeds and when he was 40 years old that came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel and Seeing one of them suffer wrong right one of them suffer injustice.

He defended he avenged him who was oppressed. He struck down the Egyptian. This is something laudatory. Stephen is saying this is exemplary of what Jesus has done and of what Jesus will do. He will defend and avenge those who are repressed.

He will strike down the enemy of his people if you don't get that out of Exodus. You've missed the entire narrative. Moses here is prefiguring the activity of God and then Stephen goes on to explain. For Moses supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand but they did not understand and Again, Stephen is insinuating.

You don't understand. Still you don't see how a greater Moses has come and you don't see the deliverance that he has wrought. You don't see the fierce way that he will defend and avenge his own. So Moses is first and foremost the defender.

Moses the Deliverer and the Stranger in a Foreign Land

Second Moses is the deliverer beginning in verse the last part of verse 15. He flees pharaoh. He he flees to Midian and he sat down by a well. He settled by a well. And the priest of Midian had seven daughters.

Woof, I want to talk to that dad someday. How did that go? Raising seven girls and they came and they drew water and they filled the troughs to water with their father's flesh. Then the shepherds came and drove them away.

But Moses stood up helped them and watered their flock and when they came to rule their father He said how is it you've come so soon today and they said in Egyptian and still walking and looking like an Egyptian.

Delivered us from the hand of the shepherds and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock. So we have another meeting at the well. We think immediately of Abraham's servant fetching Rebecca in Genesis 24.

We think of Jacob and Rachel meeting at the well in Padma Ram and Genesis 29. Of course in the ancient Near East water Is a priority and the need for water brings people together. You want to have a dwelling place if not by a body of water than at least by a well.

You would know the wells like I used to know all the McDonald's Fast-food places within a 20 mile radius. Which one was closest at any point on a street when I could eat that way this probably has the same sense of Dwelling rather than he went and sat on a well.

This is probably he came and he dwelt by this. Well, this is kind of the place he went but Moses the defender. Moses the just man. Moses the righteous man when he sees oppression when he sees injustice he is provoked to Interact and that's what he sees here.

He sees these seven daughters coming and filling the trough for their flocks to feed and the shepherds come in and go. Thanks for doing all the heavy lifting now Scram while we use up all the water that you poured and until they're done and they leave these poor sisters have to do it.

All over again. So the fact that Moses stands up and delivers them from this Bullying this brutality of the shepherds shows he has another opportunity. To be a defender it shows his character again. This is what the narrative is trying to present once a defender always a defender once he numbered his lot.

With the oppressed he will always number his lot with the oppressed. The verb here is so interesting.

For.

Deliver.

Well, the first thing that we read is he drove them away and it's kind of an Unusual verb he he drove them away drove the shepherds away. Well, first of all, can we just take note of that? This is shepherds in the plural Moses in the singular.

He drove them away pretty tough guy. When Moses is called a mighty warrior, that's pretty impressive. Here's these shepherds and they can pick on seven sisters but one man stands up and they all run away and Sometimes that's what it takes is is one man standing up and even plural enemies will scatter.

And we see that here with Moses. He drives them away and and the Hebrew verb. It's somewhat unique. It's by Gershom. And you'll notice that Gershom Driven away. It's part of how he names his son when we get to the very end.

He names his son Gershom. Because he was a stranger in a foreign land in other words because he had been driven out of his abode driven out of his Desired dwelling place and so here we have this sort of forecasted.

He drove out the shepherds as one who had been driven out himself and he's reminded of that fact. He's as a stranger, but then he saves them. And that is meant to present Moses not only as a defender But as a deliverer.

Choice words and the verb here is very clear He saved them but the root word there is he delivered them. So again, we're getting this picture of Moses being prepared to be the deliverer of his people.

He's not ready yet to be sent by God. We have to get through chapter 3. He has to encounter the revelation of God's presence so that he can be fully equipped and prepared to walk before him as his mouthpiece and as the one who will do his Mighty deeds in the land of Egypt.

He's not yet ready. But he's still a deliverer in the making and even when it's just a handful of shepherds Moses is learning what it is to deliver the oppressed to not lose heart and to not be filled with fear.

But to stand with courage. So lastly we see Moses as the stranger Ruel who in chapter 3 verse 1 we see his other name Jethro. Not uncommon for figures to have more than one name. Ruel could have been a title.

It simply means friend of God. He's a priest of Midian that could have been some sort of title or a way of understanding his role as a priest. The issue comes up. Would he have been a worshiper of Yahweh or would he have been a Idolatrous priest a priest of false gods.

Text doesn't spell this out. But Jethro is always presented in a positive light. Calvin basically says. Surely there must have been some mixture of confusion because of the darkness of the time. But but he argues Jethro would have been one that had received the revelation.

Maybe even the Midianites are offspring of Abraham through Keturah. So there was some testimony some witness of which Jethro Understands he is a priest to the same God as Moses though Moses will know far more about God as one who speaks with him face to face.

Now again, the text doesn't say all we can say is Jethro is never Maligned in the text. He's presented as a man of integrity and as a good friend of God and of Moses. There's a parallel here with Joseph.

Well, let me read the text he said to his daughters, where is he? This guy chased away all these shepherds from you. You couldn't even invite him over for lasagna. Where is this guy? Don't you know? Thank you note something.

Where is he? Why is it you've left the man? This is the kind of man I'd like to have as a son-in-law by the way, uh-huh. Um. Call him that he can eat bread. Have you considered my daughters? Moses was content to live with the man.

The one who had grown up. With the most ornate, you know. Have you been looking at some of the news headlines even this week new tombs being discovered new necropoly being discovered in Egypt? Treasures and these are not the highest level officials.

These are Wardens and lower level magistrates and and the most ornate tomb most ornate decorations. Golden emblems wound into linen preserved in these coffin. Moses grew up in splendor Ostrich feathers every dainty from across the the farthest fringes of the Egyptian Empire.

The things that could spoil if they weren't brought before him within a few days time. He had everything at his immediate command. But where is he content to dwell? He wasn't content to dwell there. He was content to dwell in a tent in the desert.

Amazing meekness amazing humility as we'll see he was content to live with the man and Ruel gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses and she bore him a son and he called his name Gershon for he said I've been a stranger in a foreign land.

Isn't it interesting this parallel with Joseph who was also raised up as a deliverer of God's people? Saved them from the clutch of the famine from the certain death of the famine and he was brought into a foreign land and He married the daughter of a priest.

So Genesis 41 here showing up in Exodus 2 the great theme the great emphasis of course is Ending with Gershon and the reason that Moses names his firstborn Gershon is because he recognizes I have been a stranger in a foreign land.

Now on the surface of things we simply want to say yes, it's very sad Moses. You had your home all set up in Egypt and you had everything going very well for you. But then some accident happened and you had to run away and now you're a stranger in a land that doesn't belong to you here.

You are in Midian. But we know enough of the story and we have enough evidence from Hebrews 11 to know that is not The case here that is not the significance of Gershon. Moses is not a stranger because he can't return to Egypt.

He's a stranger in a foreign land. Because the only land in which he would be home is the land that God had promised to Abraham Isaac and Jacob. That is his home. That is the country that he seeks and beyond that and the largest scale he seeks the city.

Promised in that land the city whose builder and maker is God. These all we read it at the beginning right speaking of the the pre patriarchal narrative in Genesis. These all died in faith. Not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them embraced them.

Confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Moses is confessing like they did that. He's a stranger and a pilgrim on the earth. Even though he's content now to dwell in Midian even Midian is not his home.

He's a stranger in a foreign land. He confesses. I'm a pilgrim on the earth. I'm looking for that which God has promised. And so Calvin I think rightly says Moses declares that land which he had found apparently a peaceful resting place and a pleasant home.

To be strange to him. Here I am content and Here, I'm still a stranger. Here is not where I ultimately want to reside. Here's not where I'm ultimately made whole here is not where my ultimate hope lies.

I'm a pilgrim. I'm a stranger in this place. Now in a certain sense, this is true of all men. All men are indeed strangers and sojourners. Thomas Manton the great Puritan said all men indeed are strangers.

But the Saints best discern it and most freely acknowledge it. Wicked men have no firm dwelling on the earth. But that is against their every intention their inward thought and desires that they may abide here forever.

I remember being in a taxicab in San Antonio a few years ago and The person driving the taxicab was was going on about CRISPR and genetic sequencing and said, you know. The rumors are the first immortal has been born among us.