Summary You are letting your guard down to leavening, but keep your guard up to sin. Accompanied by a powerpoint presentation. Download Link Right click and "Save as..." to Download

 

---

The Sin Awareness Zone

 

I don’t know how many of you have ever been up our way. I live in Maryland. I live between Ocean City and Salisbury, just off of route 50.And as Mr. Bruton was saying, he wasn’t sure if Delmar was in Delaware or Maryland. Actually, it’s right on the line. Part of it’s in Maryland and part of it’s in Delaware. Where the church meets, we’re in Delaware. But it’s as far from the line as from here to the parking lot. It’s really, really close.

 

If any of you have ever been up that way and been along route 50, you may have traveled a stretch of highway between the cities of Cambridge and Easton. Between those two cities there’s a little town called Trap. There’s an interesting sign as you’re going down the highway, just before you come into the town of Trap. I’d like to show you a picture of the sign. There it is. As you’re coming into the area you see this sign that says, “WARNING – SPEED AWARENESS ZONE – NEXT 3 MILES”. It is a special enforcement area. It’s an interesting sign. They’re actually telling you that you better watch your speed for the next 3 miles, because we’re certainly watching you. There are special pavement markings through this area to get your attention. You go over these bumps in the road. And if you’re going too fast you hear this, buh-bump buh-bump buh-bump buh-bump. If you’re going the right speed it’s more like, buh-bump… buh-bump… buh-bump. It kind of gets your attention and shakes you out of your dream-state or your hypnosis or whatever when you’re driving down the highway; to let you know that, hey, you’ve got to watch how fast you’re going. You’ve got to be aware of what your speed is.

 

They even have another little gadget there. It’s called a radar sign. You’ve probably seen these. They tell you what the speed limit is and they tell you what your speed is. When we came across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel last night, there were, I think, three of them, as we came across. I know the first one wasn’t working too well because my cruise control was set on 55 and it told me I was doing 66; and I know that wasn’t right. The other two were accurate but that one seemed to be a little off. But supposedly these things do work and they let you know what your speed is in the hopes that it will get you to slow down.

 

These signs cause the average vehicle – according to studies. You know how studies are, you know about statistics. They say 72.8% of all statistics are made up on the spot. Well, they say that it causes the average vehicle to slow down by 10 to 20 percent, and that the compliance with the local speed is said to go up between 30 and 60 percent – when you see one of these signs and you’re alerted to your speed. Most drivers at this point begin to take notice. When you drive through this area, you see this sign, you take notice. You look down at your speedometer, if for no other reason, just to check the sign and see if it’s accurate. But we go into this special enforcement area. The intent is to heighten the awareness to ones speed. How do one of these signs cause the traffic to calm down and promote safety? Well, this is what the report says, the study that was done. It says, radar signs driver feedback signs give drivers notice that they are speeding. The driver feedback sign shifts the brain out of the alpha state where the brain is aware but relaxed and into the beta state where the brain is alert and focused. As a result, the driver responds to the flashing speed alert and slows down. Tests repeatedly show that speeders will slow down over 80% of the time when alerted by a driver feedback sign. Typical speed reductions are 10 to 20 percent and overall compliance with the posted speed limit will go up by 30 to 60 percent.

 

Well, that’s all well and good. But I find it very interesting what happens when you come to the end of the 3 mile stretch that is labeled speed enforcement area. There’s another sign: END SPEED AWARENES ZONE. OK. Does this mean I don’t need to be aware any longer? Does this mean I can floor it now? The speed limit which, by the way, through that 3 mile stretch is 55, is still 55, even beyond this sign. Do I no longer need to be aware though? Is that what this sign is telling me? It almost seems as if this were a license to fly. Now I think we all know that the speed limit is still going to be enforced beyond this point. I don’t think any of us are naïve enough to think that there aren’t any cops outside of this special enforcement area. It just doesn’t work that way. Of course, the speed limit will still be enforced beyond this point. But for the past 3 miles we have been made aware of our compliance to the speed limit. After you pass through that 3 mile stretch it is up to the driver to remain aware.

 

Tonight after sunset many of us will be making our annual trip to the grocery store to restock. I think Mr. Satterwhite, this morning, didn’t you say it was 25 minutes to 7? OK. I was wondering if when I crossed the bridge-tunnel I had changed time zones or something. Where I live, it’s about 7:30. But we’re going to be making a trip to the store tonight to restock the bread and the pies and the pastries and all the things that we’ve been doing without for the past week. For the past week we have been in a LEAVEN AWARENESS ZONE. Every trip to the grocery store has involved a lot of label reading, has it not? You have to check everything before you buy it. And for 7 days we’ve been eating unleavened bread and that helps us to take notice. It helps us to think about things. Helps us to think about what it means. We’re on guard against anything that looks puffed up. I can tell you there are a lot of things that aren’t leavened that they sure look leavened to me. If you read the ingredients, it proves it. It tells you whether it is or not.

 

But we had this heightened awareness for 7 days about leavened products, about leavening itself. And so we’ve been on guard against anything that looks like it’s leavened. So, now in a few hours we’re going to be restocking our bread and our muffins. When we go to the grocery store and we pick up that first loaf of bread, it might seem a little strange. We might think, am I doing something wrong? It might seem a little odd because we haven’t done it in a week. But that feeling will quickly fade as we go through the store and we begin to let our guard down toward leavening.

 

As leaven typifies sin, you can say that we’ve also for the past 7 days, been in a SIN AWARENESS ZONE. We’ve examined ourselves prior to the Passover to find what our faults were. We’ve tried to determine what needs changing. These Days of Unleavened Bread have hopefully helped us to become aware of where the greatest change is needed. We’ve begun to take notice of, and start working on our sinful nature. We’ve begun to take note of what attitudes we need to get rid of. Do you have a bitter attitude? Do you have a problem with another member perhaps? Do you have a…? Whatever - whatever situation you might have; whatever you found when you were examining yourself. You now know what that problem is and you know what you need to get rid of.

 

Tonight as sunset we’re going to be exiting the SIN AWARENESS ZONE. But just like the speed limit, God’s Law is still in effect. Even once we get past that sign that says END SIN AWARENESS ZONE, if you will, God’s Law is still in effect. And we need to continue taking note of what we’re doing. And are we in compliance with God’s Law? We’ve been made aware of the changes we need to make. The changes aren’t going to make themselves. That’s where self-discipline comes in. We need to discipline ourselves. What does Paul say in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 27? This is what we need to say. This is the attitude we need to have.

 

1 Cor:9:27But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.

 

We certainly don’t want to be disqualified. We don’t want to let our guard down. We want to keep ourselves disciplined. Exercise that self-discipline to keep the sin out of our lives. To continue even though we’re out of this awareness zone, to keep in mind what it is we’re changing; what it is we need to change. And never forget that, because, we can let our guard down against leaven. But we can never let our guard down against the sin that it represents.

 

I’d like to talk a little about the Israelites and their plight in Egypt, and specifically their escape from Egypt. Did any of you see The 10 Commandments on television Saturday night? I think it was on ABC. I think every time we see it, we notice a few more things that might be a little inaccurate – I don’t know. We just are more educated each time we see it or just what. I watched a little bit of it. I didn’t watch too much because I was putting this together and it kind of tied in. And I thought, I would just look to see how much did it agree with what I’m going to talk about in the remainder of the sermon.

 

As captives in Egypt the Israelites had gotten far away from God. They had lost contact with Him. Being in Egypt for so long they had been exposed to many false gods, many pagan gods. And they apparently didn’t even know who the true God was. Exodus 3 verse 13. It seems by this verse that Israel didn’t even know who God was, at that point.

 

Exo:3:13And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? Then Moses said to God, Indeed when I come to the children of Israel and say to them the God of your fathers has sent me to you. And they say to me, What is His name? What shall I say to them?

 

Now the Israelites were familiar with the Egyptian gods. And each one of these gods had a name. But the God of Moses, they didn’t have a name for Him. What is His name? Perhaps they didn’t even know Him at all. I’m sure that the vast majority of them were far from God. Because Egypt was a polytheistic society with many gods and the Israelites needed to understand that there was only one true God. I don’t think they understood that. Moses expected that the people would not listen to him. Exodus chapter 4 verse 1. God is telling Moses that he is going to lead the people. What does Moses say?

 

Exo:4:1-4[1]And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.[2]And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.[3]And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it.[4]And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: Moses answered and said, but suppose they will not believe me or will not listen to my voice? Suppose they say, the Lord has not appeared you. So the Lord said to him, What is that in your hand? He said, A rod. He said, Cast it to the ground. So he cast it to the ground and it became a serpent. And Moses fled from it. And the Lord said to Moses, Reach out your hand, take it by the tail.

 

Have any of you ever tried to catch a snake by the tail? It’s not easy to do. I’ve tried it. It’s not easy to do.

 

Exo:4:4-5[4]And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand:[5]That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. …Reach out your hand and take it by the tail. And he reached out his hand and he caught it and it became a rod in his hand. [So the snake turned back into a rod.] That they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob has appeared to you.

 

Israel was introduced to the power of the true God.

 

Exo:4:29-31[29]And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel:[30]And Aaron spake all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people.[31]And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped. Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. So the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, that He had looked at their affliction, they then bowed their heads and worshipped.

 

In the coming days, Israel would witness 9 plagues to come upon the land. They would see some very amazing things that God was doing – Plagues that were coming upon Egypt. Israel had entered a special area. They had entered the GOD AWARENESS ZONE. They were being made aware of the true God; and Moses was showing them.

 

When the Passover night came and that tenth plague was about to strike the firstborn of the land of Egypt, Israel was given specific instructions. They were told what to do. They were told what not to do. They were to paint the blood on the doorposts of their homes. They were not to go outside. And by so doing, they were spared. Failure to follow God’s word specifically would certainly result in death. That night Israel saw God’s power as the firstborn of the Egyptians died. But the blood on their doorposts kept their families safe. They were beginning to take notice now of God. They were beginning to become aware of God. They were in the GOD AWARENESS ZONE.

 

Well as time went on – of course, you know the story – they plundered the Egyptians, they went out with a mighty hand, and they began their journey out of Egypt. When they reached the Red Sea, that’s when they really saw the power of God first-hand.

 

Exo:14:13-14[13]And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.[14]The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord that He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace.

 

Israel was backed into a tight spot. In front of them was the sea. Behind them was a narrow canyon with mountains on both sides. Nowhere to go. And they could hear the thundering of the hooves of the horses and the sound of the chariots pursuing them. And they got scared. Moses said, don’t be afraid. Today you’re really going to see the power of God. You’re going to be made aware of what He can do, and how He is going to lead you out of Egypt forever.

 

We’ve traditionally believed that the Red Sea crossing occurred on the last day of Unleavened Bread. There’s been much discussion lately about where this crossing actually took place. Let me show you another picture. This is the region of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the entire Middle Eastern area. If you look at…you can see the Nile River, you can see the delta where it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Hopefully this will reach. The Israelites were in this general area. There was a lot of discussion about where did Israel cross the Red Sea. There are some people today who believe that it really wasn’t the Red Sea, but it was something called the Sea of Reeds which is like a marshy area; which really wouldn’t take much parting to get it to where you could walk across. And it really wouldn’t be deep enough to drown the Egyptians, their horses, and to bog down their chariots. The Reed Sea is an area that they determined was right around here – actually, I’m sorry, it was right around here. Right about where the Suez Canal is today. Of course, that wasn’t there back then. The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean down with the Red Sea, but it wasn’t there then – it was just a marshy area. And some people believe that was where the crossing took place. Some people believe that they came down and crossed here.

 

I’m going to show you something today. This is the Red Sea. These two fingers that come off of the Red Sea to the north, today, are not called the Red Sea. Now in those days it was all called the Red Sea. This body of water is called the Gulf of Suez. This body of water is the Gulf of Aqaba. Now it is commonly believed that the Israelites crossed over and ended up in this area where it is believed that Mt. Sinai was. I’m here to tell you that I don’t think that’s the way it was. What if we said that the Israelites came down here and crossed the Gulf of Aqaba instead?

 

We have an interesting tool that we can use today. It’s called Google Earth. You can go on there and you can look at the shoreline of the Gulf of Suez. You’ll be hard pressed to find any place along there that is not rocky and mountainous. You’d be hard pressed to find any place where two million Israelites could have possibly assembled before crossing. No place that meets the criteria of the canyon and the mountains and the sea all coming together. I don’t believe that’s where they crossed. Here’s a blow-up of the area. I’m losing things…here we go. I’m not used to this. I’m not even used to amplification. In Delmar we just speak; we don’t even amplify. I’ve been hearing this echo. I’m submitting to you that the Israelites crossed right here.

 

Now there’s no Biblical proof of that other than the fact that – like I say – if you go on Google Earth and see that there is really no place that fits the description. But let’s see. There’s a mountain range across that peninsula that has several canyons. It would make it easy to travel through those canyons and make it over from the top of the Gulf of Suez over to the middle of the Gulf of Aqaba; very easy to do that. This is a spot on the Gulf of Aqaba. Notice the large beach area on the western side. Now some of the major canyons across this peninsula today, are highways. And one of them is at least part of what is today called highway 35. Highway 35 goes up the coast like so. It passes this beach area which is called Nuweiba. It’s interesting that older maps gave the full name of this time. The name was at one time Nuweiba al Musaina. Anybody know what that means? The Waters of Moses’ Opening, or, The Waters of Moses’ Crossing, by some translations. The beach at the town of Nuweiba could very well be the spot where Moses gathered two million people. You can see the canyon coming right down to the beach area. We read that what God did was He blocked the Egyptians with a pillar of fire. They couldn’t get through the fire. They couldn’t see the Israelites on the other side. They could just see this fire blocking their way. While the Israelites were making preparation to cross the sea while the wind was picking up and the water was being blown back.

 

It just so happens that in this particular location, if you were to cross the Red Sea in just that spot, or the Gulf of Aqaba as it’s called today, the water is much more shallow there than anywhere else in that entire body of water. There is a land bridge underwater. It is a…I suppose it’s sediment. You can see the canyon there where it comes down onto the beach and it looks a lot like, almost like the Nile delta; how the water from the Nile comes down and the deposits settle. Down in New Orleans we have the Mississippi delta which pretty much does the same thing. You get this delta area. And it looks like that’s what’s happened here geologically. And as that sediment goes down into the sea, it would certainly create a more shallow bottom than in other parts of that body of water. It’s also a lot easier to get down into the bottom of that body of water because the slope is not so steep. Anywhere else along the shoreline of these bodies of water it would be a steep climb. And I think it would be pretty difficult for two million people to do that with their livestock, with their young, with the elderly. I don’t think it would be too easy to do. And it would be totally impossible for Egyptian chariots to cross from such a rocky location. This spot – ideal. This spot meets all the criteria.

 

So the pursuing Egyptians would have come down this canyon, if this indeed were the spot. And I’m not saying it is for sure, but it certainly seems as though it probably very well could be. And they would come to a place which is called Pihahiroth. In verse 1 of chapter 14, let’s make it verse 9 of chapter 14.

 

Exo:14:9But the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon. So the Egyptians pursued them all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baalzephon.

 

I’m suggesting that this spot is what they called Pihahiroth. The translation of Pihahiroth is, the mouth, or hole, of a canyon. Verse 19.

 

Exo:14:19-20[19]And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:[20]And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. And the angel of God who went before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them. And a pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. [So it came between the camp f the Egyptians and the camp of Israel] Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all night.

 

I think you would agree that if there were a tremendous fire at this location, anyone who was coming down the canyon would be cut off from the beach and the two would not be able to get to each other.

 

This is what the area looks like today. There are hotels. There are resorts. There are cruise ships. It’s a popular place. I might want to go there sometime. Looks pretty interesting.

 

Near this location is what very well could be a monument. There’s a red granite pillar of Hebrew design that is approximately 3000 years old. Again, we’ll go to Google Earth. I believe that’s it right there. I can blow this up. There we go. There’s a pillar right here. A granite pillar that could very well mark the spot where Israel crossed. Interestingly enough, a similar pillar was found on the other side. Now the pillar on the Egyptian side had no inscriptions. It was found lying in the water and has been since replaced and set back upright. The pillar on the other side, which is in Saudi Arabia, has inscriptions on it. The words written on that pillar were Pharaoh, Mizraim – which is the name for Egypt, Moses, death, water, Yahweh, Solomon – who was not even born yet when this crossing took place, and Edom. It is believed that Solomon placed these pillars to mark this spot where the Israelites crossed the sea. It’s interesting to note that the Bible actually talks about a pillar. Don’t know if it’s talking about this one, or one yet future that hasn’t been placed yet.

 

Isa:19:19In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD. In that day there will be an alter to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt. And a pillar to the Lord at its border.

 

Perhaps it’s talking about this pillar. We don’t know. But it’s also interesting that divers have gone down in the water at this location and have found artifacts that include something that very well could be wagon wheels, chariot wheels. They have found gold. They have found parts of chariots. They have found bones. They have found bones that are human. They have found bones that are from horses. So it certainly seems that the evidence has been building. But there are claims – there was a man by the name of Ron Wyatt who was an archeologist. And back in the 70’s he did some exploration there. He did some diving. And he found these thing under the water. Most of them have been left alone. They would be destroyed if they were moved. The coral has pretty much covered everything. Any wood that was in these wheels has long been fossilized and turned into stone. But the shape is intact and the metal is intact. And if you see some of the pictures, it certainly does look like chariot wheels.

 

As I was watching the movie the other night I looked at the chariot wheels. I focused on that, to see if it looked like the pictures that I saw from the bottom of the sea where they were discovered. Seemed to be pretty similar, pretty similar. That was the actual style of chariot that was used by the Egyptians back then. And so it’s very, very possible that this is the area where Israel saw the Egyptians for the last time.

 

While they were standing on that beach they were aware of who was following them. They were aware of Egypt. They were in an EGYPT AWARENESS ZONE – Egypt being a type of sin. It typifies us being in the SIN AWARENESS ZONE. Once they crossed the sea, the seven days of Unleavened Bread would be over. They would be coming out of that EGYPT AWARENESS ZONE. They would have come totally out of sin once they reached the other side.

 

Their passage through the Red Sea, as we read in First Corinthians 10, was a form of baptism. Let’s look at that.

 

1 Cor:10:1Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud. All passed through the sea. All were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

 

There’s a picture of the pillar that stands on the beach at Nuweiba. You can see that there are no inscriptions on it. Either the Egyptians removed them – because after all this was one of their greatest defeats – or perhaps time and weather has eroded them away. I mentioned that this pillar was actually found in the water, lying down. So it’s not certain just why the inscriptions aren’t on it. From the Saudi side the inscriptions were there.

 

Thus Israel crossed the sea, wherever it was – whether it was in this location or somewhere else, they were entering a new life. They had now come out of the EGYPT AWARENESS ZONE. They had been made aware of God – the true God – and now they are entering new life.

 

Exo:15:1-2[1]Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.[2]The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord and spoke saying, I will sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously. The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. He is my God and I will praise Him, my father’s God and I will exalt Him.

 

Exo:15:18The LORD shall reign for ever and ever. The Lord shall reign forever and ever.

 

The people had been made aware of who God was and what He was capable of doing. They had that same zeal that many people have when they are first baptized. Certainly they had just come through the sea and that was their baptism. And they had been cleansed of their captors. They had been cleansed of Egypt and the sin that it represents. And they were happy, they were jubilant. They were singing and dancing. God had just taken care of them in a dramatic way. And they were excited about having such a powerful God on their side. And so God immediately makes an agreement with them.

 

Exo:15:22-26[22]So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.[23]And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.[24]And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?[25]And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,[26]And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee. 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. 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. And the people complained against Moses saying, What shall we drink. 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 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 that I have put on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.

 

God has shown that He intends to take care of them. They have now been made aware of God and now they are learning that this God is going to protect them and take care of them. All they need to do is trust Him and obey Him. Pretty simple, huh? All they need to do is trust Him and obey Him. And so God and Israel enter into a covenant together. But it seems like Israel had a short memory, doesn’t it? Whenever things went wrong they complained to Moses. They started griping. That zeal quickly faded as they lost sight of God’s presence. They were now away from that EGYPT AWARENESS ZONE – sin wasn’t pursuing them any longer. And suddenly they’re going back into their old ways – how it was before they knew God. They lost sight of His presence. Not that God wasn’t there; they just weren’t looking. They just weren’t looking. They were no longer in the GOD AWARENESS ZONE. They began to desire to return to their old way of life.

 

Num:14:1-4[1]And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.[2]And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness![3]And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?[4]And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried. And all the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation said to them, If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness. Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.

 

They had forgotten what God had done for them, how He got them out of Egypt. Two years had gone by when they said this. And as I said, they had forgotten how bad things were. They were just like the motorist who gets past the special enforcement area, who is happy to comply when the law might be watching. But once beyond, it’s petal to the metal. Until you get caught, and then it’s, Oh, I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean to do it.

 

Because the spies who had gone in to search out the land came back with an evil report, Israel couldn’t enter the land. God tells them that because this was their reaction when they saw the people that inhabited the land where they were going, that they would not enter.

 

Num:14:29Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me. The carcasses of you who have complained against me shall fall in this wilderness. All of you who are numbered according to your entire number from 20 years old and above.

 

Only those who were younger than 20 years old would have the chance to enter the promised land, but only after everyone else had lived their lives in the wilderness and then died. Only then did they acknowledge their sin.

 

Num:14:39-40[39]And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly.[40]And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. Then Moses told these words to the children of Israel and the people mourned greatly. They rose early in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain saying, Here we are and we will go up to the place which the Lord has promised. For we have sinned.

 

Now they’ve acknowledged that they’ve done wrong. But it’s too late. They insist on entering the land. They just didn’t get it. They weren’t allowed to now. They were going to have to live out their lives in the wilderness and their children and their grandchildren would go in. The penalty had to be paid. It was too late for them.

 

When we were baptized, we started out with zeal and excitement. But God knows how human beings have a tendency to be forgetful, and how we tend to get off course. And so He gives us an annual festival. He gives us seven days every year to reflect on where we’re supposed to be and how far off course have we gotten. He gives us this course correction where we examine ourselves and determine how much progress we’re making. Are we closer to God now than we were a year ago? We have this AWARENESS ZONE that He gives us so that we can get back on track, so that we can reconfirm our covenant with Him.

 

We have the Passover where we reflect on the sacrifice that was made for us, and we reconfirm the covenant we made with God when we were baptized. And throughout the days of Unleavened Bread God is getting us back on track, helping us to become aware of the spiritual leaven in our lives. And so we dwell in the LEAVEN AWARENESS ZONE for seven days. We concentrate on removing sin and keeping it out. We become aware, for example, of the tendency to have bad attitudes. We make that extra effort for seven days to eliminate those attitudes. But once the days are over is it petal to the metal for us? As we leave the LEAVEN AWARENESS ZONE what’s our attitude? Does our level of awareness flat-line once the days of Unleavened bread are over? Does it just go away? Or do we continue to be aware of what leaven signifies? Do we allow our attitudes that we just got rid of to come back in?

 

The state police patrol the whole road, not just the SPEED AWARENESS ZONE. They patrol the entire highway. Once we’re made aware of our speed, it’s our job to control it. It’s our job to take care of staying within the limits of the law. Because enforcement can take place anywhere. And so it is with Unleavened Bread. Sin can creep back into our lives at any time. And we have to be on guard against it. Guarding diligently against it for seven days helps us, it sets us in that direction. But we have to keep doing it. We get set in the right direction for seven days, hopefully not to wander off. But once these days are over we have to remember that the spiritual leaven still needs to be kept out because God cannot coexist with anything that is leavened. He cannot coexist with evil. And if God is to live in us, if Jesus Christ is to live within us, then we have to make sure that we’re putting out anything that is evil.

 

So the days of Unleavened Bread are ending. Where do we go from here? We examined ourselves prior to the Passover so that we would get pointed in the right direction. But what good does it do us to correct our course if we are driving blind? Our self-examination goes to waste if we don’t act on it, if we don’t put it to use, if we just determine what needs to be changed and we go about our way and don’t change, then all that self-examination goes to waste. It does us no good.

 

2 Cor:13:5-6[5]Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?[6]But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you are disqualified? But I trust that you will know that we are not disqualified.

 

Either Christ is in us or we are disqualified. We either have Christ in us or we have sin in us. You have to get the sin out and imitate the life of Christ and the example that He set. How do we become disqualified? By not acting on what we’ve learned – by not following through with what we’ve determined needs to be changed. But with a repentant spirit we’re expected to bear fruit.

 

Matt:3:8Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: Bear fruits worthy of repentance.

 

Now no tree bears fruit in seven days. It takes longer than that. And our repentance doesn’t just last for seven days. Our repentance is a lifelong process. We repent every day of the sins that we commit. Fruit will be borne continuously if we remain steadfast, if we keep going, if we keep trying, if we remain aware of the sin that is trying to get into our lives.

 

The nation of Israel was an agricultural society. And there are many lessons that are based on the agricultural cycles. The spring harvest wasn’t over after the days of Unleavened Bread – it was just beginning. The grain wasn’t fully ready until the time of Pentecost. The theme of Pentecost is the giving of God’s Holy Spirit. And that is something that we aren’t fully ready and able to produce fruit without. We cannot produce fruit without that spirit. So, the question is, where do we go from here?

 

2 Tim:1:6-7[6]Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.[7]For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

 

We have something to help us that the Israelites didn’t have. We have God’s spirit. The Israelites came through the Red Sea and they didn’t have somebody on the other side there to lay hands on them and to give them God’s spirit. But having been made aware of our sins, we need to use God’s Holy Spirit to help us overcome and to change and to make that correction that we have discovered that was necessary.

 

It’s a foolish driver who speeds up when he sees the sign that says END SPEED AWARENESS ZONE. He’s very foolish. He’s been made aware of his speed and now he’s ignoring that and just going on as he wishes. The law is the same within and beyond the three-mile stretch. The purpose is to make the driver aware of his driving habits. It’s not a place for a temporary compliance with the law. We too are foolish if we don’t learn the lessons of the Days of Unleavened Bread. We’re coming to the end of another LEAVEN AWARENESS ZONE. The purpose was to make us aware of our sins. Now it’s the time for us to go forward as a better person; as someone who is closer to God and rid of some of the evil that we’ve been fighting beforehand. Now is the time to go forward and make these changes. We’re foolish if we don’t act on the thoughts and the sins that we’ve uncovered – if we don’t act on what we’ve discovered needs correcting. We’re foolish if we don’t stir up God’s spirit to help us to overcome these things.

 

As the Israelite emerged on the far side of the Red Sea they celebrated. We too have cause for celebration. God has released us from the bondage of sin. He’s released us from man’s way, from man’s society, and he’s called us to a different way of life. Don’t be like the Israelites. Don’t ever have a desire to return to it because it will destroy you. It’s not an easy race that we’re running. But we have to keep pressing forward, never giving up and always being aware of the prize that awaits us.

 

2 Tim:4:7-8[7]I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:[8]Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. And finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day. And not to me only, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

 

That’s us. We’re in that race as well. And we are going to receive that crown of righteousness as well – if we remain aware, if we don’t give up, and if we keep pressing on. Let’s not leave the SIN AWARENESS ZONE. We’re leaving the LEAVEN AWARENESS ZONE, but let’s keep in mind the sin that we’ve discovered, and keep it out completely. Finish the race because the prize is awesome.