Exodus 17: Testing God

Sermon Transcript by Rev. Ernest O’Neill

Exodus 18:1 is the study and you can just read through if you will undertake not to read beyond the
half way mark because it splits into the two sections and I think God has something for us in each
half. Exodus 18:1, “Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that God had
done for Moses and for Israel his people.” So that was the priest whose daughter had married Moses
way back and you can see that in Exodus 3:1, “Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law,
Jethro, the priest of Midian; and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to
Horeb, the mountain of God.” And you remember that’s where Moses saw the burning bush and so it was
his father-in-law Jethro that is being mentioned now. And you may remember that way before all the
plagues happened, Moses sent Zipporah his wife and their children to stay with her father before all
that happened.

So this is Jethro coming back with Moses’ wife, his daughter, “Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all
that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people,” because of course everybody obviously had
heard about it — how these little Israelites had escaped from Egypt. “How the Lord had brought
Israel out of Egypt. Now Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he
had sent her away, and her two sons, of whom the name of one was Gershom (for he said, ‘I have been
a sojourner in a foreign land’).” That is Moses said that, “And the name of the other, Eliezer (for
he said, ‘The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh’).” So Moses
had sent his wife and his children to live with his father-in-law during the time of the plagues.
And then in verse 5, “And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in
the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. And when one told Moses, ‘Lo, your
father-in-law Jethro is coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,’ Moses went out to
meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance and kissed him; and they asked each other of their
welfare, and went into the tent.”

It might be good to remember that Jethro was not a priest of God, he was a priest of Midian. He was
actually a pagan as far as the Israelites were concerned and that’s why Aaron and Miriam rebelled
against Moses and criticized him marrying a Cushite woman. That is, marrying a woman who is not
Jewish, and so he obviously had married the daughter of a pagan priest. So then in verse 7, “Moses
went out to meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance and kissed him; and they asked each other of
their welfare, and went into the tent. Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done
to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the
way, and how the Lord had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the Lord had
done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Jethro said,
“Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you,” and this is the old pagan speaking now, “Blessed be
the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh.
Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods.” So it seemed that he really turned around in
his life.

“Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because he delivered the people from under the
hand of the Egyptians, when they dealt arrogantly with them.’ And Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law,
offered a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat
bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.” And it seemed to me that the thing that turned Jethro
around was seeing what God had done for the Israelites. And I think that it is God’s will for the
surrounding world to see what God does for his people. I think it’s wrong if we get into a

superficial attitude to faith, or we think God is there just to do things for us and that’s the only
reason we’re interested in him doing things — just because they’re for us.

But on the other hand, it seems plain that throughout the Bible, even in the Psalm that we read, it
seems plain that people were awakened in their attitude to God when they saw what God had done for
his people. And it does seem to me it is God’s will to do things for us. I think that we can carry
on as we’re doing and you know it, and I know it; even just because of our qualifications, or
abilities, or intellectual abilities, or abilities to work hard, we can grow and become reasonably
successful in business. I don’t think that’s what we’re in business for. We’re in business so that
men and women will be drawn to Jesus and it seems as you look in the Bible, many of them are
awakened initially — they’re not converted, they’re not brought the whole way into Jesus, that is
by the Holy Spirit working through sanctified lives and prayers — but they’re awakened in their
attitude to God by what they see God do for his people.

It seems to me it is God’s will that the business and the whole ministry should go beyond what is
natural and what is normal and it ties up with what we were talking about and saying, “We’re always
thinking we’ll get bigger or we’ll grow more.” And it is right; I notice it working with Vince in
the radio; he likes being around us because we’re ongoing, we’re upbeat, we’re moving forward. In
fact, I talked to Rick last night and he was talking about this restaurant where he is and he said
“If we realized what a difference there is in our attitude, to the attitude of the world. There
they’re all trying to scramble up the heap and they’re cutting each other’s throats to get a step up
in the whole hierarchy.” So there is a very definite difference in our attitude, but it seems that
God wants to prosper us so that the world is awakened to that and sees it. I believe that it is
right for us to pray that God will massively bless our sales, and our business, and the expansion of
our business and give us ideas and designs way beyond what ordinary people would have.

But I think what that does is it brings us back to the centrality of prayer and it’s plain if you
look at Psalms 107. They were not delivered because of what they were doing, because some of them
were wandering in desert ways, some of them were in darkness and gloom, some of them were sick
through this, some went down to the sea in ships — they were all doing different things that
weren’t tremendously helping them, but they all did the same thing. Psalms 107:6, “Then they cried
to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” Verse 13, “Then they
cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” Verse 19, “Then
they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” Verse 28,
“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.” The
sheer repetition of it impresses you with the fact that there was no deliverance until they cried to
the Lord and crying to the Lord is heartfelt prayer.

It seems to me there’s no point in any of us here in this room saying, “Well, what’s happening in
our business? It’s supposed to go gloriously forward and prosper and it’s no better than any other”
and while we’re not crying to the Lord that will be the case. But we can’t stand back knowing that
we’re not praying; that we’re not fulfilling the one condition that is needed for God to bless
outstandingly, and then complain that he’s not blessing because he’d speak right to us and say,
“You’re not praying.” And we’d say, “You’re not blessing.” And he’d say, “You’re not praying.”
And we’d say, “You’re not blessing.” And he’ll say, “You’re not praying.” And finally the truth is
— only one can be right in this universe, and that’s God. So it seems that it is God’s will to
bless his children beyond what the children of the world are blessed, but he does it in response not
to their industry, not to their attention to detail, not to their hard work, not to their
dedication, but he does it in response to their prayers.

And so it seems to me to bring it back to each one of us, every one of us here in this room; it’s
only going to come through our heartfelt prayers. And it seems to me that’s what comes out of that
phrase, “They cried to the Lord,” it isn’t just saying our prayers. It’s not just, “We have our
quite time. We have our morning prayer time together.” You see it in verse 6, “Then they cried to
the Lord in their trouble.” They didn’t all say to themselves, “Alright, we’ll get together every
morning at eight o’clock and sing a hymn and read Oswald Chambers and have a prayer.” They were in
trouble. They cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress, and it’s
emphasized there in verse 12, “Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor; they fell down, with
none to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble.” It’s only when it’s desperate prayer.
“They cried to the Lord in their trouble.” Its heartfelt, desperate prayer.

But if that isn’t forthcoming from us, God is not able to bless abundantly. You can easily get
yourself into a tricky position in an operation like our own. You can get yourself into a position
where we’re going along okay, we’re paying our bills — it’s tight — but we’re paying our bills and
we’re doing alright and we’ve a comfortable life and it looks as if we might be able to do other
things as well. But actually it will go on like that for the rest of our miserable lives unless we
begin to engage in heartfelt prayer for God’s blessing. It comes home to me every time we have to
address an issue like going to Italy, or every time we have to address any issue where the resources
do not seem to be right there.

The real answer is that unless God has changed his modus operandi, unless he has changed his way of
working, God will provide the resources if we will cry unto the Lord. And it seems to me the
position we often get ourselves into is we don’t want to say to each other we’re not crying unto the
Lord because you don’t want to tell each other, “You’re not praying enough.” So we get into these
conversations where we try to explain it away to each other, and try to hold onto the vision and try
to do without the resources when actually the answer is obvious: the only reason we don’t have the
resources is because we’re not crying unto the Lord in prayer — because we’re not engaged in
desperate prayer, so the Father is not able to prosper the sales.

So often we can get into the position of, “What’s he doing? What’s she doing? What’s the other
fella doing?” And it’s easy to get into that spot where we say, “Isn’t this supposed to happen?
Why isn’t it happening?” And we can get to be like little kids where the kid says, “Why isn’t this
happening?” And he’s not doing anything about it to help it; he’s just standing there complaining
that nothing is happening. And of course the Father regards us as adults and he has said, “Here is
instance after instance of people who were in trouble, of people who hadn’t the resources, and they
cried unto me in their distress and I delivered them. I’m still in that business. I’m still the
same. Just because you’re you, I’m not going to change my own nature or deny my existence; I’m the
same as I always was. I will answer, but you need to cry to me in heartfelt prayer.”

Where I saw some more light was when God guided me to some other verses that we all know so well
about heartfelt prayer. It’s in John 15:7, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask
whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.” It’s necessary to see that God does not leave us
in doubt about heartfelt prayer. We do not need to wonder, “Does it mean I have to cry? Does it
mean I have to have tears? Does it mean Nathan has to be dying? Does it mean I have to have no
money for the rent? Does it mean I have to speak in tongues?” No, no, no; God is very simple —
John 15:7, Jesus said “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it
shall be done for you.” That’s part of what heartfelt prayer is.

You’re desperate enough to get God to answer and to prosper the sales. You’re desperate enough to
put right in your life what you know is wrong. Wherever you know you’re not abiding in Jesus,
wherever you’re being cynical at a certain moment and saying, “Oh well, it’s alright for you to
talk, I don’t see any sign of it.” Wherever you’re being cynical, where any of us are not abiding
in Jesus, or where we’re not letting him abide in us, or we’re not exuding his sweetness and his
fragrance but instead our own kind of arrogance selfishness, where we’re not abiding in Jesus or
he’s not abiding in us, or where his words are not abiding in us, or we’re not abiding in his words.
There are things that we know he wants us to do — there are attitudes we know he wants to have in
us and we’re not having them — that prevents us praying heartfelt prayer.

So heartfelt prayer is “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it
shall be done for you.” In other words, we’re so desperate for God to answer and to prosper us so
that others will see his hand in our lives that we will do anything to enable him to do it. We’ll
go before him and say, “Lord God, is there any attitude I have, is there anything I’m doing that is
preventing you answering my prayers?” But until we do that, we’re like a dear fellow that I
remember in Campus Church years and years ago, it was one of those twisted situations we all got
ourselves into — all anxious to help everybody else by counseling them. And this dear guy came
under condemnation. He had in fact helped to start one of the early businesses and he would say,
“I can’t feel that God forgives me. He won’t forgive me.” He had been on drugs, but was then off
them. And I counseled him and counseled him and recounseled him, and prayed with him and reprayed
with him and others did the same and still after months he almost looked emaciated because he felt
so condemned. And then one day it came clearly through to me, I believe from God, “This is
blasphemy. God does forgive. God does forgive sins.” While this dear guy goes around saying “He
doesn’t forgive” he’s just blaspheming God. This isn’t real conviction of sin or it’s not real
condemnation from God, this is rebellion and this is Satan having his way in this fella’s life, and
it was revelation to me.

Do you see; we can easily get ourselves into that spot? We can say, “Well, we’re God’s children,
we’re doing his work and where is the blessing — I don’t see the blessing. Where’s the great
prosperity? Where’s the sign of God’s hand on our lives so that others will see it? Where is it?”
And yet we’re not praying. So we can easily get ourselves in a position where we’re parading
ourselves as children of God, but we’re really blaspheming against God because we’re saying, “Well,
he isn’t answering.” And we know why he isn’t answering; because we haven’t an ounce of heartfelt
prayer in our lives. We have “prayer saying times”; times when we say our prayers, but we don’t have
heartfelt prayer — we’re not desperate for God’s blessing.

That’s where I think things like the trip to Italy help in a way to focus the thing; because if we
just fill our lives with options, “I wouldn’t mind going to Italy, but if the money doesn’t come in
we can’t go.” Well if you fill your life with options — with no goals, or visions that you believe
are from God, then we’ll never get anywhere. We’ll just wander about in the middle of a sea of
relativity and whims and wishes and casual thoughts. But if we do believe God wants a family
throughout the world of people who are expressing his life through businesses, and we see that a
thing like Italy, or Christmas, or whatever it is, is an integral contribution to that, then we go
to God in that spirit — with a spirit of desperate prayer in our hearts, and then, it seems to me,
God answers.

There are some other things that are in this same chapter if you look at John 15:16 and see Jesus’
heartfelt prayer, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and
bear fruit and that your fruit should abide; so that,” and this is another factor in heartfelt

prayer, “whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” Heart felt prayer is not
the cry of a selfish little child wanting more lollipops. Or, if you’d like to raise it up a few
levels, its not the cry of a selfish little adult wanting things that will make him or her
comfortable; or a selfish little adult that thinks only in terms of his own life, or his own wishes,
or his own preferences, or his own comfort, or his own prosperity, or the happiness of his own
family. It isn’t that.

God will not answer prayer that is selfish. You remember that verse in James 4:3, “You ask and do
not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” God cannot answer prayer that
is built on our own desires or our wishes; it has to be prayer that is in his name. And there’s
where we need to clear things up in our own minds; why are we here? Are we here to do a little on
the side for God but primarily to forward our own lives, or at least to maintain our existence? Or
are we here because we’ve given up our own name and we’re here in his name and we have an inner
conviction that this is his; that this is his home, that this is his business, that this is his
ministry, that this is his life and therefore we go to God in his name with that attitude.

But heartfelt, desperate prayer, is prayer that is offered in Jesus’ name for his glory and not for
ours. And it seems to me that’s pretty important, because I can see that one of the dangerous
attitudes – and it’s so plain and obvious that I suppose we should have spent more time mentioning
it in Campus Church over the years, but one very obvious fact is this: when you have an operation
like our own or like Campus Church and Fish Enterprises where you have businesses and you have means
of making money, and you have means of expressing yourself, and you have means of doing the things
you can do, obviously there’s a very strong temptation for you to do it all for the wrong reasons.
Like doing it all either because you like the people you’re involved with, or because you like using
your own powers or your own abilities, or because you like getting some money of your own.

There are a thousand reasons besides the glory of Jesus for which you can do those things and it’s
pretty important therefore, that people like ourselves, in an operation like this, are very clear in
whose name we’re doing these things. Because God will not bless the prayers of a selfish person or
the prayers of a person who can see no further than his own nose, or no further than his own home,
or his own family, or his own wife, or his own children, or his own friends. God will not answer
such a person. He will only answer a person who comes and prays in his name. If you look
throughout this Bible, God blesses his people in extraordinary ways; in ways that are far beyond the
ways that other people are blessed, so that people will look and say, “I see what the Lord has done
for you. Even though I am Jethro and I’m a pagan, I see what God has done and I see that he is the
Lord.” Now it seems that that’s God’s will for us. But he can only do that when there is
heartfelt, desperate prayer, that is in his name and that is done from a heart that is obedient to
him.

There is just one more thing that I saw in 1 John if you look at it. 1 John 5:15 and it’s a third
factor in heartfelt prayer. First is an obedient life in his name and then verse 15, “And if we know
that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.” And
you see when we will know that – look at the line just before that, “If we ask anything according to
his will he hears us.” So it can’t be just our will — we need the money for this or we need the
money for that — but we need to know is this the Father’s will? And we each need to be convinced
of it. Irene can’t be convinced of it because I’m convinced of it; she has to be convinced of it
herself. Andrea can’t be convinced of it just because Dan’s convinced of it. You can’t be
convinced of it just because I’m convinced. We have to be convinced in our own minds; “This is
God’s will” and then we ask according to his will.

That’s what I mean about Italy or London; I think if we’re preoccupied with what is his will he will
answer us appropriately. If we go to him and say, “Father, we really want your will, we don’t want
our own will, we want your will Lord. It would be nice, we’d like to add another wing on the
house, but Lord, whatever is your will that is what we want.” And it seems then, when you get a
group of people who are living in obedience to God, who are putting aside the idols that he shows
them, who are doing things in Jesus’ name and not in their own name, and who really believe the
whole thing belongs to Jesus and treat it as that; and if they are a group of people who are sensing
what God wants, then when that group of people engage in heart felt prayer, God answers and prospers
them way beyond the other people who are doing business. And it seems to me that’s the only thing
that will achieve anything in a world that is increasingly commercial.

Some of what we saw last night in that Taiwan movie on the rich and famous pointed out that some of
the people in Taiwan are far richer than many of the people in America because of the commerce that
is going on, and that’s the story all over the world. We talk about yuppies, but there are yuppies
everywhere. There are all kinds of people who are going into business and the big thing is —
money, money, money. And of course, there’s going to come a crunch when the poor have nots in
Africa, and India, and South America, and Asia really discover this. But at the moment in the
western world, everybody is making money. So the only way in which God is going to be able to
declare himself to be God is to prosper us abundantly, but most of all, create a different spirit in
our operation and in ourselves; a freedom from the frenetic frenzy that is increasingly governing
every businessman who tries to scramble up the heap to a better salary.

So it’s going to come, as it has always come in God’s dealings with people, not through their own
industry, that’s taken for granted. You have to be industrious, God won’t bless laziness. He won’t
bless lack of skill, you have to be skillful. That’s why he gives us wisdom and skills. But he
won’t bless us because of industry or because of our skillfulness; he’ll bless us because of our
heartfelt, desperate prayer. That’s why I think we, here in this business, can be as skillful and
industrious as we care to be, but if we’re not engaged in desperate heartfelt prayer, I don’t think
God will answer us. I don’t think he will prosper us.

Now, could I just take you very briefly and very quickly through the rest of the chapter? Exodus
18:13, “On the morrow Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from morning
till evening.” So they were all around him. “When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that he was doing
for the people, he said, ‘What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and
all the people stand about you from morning till evening?’” As, often, the outsider sees it more
clearly than the guy on the inside. “And Moses said to his father-in-law, ‘Because the people come
to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between a man and
his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God and his decisions.’ Moses’ father-in-law
said to him, ‘What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will wear yourselves out,
for the thing is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it alone.’” Because they were about
two million people now and he was judging – he was trying to settle all their disputes.

“Listen now to my voice; I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You shall represent the
people before God, and bring their cases to God.” And therefore get from God, you see, what he
wants, “And you shall teach them the statutes and the decisions and make them know the way in which
they must walk and what they must do. Moreover choose able men from all the people, such as fear
God, men who are trustworthy and who hate a bribe; and place such men over the people as rulers of
thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times; every

great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves; so it will
be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, and God so commands you,
then you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.’ So
Moses gave heed to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able
men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of
fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times; hard cases they brought to Moses,
but any small matter they decided themselves. Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went
his way to his own country.”

Now, I don’t know if you can see what God is saying to us in this, but maybe the best verse is verse
22, “And let them judge the people at all times; every great matter they shall bring to you, but any
small matter they shall decide themselves; so it will be easier for you, and they will bear the
burden with you.” One man can’t do the whole thing. If we’re going to move on, and I certainly have
new light from God about radio here in the states, about some things we can start doing and I’ve
just finished talking with Myron about the radio station yesterday again and the need there’ll be
for certainly me to put time into that if we’re going to do any kind of programming at all. It’s
obvious that if we’re going to move on, then some of my things have to be done by Irene, or by
others. In other words, we’re going to be limited unless we all take part and take responsibility
in different things.

Now I’d just say one more thing to each of us, because I’m sure we all think deep down, “Yeah, well
let us do it.” Verse 21, “Moreover choose able men,” and I presume that means woman too, “Moreover
choose able men (and women) from all the people such as fear God, men who are trustworthy and who
hate a bribe.” It has to be delegation of God’s work to people who do it as God’s work. It has to
be done as God’s work by people who know its God’s work and do it in God’s name. It can’t be us all
doing our own thing that we do in our own strength and just as an ordinary job.”

If we do it in our own power and our own strength and our own pride, and with no particular feeling
that we’re doing this for Jesus, then do you see to delegate stuff to that kind of person is like
throwing the stuff away. It’s like taking God’s work and throwing it into the scrap heap. In other
words, there’s a great need for delegation if we’re going to go on as a body, but it has to be to
hearts that really do it in Jesus’ name and under him. It can’t be people who take the attitude,
“Good, I have it in my hands, it’s about time I got it out of his hands. It’s about time it’s mine;
now I can do it properly.” If there’s that spirit of hubris; that spirit of pride and arrogance,
and that spirit of the attitude of the natural man or woman, no particular feeling that this is for
Jesus and I do it under submission to him, but a whole spirit of arrogant independent selfish pride,
then there’s no delegation there. All that Moses is doing in that case is throwing his trust onto
the rubbish heap.

So it gets back in a way, to what we talked of at the beginning and that’s why I thought it
important, because God showed me the two things together in that chapter; that what is needed for
God to do what he wants among us in the way of prospering the work of our hands and making it clear
to the surrounding world that God is Lord and that he still affects businesses and ordinary people
in their practical affairs, what is needed is heartfelt prayer. And that is prayer that comes from
people who are bringing their lives under Jesus’ Spirit; from people who pray in his name and for
his glory and not their own pleasure. And from people who are anxious to know his will, not anxious
to have their own will satisfied. And then as he prospers, the work has to be delegated and it can
only be delegated to people who see it as God’s service and do it as unto him and in a spirit of
submission and humility and love.

Otherwise if you delegate to natural men and women who say, “Anybody can ship. Anybody can collect
money. Anybody can do finances.” If that’s the spirit, then it’s not the spirit of the servant of
Christ and it’s not the spirit that will transmit Jesus’ life to the people we meet through our
businesses. It’ll only come from hearts that are desperate for God’s blessing to be upon them and
their business and who do their work as a service unto Jesus.

Let us pray. Dear Father, we thank you for your word to us today, and we thank you Lord, that you
have spoken it to our hearts and we pray now Lord, that you will use it to save us and that as we
deal with you about these things in our own hearts and consciences, you will find it possible
through the Holy Spirit, to make us what you want us to be. Lord, we do not want to be hypocrites.
We do not want to be watery wishy washy religious people. We want Lord, to be men and women who
believe you are God; who bring their own lives into practical obedience to your will, who allow your
Spirit to pervade their attitudes and their heartfelt desires. Who live their lives in your name
and for your glory and not for their own and who want your will above everything else.

Lord, we want to be such men and women so that you may have your way with us and so that our lives
may either be one thing or the other so that we may either share the nominal success of hardworking
people or the outstanding blessing of men and women who trust God and who love him. So Lord, we
thank you for this day and thank you for your faithfulness to us. In Jesus name, Amen.