Remember, Remember, Remember
The Silver Chair has always been one of my favorite novels in the Chronicles of Narnia. It was C.S. Lewis’ 4th title in the series, published in 1953, and according to the inside flap, it “tells the story of two English children who undergo hair-raising adventures as they go on a search and rescue mission for the missing Prince Rilian.”
As Narnian escapades typically open, a couple schoolchildren from our own world are transported into the magical world of Narnia because their presence is needed. And so Eustace and Jill find themselves on the top of a mountain in Aslan’s country. The King, the Great Lion himself has called Eustace and Jill for a task, to be part of the story. Aslan has a very important message for Jill that he gives her prior to her embarking on the journey itself into Narnia. And after giving her these signs to look for, he says the following:
But, first, remember, remember, remember the signs. Say them to yourself when you wake in the morning and when you lie down at night, and when you wake in the middle of the night. And whatever strange things may happen to you, let nothing turn your mind from following the signs. And secondly, I give you a warning. Here on the mountain I have spoken to you clearly: I will not often do so down in Narnia. Here on the mountain, the air is clear and your mind is clear; as you drop down into Narnia, the air will thicken. Take great care that it does not confuse your mind. And the signs which you have learned here will not look at all as you expect them to look, when you meet them there. That is why it is so important to know them by heart and pay no attention to appearances. Remember the signs and believe the signs. Nothing else matters.
“Remember, remember, remember the signs... Nothing else matters,” says Aslan. Meanwhile in Exodus 23, we find God speaking to Moses on the top of a mountain, with specific messages for the people of Israel before they embark on their own journey into the promised land. He tells them what is important, and how to ensure their success. In verse 13, the summary verse, God says “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods.” Pay attention to what I have said. Remember, don’t get confused! Nothing else matters.
Today my aim is to show us three important ways that God helps his people to remember, and why that matters for us. We’ll look at: 1) Remember the Sabbath, 2) Remember the Feasts, and 3) Remember the Angel. Let’s pray, and then we’ll dig in together. “Father, would you help us this morning to pay careful attention to what you’ve said, and prepare our hearts by your Spirit to remember who you are and what you’ve done. In Jesus name, Amen.”
Remember the Sabbath
Let’s look first at verses 10-12. “For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard. Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant women, and the alien, may be refreshed.”
As Pastor Joe and Pastor David have shown us the last two weeks, each of these case laws in this section of Exodus can be traced back to one or more of the fundamental principles that God laid down for Israel in the Ten Commandments. And so as we come to these fuller examples regarding Sabbath in verses 10-12, we recall the 4th commandment. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Back in January 2020, Pastor Jonathan preached on Sabbath, and he summarized the core idea like this: “Sabbath is a rhythm rooted in the glory of God and designed in creation that is an act of resistance to the false gods of this world, for the purpose of stopping work and worshipping God, and thereby being refreshed.”
So now we see that fundamental principle of Sabbath being pressed into the particular life of Israel. We know that Sabbath goes all the way back to the very beginning, in creation itself, as God created the whole cosmos in six days, and rested on the seventh. And God wants his people to remember this, to remember his glory and resist the false gods of achievement, and money, and success. You’re not in Egypt anymore. And remember this, not just sometimes, but every single week. God weaves this remembrance into the weekly rhythm of his people. When Jesus comes and proclaims himself Lord of the Sabbath, he reminds us that “Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” It’s a gift from God, and part of that gift is what we remember in it.
But here in Exodus 23, we see some additional aspects of Sabbath as it gets fleshed out in the lives of the people. In verse 12, we see a particular emphasis given to those who can be forgotten or used: the servants, the hired hands, the poor, the foreigner, and even the animals. [There’s a whole sermon we could preach on the care for creation and the dignity of animals, even as God gives humans dominion over creation, but we don’t have time today.]
Suffice it to say that God knows the human tendency towards overwork, overproduction, and mistreatment of those who work for us. He is building in protections against that. In addition, the grace of God spreads outward. The grace of God in Sabbath rest is meant to radiant outward from the lives of God’s people into those around them. Remember, you were oppressed slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought you out.
But also, we see this principle introduced not just for a weekly Sabbath every seven days, but in verse 10 we see God calling for a yearly cycle as well. Every seven years is to be a Sabbath year, an extra special remembrance. Leviticus 25 expounds upon the Sabbath year further:
“When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord... The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female servants and for your hired worker and the sojouner who lives with you, and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.” V 23: “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.”
So what do we learn here?
First, God wants to remind us that He is God, and we are not. He is the owner and creator, and we are managers & stewards of what He has given. If you can truly get that outlook into your head, and act out of that, it changes the way you live and the way you relate to your “possessions.”
Second, remember that what God gives us is meant NOT just for us, but for the benefit and enrichment of those around us. It’s not that everyone owns the land together, or that the one with capital owns the land outright forever and can decide whatever they please. God says the land is MINE, so use it as such to love your neighbor.
Third, this is a call to remember to trust the Lord. In Leviticus 25, Moses is responding to practical questions about how this actually works in practice. What will we eat if we stop farming for an entire year? God responds, “I will cause extra blessing in the sixth year, so that you’ll have enough crop for three years.” You have to trust me, not your ingenious farming methods or your constant work. Pause, and remember that you did not create yourself, you did not save yourself, you do not sustain yourself, and that what you have been given is meant for the blessing of others in your circle, especially those with less. Remember the Sabbath, worship God, and love others.
Remember the Feasts
The commands here regarding the Sabbath and then the Feasts are linked by verse 13. “Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.” This is a call to remember. “Pay attention to all that I have said to you,” in the past. How do you pay attention to what has been said before? You remember it! And, knowing what forgetful creatures humans are, God wisely and graciously builds in acts of remembrance into the weekly, monthly, and annual calendars of his people, to guide them into remembering who he is, what he has done, and what he promises to do.
Let’s look at verse 14: “Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you [remember?], you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days...” God has spoken of this particular feast before. In fact, we saw it back in Exodus 13, right after the Passover and the final plagues, in the midst of God’s incredible work bringing Israel out of slavery. This was such an important picture of God and his people that he called them, through Moses, to do something special. Listen to what Moses says to the people: “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten... [8] You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth.”
So if you’ve ever asked yourself, “What’s the deal with all these feasts and festivals in the Old Testament? Or even in the NT, why was Jesus going to all these feasts in Jerusalem all the time?” Well, this is why. It was so the people would REMEMBER. Remember this day that the Lord brought you out with a strong hand, he rescued you. Tell your kids why you are eating unleavened bread. It’s a sign to you, a helpful reminder, so “that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth.” These are habits of grace, you might say.
The other two feasts mentioned in verse 16, Harvest and Ingathering, have a particular purpose as well. As David referred to last week, these are harkening back to the 10th commandment against coveting. How do you prevent people coveting what others have? At the heart level, you cultivate generosity and thankfulness to God for what he has given you. And God builds these habits into the seasonal calendar to help his people remember.
At the start of each agricultural year in the Spring, celebrate Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and remember, you were a slave in Egypt but I loved you and brought you out.
In the Summer as the crops come up, keep the Feast of Harvest to me, and remember, all of this comes from my hand, I have brought you into this land that I promised you.
And in the Fall, after all has been gathered, keep the Feast of Ingathering, and remember, what you have been given is not for you alone, but is to be shared and celebrated, in a joyful feast to me.
In the New Testament Paul says in Colossians 2, “...with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.” These feasts were a shadow, a silhouette, a shape pointing forward but Jesus was the substance & the flesh to those shadows. The feasts taught God’s people specific remembrances about who He is and what He had done, but Jesus comes as the “radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature” and to provide the ultimate remembrance for God’s people, in the flesh, and to accomplish his rescue of enslaved sinners. And so on this side of that salvation we orient our liturgy and church calendar to help us remember the coming of the Son of God, his sacrificial death on the cross, and his resurrection. That’s one major reason we celebrate Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter, and it’s why we gather each and every week to worship, remember, and apply the saving work of Christ to our lives.
Remember the Angel
Let’s move on to our last point today, Remember the Angel, starting in verse 20: “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.”
First of all, we need to ask, who is this Angel? Notice a few intriguing elements. God calls Israel to “pay careful attention to him and obey his voice,” he apparently has the ability to “pardon your transgression," and God says that “my name is in him.” Then, in verse 22, God says “if you carefully obey his voice AND do all that I say,” thereby connecting the voice of the angel with God himself. So to recap, this angel speaks for God and represents his presence, he can forgive sins, and God’s name is in him. Does that sound like a normal angel to you?
We don’t know for sure, but it’s possible that this is a pre-incarnate Jesus, second person of the Trinity. Pastor Jonathan preached on Exodus 3 back in September 2019 (“The Holy One Who Saves by Grace”) and concluded that Jesus was present in the burning bush as the angel of the Lord.
Jude 1:5 says that “Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, after destroyed those who did not believe” - so he was definitely involved. But the important thing for us to see here is that God does not simply give the Sabbath and the Feasts as means for his people to remember, but he sends them a representative of his own presence. He is with them, in front going before, in back guarding behind, and in their midst to bring them to where God has promised.
We actually see something similar in the New Testament. In John 14, Jesus says, “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” The Helper is sent to us, in Jesus’ name, to help us to REMEMBER all that Jesus says. God does not leave us alone, but sends his own presence to be with us, and to guide his children to where God has promised us.
Awesome. So God has provided weekly, monthly, and yearly rhythms for his people to help them remember his past grace and future promises. He’s empowered them with his own presence to guard and guide them. But even with all this power and provision, notice something about the way victory comes. Look down at verses 29-30: “I will NOT drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. LITTLE BY LITTLE I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.” We know that God can split the Red Sea and give decisive victory when that is best. However, God knows in this situation, that isn’t what’s best - practically, they aren’t big enough to manage that much land, it would swallow them! And so, God promises the victory will come “little by little” until they are ready for the full victory.
And this, in particular, is highly relevant for us. Because this is the space where we often live. And at least for me, it’s so helpful to remember that God is not just the God of razzle-dazzle, incredible miracles and immediate victories. He’s also the God of “little by little.” It’s easy to get discouraged when progress is slower than we’d like it to be. Maybe it’s a big project at work or school. Perhaps it’s something you’ve been praying for one of your kids. Someone you have been sharing the gospel with. A relationship you’ve hoped would be different. We are naturally impatient beings. We want things NOW and are quick to give up, especially if we’ve prayed once or twice. But God wants a relationship, and He has the long view in mind. He is our Father, our Redeemer, not some genie in a bottle. So take heart, Cities Church. Perhaps what has looked like an insurmountable obstacle is simply God inviting you to trust Him and remember that He is also the God of “little by little” and one day, if you remain faithful, He will say to you with a smile on his face, “You have been faithful over a little, now I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” Amen.
The Table
So as we come to the Table, we recall that Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and the source of our ultimate rest, our Passover Lamb sacrificed so we could be invited to the feast, the Bread of Life who satisfies us forever, the fulfillment of the Law’s every shadow. And Jesus too, calls us to remember. He said specifically as he laid down a new feast, this gospel feast, to "do this in remembrance of me.” Remember, remember, remember. Nothing else matters.