(upbeat guitar music) ♪ I love growing in your grace ♪ ♪ You have your hand on me ♪ ♪ And all that I do wrong ♪ ♪ Love will keep me strong ♪ ♪ I love to be in your grace ♪ - Let's open our Bibles tonight to Exodus chapter one as we start a new book. You guys are in on the ground floor and I hope you'll be here every week as we continue through this wonderful block. Exodus is the record of Israel's birth as a nation and within the kind of protective womb of Egypt, the Jewish family that numbered according to what we read in Genesis 70 souls and all rapidly begin to grow and 430 years from the time that they walked into Egypt until the time that they leave and accompanying some very severe birth pangs there in Egypt, this infant nation that numbered between two and a half and three million people. Think about that. Is brought out and it will be divinely protected and fed and nourished. When Moses was led by the Lord to pen this Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, they were written as one large volume and one kind of continuous story. Wasn't divided up into five books like we have today, which is easier for us and we can locate the text a little easier and all. But each of the books really came and each of the subjects came with a very specific theme about God's work and what he longs to do. The book of Genesis is the book of beginnings. It's the election by God of the people. He chose them not because they were smarter or better looking or more productive, they weren't, but they were the apple of God's eye. It starts the book of Genesis within the beginning God. It ends with the words in a coffin in Egypt because that is indeed where Joseph was laid. In between God chose a people for himself through whom he would bring forth the Messiah to redeem the world. And I think we told you when we began the Bible, God's only interested in two things. The first and the second coming of his son. Everything in the Bible revolves and rotates and focuses specifically upon that. Well, this second book Exodus is the book of redemption. Always, by the way, the first need of a people or a person is that we need to be redeemed only. God needs to come and redeem us from the sin which has ruined us. God was holy when he called Israel. Israel was not. In fact, we've seen some of the unholyness, but no lasting relationship with God occurs without sin being addressed. And then the question becomes, well, how can God simply just then exempt a people that he wants to choose? How does he deal with a sinful people when he's a holy God and still maintain his righteousness? Which in his holiness ought to condemn the very ones he wants to draw near him. And the answer is found in this book. It is the blood of the lamb. That's Exodus. We are redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Leviticus, which follows after is really the response then of a redeemed people to their redeemer. They turn to worship the Lord and praise God and submit themselves to him and have communion with God Almighty. And numbers, it recounts, if you will, the experiences of this pilgrim people, the redeemed of God. They pass through hostile territory and wilderness. They have to live on the promises and the promised inheritances. And it's all about living by faith, the book of numbers. And Deuteronomy, finally, is the book of instruction, given to a second generation of folks who would inherit the land. It is given by Moses in 30 days, sitting on the brink of the land of Canaan on the borders, perched there waiting to go in as an older aging Moses tells us, these are the things God would have you to know before you go into the land. I hear sometimes from people that say, when we, you know, they'll hear, we're going through the Old Testament or something, and they'll say, well, I bother. It's so old, you know? And they're right. Exodus is 3500 years old. It's a long time, isn't it? 3500 years. What does it have for us? Well, Paul, when he wrote to the Corinthians in chapter 10, verse 11 of 1 Corinthians, said to the Corinthians, these things happen to them for our example. And they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world have come. This is for you and for me. The relationship with God, the character of God, the work of God, the word of God, the verification of all that we learned in the New Testament is found in the Old. Paul, when he wrote to the Romans in chapter 15, said, whatever things that were written before were written for our learning, so that we, through the patience and through the comfort of the scriptures, might have some hope. Well, that's why we're studying this book. God gives it to us to speak to us about our redemption, which is the main theme. But there's a lot of themes in this book. You run into a lot of things newly because we've just started that will carry you through the scriptures. The idea of sacrifice literally is brought forth here. Now, we saw it early on in Genesis, as the Lord killed the animals to cover the sin, a few other nakedness of his creation. But sacrificed by definition in chapter 12 will be introduced to us through the Passover lamb and the blood that was paced on the doorposts, the lentils of the house, saving everyone that's within it. We'll get introduced to sacrifice, the whole concept in how God uses it. We'll get introduced in Exodus to the priesthood. And the priesthood, how do we make sinful men right with God? We bring him to mediatory, mediatory, that's a good word. Sacrifices, right, intermediates. Eventually, they'll bring us to the great high priest, our Lord and our Savior, Jesus. So we'll run into the priesthood. We get a big ethics lesson from God in the book of Exodus. In fact, in chapter 20, we will get the 10 commandments. And we may slow down and try one a week maybe. We'll see how that goes. But the word of God speaking to our sin, later in the chapters that follow, chapter 21 and 23, you get all of the laws concerning society and the ethical ways of life and much of our court system to this day is based upon those four chapters in Exodus. And we will, for the first time, run into a prophet, the predominant figure in this book, Moses, is also the Bible's first prophet in that office. And again, by the time we get to Deuteronomy 18, Moses will save himself. The Lord will send you a prophet like unto me. And speaking of the one that is to come, of Jesus says is to come. And that he will be the deliverer, the Savior, if you will, the one that you'll do all that he commands you. There are a lot of types found in the Old Testament in the pictures that are supposed to teach us things. We will run into several of them here as we go through this book of Exodus. There are important ones to know, though we repeat it often. But Egypt in the Scriptures will always be a type of life in the world bound to sin, a place you can't get out of yourself, a place that if you just remain there just takes from you, doesn't give to you, it'll make you suffer. You'll end up dying there, you'll lose everything. It is a horrible, unfriendly, unkind, unwelcoming place to be. And it represents the bondage of sin and the wicked taskmasters indeed that are over us. And not able to get out. We need to deliver if we're going to be free. So you'll find Egypt typically used that way in the Scriptures. The wilderness wanderings, by the way, as the children of Israel come out of Egypt here several weeks down the road, are representative of a couple of things. Number one, there is a certain amount of wilderness wanderings that are necessary. We will read when we get to them that the Lord will say that he takes them one way, not the other, because to go the other way would have caused them to face enemies that they weren't ready to face. So God took them through the wilderness so that they could learn that they could trust God. He would bring manna from heaven. He would bring water from the rock. With the intention that they would then be willing to go into the land of Canaan and walk by faith. So there's a certain need for the wilderness, where you grow. However, the children of Israel, from when they went into the land, or I should say, when they got the law of God to where they could have went into the land, is only a six week or so journey. They could have made it all in six weeks. It took 40 years, because there's another problem with the wilderness. You can stay out there forever if you like. And you'll never grab hold of what God wants to do. Oh, you'll be God's people in the sense that you've been called out. But you'll never get to enter in fully to the joy that comes from knowing God, or walking with God, or just being so thankful that he knows your name. And you know that he knows your name. So they stayed out there in an ordinate amount of time. And the wilderness, when the time expires, represents the believer who has not really grown up or fully surrendered to the Lord in obedience. And so he doesn't make much progress. If anything, he's looking back to Egypt a lot. We should go back to Egypt. Oh, remember the onions in Egypt. Oh, remember the habit. Oh, no, no, the habit is a hamburger place in the wittier. (congregation laughing) Food. So the wilderness wanderings, they can be good. They need, they're necessary for a time, but usually you'll find them representing someone who hasn't moved ahead like they should. The land of Canaan, the land of promise, not heaven. You know, no matter what the old songs say about, you know, glory across the water, there's no enemies in heaven. You could know that for sure. You get to heaven, it's gonna be friendlies, only friendlies. So, Canaan is a place that represents the spiritual man's life in the world where he overcomes the world, overcomes the obstacles, overcomes the difficulties by faith, through obedience, by knowing God, having learned to trust the Lord. And you can read the book of Joshua in particular, which will show you more than ever the overcoming life that have of a people filled with the Spirit. Moses is a type of Christ, Passover, I think is a, not only a type of Jesus' work, but what you tell you of the security that you'll have in Christ, if the blood of Christ is upon you, you're all right, you're safe, you're good, you're covered. So these five books look at the beginning of God's work. They compromise, compromise, that's the wrong word. They comprise 15% of the entire Bible, and they are about 65% of the volume of the New Testament. So, the Lord gives a lot of interest and time and explanation to the beginning of the choosing of the nation and their redemption. There's a lot of truth in here about the nature of God and his plans that the Lord devotes so much time to, so that we might learn. Before we begin chapter one tonight, and that's all we'll look at this evening since it's also communion night. Think for a moment, each of you have had a Genesis. You were born, I know that 'cause I see you sitting there. We've all come into being, we are all here, not necessarily have all of you had an exodus. And that is that deliverance from the world into which you were born, into the life of the world, which is why Jesus said you must be born again to see the kingdom of heaven. So, Genesis, that's everyone's story. I talked to a guy last week, and I said, I was really gonna try to share the Lord with him, and he said, before I could get it out, well, I'm a Christian, I'm just not that born again variety. (congregation laughing) I said, well, I think that's the only variety that God chooses. What variety of Christian are you? So, if you're only born once, you're gonna die twice, aren't you? Spiritually, you'll die again after you physically die, but if you're born again, if you're born twice, you only die once, just physically. And unless the Lord comes in, you don't die at all. You just gotta die to yourself, day in and day out. So, you wanna be sure tonight that Exodus is a part of your testimony. Created by God, chosen by God, but also delivered by God. Now, if you're an outliner, Exodus is real easy to outline. It breaks itself into five very succinct, succinct? I better just stop with the big words today. So, think chapters, chapter one and through chapter six, talks specifically about the need for redemption for the people of God in Egypt. They need to get out. Chapter seven through 11 speaks about the might of the Redeemer that God sends with his power. Beginning in chapter 12 through about chapter 18, you then are given the way of redemption that was purchased by the blood of the Lamb. In chapter 19, you will find the children of Israel having a duty given through them, all the way through chapter 24 to be simply willing as the Redeem to be obedient to the Lord. And then the rest of the chapter, chapter 25, all through the end, chapter 40 speaks about the provisions God has made for the failures of the redeemed. How do the redeemed, how are they maintained and kept through the tabernacle and all of the services and all? I think it's gonna be a great book. I'm looking forward to it tonight though. We have a very short book or a short chapter and it can be divided into three words. So, here's the three words for chapter one and the only way I can remember where things are in the Bible, honestly, I like real short outlines that are catchy. If you can remember chapters, you've got a whole lot going for you. So, here's the three words. A people, a prosperity and a problem. People, prosperity and problem, chapter one, verse one. Now, these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt, each man and his household came with Jacob and Ruben and Simeon and Levi, Judah and Issachar and Zebulon and Benjamin and Dan and Natali and Gad and Asher. And all those who were descendants of Jacob were 70 persons for Joseph was in Egypt already. And Joseph died, all of his brothers and all that generation, but the children of Israel were fruitful and they increased abundantly. They multiplied, they grew exceedingly mighty and the land was filled with them. Now, notice the word now as we begin this book, which is a way for us to know that this book is tied absolutely directly to the last book, the continuation of the story of Genesis. And in order to make sure that we understand that, Moses in writing kind of gives us a brief summary of what we've already studied, if you will. He mentions the 11 sons of Jacob who had become tribes, well, Joseph already there. In Hebrew, the words, (speaking in foreign language) means these are the names. And that is exactly what this book is called in the Hebrew Bible. Those are the names. That's what the title of the book comes from. The Greek title, Exodus, means going out, departure, exit, right? Which is what we understand and what we're used to. So these 70 shepherds who came to Egypt are now told to us in the story of God's redemption as they are going to come out of Egypt, even the way God promised to Jacob and to Joseph, to Abraham and Isaac that he would bring them in there and then at a certain time would bring them out. So what we are given here in the first seven verses is Moses is referencing the ongoing history of Israel and Egypt that saw these 70 people arrive and in the years that followed how God would greatly multiply them. Now we've read that a lot in Genesis. To Abraham in chapter 12, the Lord said that I will make of you a great nation. I'll bless you, your name will be great. You'll be a blessing. In chapter 15, he said, "Abraham outside will not count the stars, can you know?" Well, if you could, then you would know the amount of descendants that I will give to you. That's how your seed is going to be. In chapter 17, he said to Abraham, I'm gonna multiply your seed exceedingly and make you fruitful. In blessing, I will bless you. And on and on through Genesis, God promised this people that they were going to be quite a people and then we read here that in the process of time they were. They were planted in a place that God began to water and to grow them. Now, by the time of the Exodus, 1446 or so BC, now somebody might tell you 1453, somebody might tell you 1431 doesn't make any difference. But around the 1440s, okay, BC. There would be, according to the scriptures, 600,000 men in Israel over 20 years old. Not counting the women, not counting the children, not counting all of the men 20 years younger, so that conservatively, by the time Moses leads the people out, they might very easily have had three million souls that went with them. Now, you think about being the guy who's gonna lead three million people into the desert. We'll just make it shorter. You lead them from here to Huntington Beach, don't lose them. You can just imagine the thought of it, can't you? The total time that they would be in Egypt would be exactly 430 years. Now, we say exactly because in Exodus chapter 12, verse 40, the Lord said in the 40th year, in the 430th year on that day. So we have an exact amount of days, but with each year there was more difficulty as the nation grew, and as Joseph disappeared, and eventually the memory of Joseph disappeared. And the people were really there for generations after generation, and they were becoming a threat, and a worry to the leadership in Egypt, and as their favor dissipated with Joseph being forgotten, and new rulers came upon the scene, things got worse. Now, from a time perspective, so that you can kind of have your head around what you're reading, Moses will be born, and when he is born, he will be 80 years old when he comes back to let the people out. So chapter two of Exodus covers those 80 years, and chapter three sends Joseph, sorry, Moses back in that 80th year. So that 80 years of the 430. There were 56 years in Genesis that the people lived with Joseph before Joseph died. After his dad died, he lived 56 more years. So you add those two together, and you realize that chapter one here of Exodus covers over 295 years of history as quickly as possible by telling us only one story, the birth of Moses. 295 years of difficulty and suffering, and making bricks and being abused, and finally being pushed to the brink, covered in one chapter, covered in a short chapter at that. 22 verses, after the first seven really just did a review of what we read in the book of Genesis. So, verse seven gives us the years of their prosperity. Here is a people, here is the prosperity, verse seven, and then comes the problem. Now, the question inevitably becomes, why did God need for these folks to go to Egypt at all? Could they not have just stayed in Canaan that seems that they were there already? There are a couple of answers. The most obvious one is he wanted to get them to become a people that were ready for the land. Two to three million people could go in and occupy the land and exist as a nation 70 would never have been able to. So, it took some time to raise the nation up, if you will. Secondly, he wanted to prepare the land for them. You might remember that verse there in Genesis chapter 15. As the Lord was making Abraham aware of the fact that he was gonna send his descendants into captivity, but 400 years later, he was gonna bring them back. Actually, he said in the fourth generation, they'll return. Because he says the sin of the Amorites is not yet full. So, God in his mercy was going to give the people of the land, the most wicked people on the planet, 400 plus years to repent, to get things in order, to turn back to the Lord. Now, he knew they wouldn't do that, but when their sin was full, when God had said that's as much chance as they get, then Israel becomes the rod of judgment from God upon an entire nation of people, nations of people who had lived their lives so contrary to God's will. So, God puts Israel in Egypt to say to us, "In one hand, I'm a very patient God." You know, you think you can wear God's patience out in a couple of weeks, so you look at something and go, "Man, I'm not glad I'm a then. "They're probably gonna get killed by lightning." I think probably not. God is pretty patient. He waited for you long enough. For some of you, he's still waiting. And you're sitting in the midst of church. You should be careful. No, God is trustworthy, isn't he? So, you get to learn about the graciousness, the goodness of God in waiting, and then he will finally destroy them by the hands of an incoming people, but that's 400 plus years of patience. How long have you ever been patient with someone? Not even close to 400 years. 40 minutes has, they haven't called yet. How good is our God? So, why? Well, you know, not that I know all the reasons that God gives us, but those are the ones we are led to understand. Well, then we're told in verse eight that there arose a new king. Now, the word king or Pharaoh is interchangeable in the scriptures. Pharaoh was unique to Egypt, but king works and is found just as often. There arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph, and he said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we come. Let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply and it happen in the event of war, that they would also join our enemies and fight against us and so go up out of the land." So here's the 277 years of history. In the process of time, another Pharaoh arose, he didn't know Joseph, and the persecution of the children of Israel began. How long did it last? Good guess. No one knows. If it was just 80 years, if it was 200 years or 150 years, but over time they became more populous and stronger than Egypt. So that took a while. And we're brought through hundreds of years, probably without a comment at all from the Lord, except it was his promise that he would bring them out. So the king of Egypt soon saw them as a threat to his power and the stability of his country. I found it interesting, this idea of heaven forgot on Joseph's contribution, because, you know, if you're just fresh out of Genesis, you think to yourself, "Man, the Lord is good to Egypt." Joseph saved their bacon, you know? Without Joseph, that place would have died. They would have never prepared. They would have never planned. The nation would have died as a people. But God sent a deliverer to them. And he brought this godly oversight, you know, for years. You know, he literally oversaw Egypt for 70 years. You know, he was a blessing to them. And yet, over time, a couple of hundred years, forgetting the past, the future begins to change. And rather than these Jews, these children of Israel being a blessing, they now are beginning to be viewed as a threat. You know, we as a nation have all but forgotten how we started, I think, that we were founded by those whose belief system saw one nation under God, that we have a great heritage. But, hey, we got other things to do now. Rather than walk with the Lord, it's tragic, isn't it? And then the change comes in your history, doesn't it? You begin to turn from what you started from. I was thinking about Harvard. You know, Harvard University was founded by ministers, by pastors in 1636, because they wanted to be sure that the clergy, as they went out to minister in the new commonwealth, were well-trained in the scriptures. It's a pretty ambitious vision. It was named by, or for John Harvard, who was the first benefactor. And about 60 years later, a guy named Increase Mather, maybe you've heard of him before. He became the president of Harvard, and he required that all pagan books with books written by would be replaced by books written with Christian our authors, so that besides teaching things that the kids needed to learn, they would get along with the lessons, the ethics that they would need for the heart. And he instituted that. The early motto at Harvard was truth for Christ and the church. In fact, in the early years of Harvard, half of their graduates became pastors. Ten of their first 12 presidents were pastors. The place was held in great esteem because it was a theological center in New England. Years later, Charles Elliott, he came around in the 1860s, a couple hundred years earlier, he came and literally eliminated Christianity from Harvard's curriculum. He was the leader of, and he was there for 40 years, the secularization of the school driven by his transcendentalist, Unitarian kind of beliefs. I don't think that you could point to Harvard today and say, well, there's the spiritual bastion and champion for Christ. So, when you read the words, there are Rosa King who knew not Joseph. It's a sad day for a people when they forget where they've come from, especially for the work of God. But that happened to Egypt. And rather than thanking the Lord for all that he had done, they began to persecute the people of God. They began to turn against them in fear and seek to keep them under, if you will. The Pharaoh saw them notice as a threat. And he had two major concerns. His first one was they could join potential aggressors and then man would we be outnumbered in a war. And secondly, we would lose a tremendous labor force if they left. We would suffer the loss of cheap labor. They would go out and up out of the land. So, because much of Egypt was built on the back of God's people for the Pharaoh, it was a threat and an asset loss that drove his thinking. No people in recorded history, as far as I know, have suffered more than the Jews as a people group. Oh, there's been nations that have suffered tremendously. But not this long and not this often. And as you read through the scriptures, you find that every nation that turns against the Jews will find the punishing hand of God, awaiting them sooner or later. Now God's patient, but those are his people. And in the end, that's to those people, he's coming back again and to that nation where he will establish himself. And when the Jews see Christ, they will weep over him whom they have pierced. So God's not through with his people. And whether that's Babylon in the Old Testament here or Egypt as they will seek now to turn against them or later Stalin or Hitler, if you will. God cares for his people. I will bless you, curse those who curse you. So the decision by Farrah was to afflict the people hoping that he could break them, that they would die, that they would stop growing, that they wouldn't have as many children, that they wouldn't live as long. And both of his concerns would be met. They'd be too weak to join our enemy. They'd be too weak to leave us as a slaves. So that was his desire. Now God had other ideas. In fact, you will read down here in verse 12, the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. Verse 11 tells us they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. They built for a fair of the supply cities of Python and Ramses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew, and they were in dread of the children of Israel. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor. They made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortars and bricks, all manner of service in the field. And all their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. So God had other ideas. You can read in Psalm 105, I think it is, verse 23. Israel came to Egypt and Jacob sojourned in the land. And he increased his people greatly and he made them stronger than their enemies. And he turned their heart to hate his people and to deal subtly with his servants. And Paul writes in Romans 9 that the scripture says to the Pharaoh, even to this purpose, I have raised you up that I can show my power in you that my name and might could be declared throughout all the earth. God had different ideas. Pharaoh was going, I'm gonna wipe these people out and God goes, I'm gonna make them strong. And then I'm gonna deliver them. I'm gonna go to the state of the world, look at me. I am so that I will know that I am the Lord. So here's God's work, but if you're a part of that 400 years of sitting there, you don't know that other than to believe his promise, right? The big picture is comforting. The day to day can be difficult. We have great big picture. The only the Lord's coming for the church. The trumpet will sound. We could be raptured before we get home tonight. That's a big picture we like. But if the Lord says, I'm coming in 97 years and you get to live in the USA and things are gonna get worse, you might go, oh, big picture doesn't mean anything to me now. But you have to have both, don't you? Day to day, you have to hang on to the big picture. The Lord's coming for his people. Well, the affliction did not reduce their numbers. It only made them hardier. And notice that dread here replaced concern. So they changed their tactics. Let's ratchet up the pressure. Let's make slave laborers. Let's make them work away from home. Let's make their lives bitter. Let's demand more rigor. And yet whatever they tried, however difficult they made it for these poor Jews living in Egypt, waiting for the Lord, it didn't turn them away. They continued to grow, to be strong, to be blessed. Now, I think there's a spiritual principle there. And you'll find it repeated throughout the scriptures. And that is most of the time spiritual growth occurs the best under persecution. When we're forced to trust God, that's a good place to be, right? The danger for the church, just like a danger for a nation is when people begin to be prosperous and have it easy. Because it's so easy then to go, "Well, I got everything I need and you're going to church. I don't need to. I'm gonna pray what for?" And we aren't driven, but if you're out of work or you're sick or you're hurting or things are opposite, as a believer, man, you're in church, oh God. It's the pressure that helps us to stay close and no doubt here as well. You know, the church grew at a phenomenal rate when Rome was sending Christians to the lions. And for 300 years, the church blossomed. In fact, in 30 years, Paul was able to write that the gospel had gone out into all of the world. I mean, the fruit of growth under times of great persecution was phenomenal. When Constantine came along and he stopped the persecution of Christians and he changed the way that the government dealt with the church and he said, "Look, just join the government. You just be a part of us." And then let everyone join and everyone can come and everyone can worship and they can bring in whatever they want. The church became very weak. Oh, they lived a long time, but they lived in sin. And without dedication, pretty soon, all of these weird religious ways got wrapped up into the church. You couldn't identify the true church anymore. It was lost in everything that was allowed rather than in what God had said should happen. And so no forward progress. You know, the church became weak, less godliness, no obedience, few conversions. Wherever you find persecution, the church of Jesus Christ is doing great. The church in America is pretty weak. They're pretty powerless. There's a lot of lack of commitment, but there's tremendous growth where there's pressure. It's just the way it is, you know? And it's unfortunately just the way it is because of the way that we are. So often you will find it in the US church or in the Western church. Everything's about gain, self gain. Oh, I have faith, what can that get me? You know, what can God give me? How can I be blessed? Books, go look in the bookstore sometime, not ours. You won't find them. But typical bookstores are all about blessing in God and giving it to you. How can you get from God? You can't help but wonder what was going through the mind of these people in their generation following Joseph's death and to watch the situation go from bad to worse and they had to wait upon the Lord. By the way, this idea of sending a small group into an area and having them live amongst the people and multiply greatly in their midst has been adopted over the years by lots of different groups. The Hasidic Jews in Israel today because they would like Israel to be a religious state run by religious rules, have adopted the idea of having children at twice the national average so that over time the voting block leads and lends to them and leans their way. Islamic documents uncovered over the last 20 years show that the Muslim strategy for Europe is much the same. Come in small groups, get involved, have lots of children and then push your agenda. You can see it happening in England and in France. They are already overwhelmed with those things in their courts. Well, Israel didn't have that strategy but God was growing her so that he could bring her forth. And the plan of Pharaoh to wear out the people just backfire. So step two in verse 15 was then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives. The name of one of them was Shifra, the name of the other Pua. And he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife "for the Hebrew women and see them on the birth stools, "if it is a son, then you shall kill him. "But if it is a daughter, then she shall live. "But the midwives feared God and did not do "as the king of Egypt commanded them "but saved the male children alive. "And so the king of Egypt called to the midwives "and said to them, 'Why have you not done this thing?' "And say, 'Why have you done this thing, sorry?' "And saved the male children alive. "And the midwives said to farewell, "the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. "They are lively. "They give birth before the midwives come to them. "And so God dealt with the midwives "and the people multiplied and they grew very mighty. "And it was because the midwives feared God "that he provided households for them. "The second step in suppressing their growth "was infanticide, practically. "You will often find Satan at work behind the scenes "seeking to wipe out God's people "through whom God would work. "It is certainly a work of the devil, isn't it? "Satan in the Garden of Eden, "when he heard that there was a plan to deliver "or to bring a deliverer through the seed of the woman, "immediately said about to destroy her seed. "So when Abel was born, guess what? "He went after Abel with Cain. "And he was already in the mix. "Let's put down the plan. "Sought to have the word of God destroyed by sin "or the world, I should say. "God brings a flood, but eight survive. "And so it goes through the scriptures. "You'll find the enemy at every place trying to destroy. "And here in Egypt, no different. "God was preparing a people. "He was going to bring them out and deliver them. "And the enemy was right there. "Even years later, you'll find Herod giving an order like this. "Just to be sure in that net he could catch Jesus, "the king born in Bethlehem. "But I want you to notice something. "Antisemitism is more than simple prejudice. "It is satanically inspired persecution. "And it is intended to be aimed at the Lord "and to the Lord's plans. "Not just a people or a people group. "Since God's plan of redemption involves a nation "and a people, it shouldn't really be any wonder to us "that the enemy would seek to destroy that people, "thereby halting the work of God. "So plan two, when pressure and slavery "and difficulty of life didn't work, "plan two is we're just gonna have to kill "all of the boys that are born, "thereby breaking down their ability to reproduce. "And so the order was given to the midwives "who had here tremendous faith in God. "And I love the fact that God names them "as if those names would mean anything to us. "Pua, oh, way to go, Pua. "I mean, they're named because God in all of his heart "remembers your life. "And here are two women of many, I am sure, "who exemplified their faith in the Lord, "and they refused in the midst of great threat "to carry out this wicked order. "They were gonna obey God rather than man." Now this is the first time in the Bible that we are given what we today would call civil disobedience, the refusal of someone to follow the law of the land due to their relationship with God, right? I can't do that. It's the first time, not the last time, but the first time. Wherever you go in the Bible, God's very interested that you as a Christian obey the laws of the land. Even ones that you don't agree with, the ones that you think are foolish, the ones that you think are prejudiced and slanted, and that you're slided by, the ones that you just think are unfair and ungodly and unholy, you really aren't given much choice. You know, Romans 13 tells us the powers that be are ordained by God. Not some of them, but all of them. That the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord and you're reading prior. And he can turn it whichever way he wants to do as well. So God is big picture now behind all of the politics and governments of man. And his word to his people is, submit to the law of the land. We read there in 1 Peter about submitting yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it is the king who is supreme or someone lower down, if you will. So there is a mandate for us, but there can come a time when you might very well be ordered to do that which God has expressly forbidden. Or you're gonna be kept from doing that which God has expressly demanded. And in those cases, and there are just a few in the scriptures by the way, not many, but it's a very revealing study, this idea of civil disobedience. So here, the women are told murder innocent children and they say, we're not gonna do that, right? And because they obeyed the Lord and feared God, they would not, verse 17, do what the king had asked of them to do. In Daniel's day, there'll be a refusal by some boys to bow down before a false God. There'll be a refusal on Daniel's part to not talk to God, but to request even the things only of God from again, just to simply pray. And sometimes choosing to obey God will cost you. If you look at all of the civil disobedience in the scriptures, you could lose a friend, you could lose a job, you could lose your freedom, you could lose your life. And pretty dangerous things to do. You better be sure that you are obeying God, and even if that's the price you pay, you're willing to do that, because even the boys in Daniel said the Lord can deliver us, but even if he doesn't, we can't do that. Can't bow down to some idle in the middle of nowhere that represents Nebuchadnezzar, you know, in all of his power, we're not gonna do that. The Lord delivered them from the fiery furnace. He delivered Daniel from the lion's den. But that doesn't mean you get delivered, you could just die, and your life could be taken from you. In reality, I guess, if you put God first, you don't lose, but you could lose in that way. Now, God never forgets our willingness to be obedient. To obey is better than sacrifice. Samuel said that to Saul. Joseph said that to Potiphar's wife, Moses, would say so in leaving Pharaoh's house a couple of times. So, notice in verse 21 that as a result of these women's faith, God blessed them tremendously and he provided households for them. Now, that might seem an odd blessing in light of the climate of those days. Well, the edict of the Pharaohs to have your children die, so I'm gonna give you more kids. But in reality, God is again preparing the people. And it does show you what a blessing God views children in your home, right? What is the blessings the midwives got children? Households, Psalm 127 verse three, children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is his reward. So, when the midwives are called out of the carpet their explanation is true. Now, I'm sure they didn't hurry over. Having a baby, yeah, I'll be there tomorrow. But they did say the Pharaoh, well, you know, those women are in shape. They're not like you Egyptian women sitting around the house, they're in shape. So, they get ready to deliver. Man, it doesn't take any time at all for them. And God blessed them. He took care of them. He dealt, we read there well with them. What a great word, and he dealt well with them. And the people continued to grow and multiply. And so it was because the midwives feared God that he provided households for them. What a beautiful picture. Now, another note of civil disobedience found in the scriptures is that in every place that there was civil disobedience, there was the willingness to pay the price. And the defiance was with great respect. There wasn't any thumbing your nose. And let's see if you can make me and will organize and protest. They were individuals who just couldn't cross a line, right? So you read, for example, in Acts chapter four when the boys are called in and told that they couldn't speak in the name of Jesus anymore. That Peter and John, with all boldness, what great respect said, look, whether it seems right to you or in the sight of God that we would listen to you more than God, we cannot but speak the things which we've seen and heard. And we'll just let God figure that out. But they were willing to pay the price, right? They were willing to pay the price. In Daniel there in chapter three with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they said, we're not careful Nebuchadnezzar to answer you. In this matter, we don't have to think about it. There's no, we don't need to pray. We don't need to consult our attorneys. We just can't do this. We think God's big enough to get us out of this. If not, we're gonna die, but hey, either way, sir, we're not worshiping your word God. There was always a willingness to pay the price on the side of those who took a stand like that. Well, work them to death, that didn't work. Order the death of their children, that didn't work. And so, step three, and then the final verse here, Pharaoh then, commanded all of his people. And he said, every son who is born, you're gonna cast them into the river while every daughter, you're gonna keep alive. So, he turns from the midwives to Jews, and he enlist the help of the entire Egyptian citizenry in being sure every Hebrew family put their born children into the river and drowned them. He deputizes the nation, if you will. He calls them and stand with us, or we're gonna get overrun by these Jews. Must have been a horrible time for Israel. Had God forgotten them, he had not. But it was in the midst of that practice that we come to 80 years out from deliverance. We come to 1526 BC. We come to the time that Moses was born, and he was born at a time when people were grabbing those little Hebrew boys and throwing them in the river. His brother, a little older than him, apparently escaped it, that wasn't his issue. But somewhere between his brother's birth, and Moses, that law came down upon the people as a whole. God was preparing a man. He was preparing a deliver. They didn't see it yet, they didn't understand it yet, but they were gonna have to trust God's word in it. So, just from verse 22 to chapter two, verse one, we jump all the way to within 80 years of the Exodus. In chapter one, you were 400 years literally away, 380 some years away. So, Moses is about to be born in the midst of all of the male children being drowned, and God is gonna bring forth his deliver. Chapter two is gonna bring us to his birth, to his growing up, to the fact of his 80th birthday, and his departure from Egypt. Actually, 40 years, sorry. And then the next chapter three will take us 40 more years and bring them back. So that's the stage for the deliver to come. So, we got a lot to learn in the weeks to come. I'm looking forward to getting out with him, aren't you? And seeing what God will do. Father, tonight, as we sit together, it is with great joy that we think about, Lord, this birth of a nation that you had chosen and called to yourself, that you had brought to Egypt at the time of great famine. And now you give us their story, 3,500 years ago, and yet for us, it holds life lessons and direction, Father, where we can today take what we learn from the story of Moses and apply it to our own life. We can see the sacrifice of your son and you being our great high priest. We can listen, Lord, to your word. As we wanna come out of Egypt, out of the world, we wanna get through the wilderness as quickly as we can learn those lessons, so we can begin to live a life of faith. Where you put us down and tell us to walk, those wilderness experiences, where you carry us, where the walls of Jericho just fall down, where food rains from the sky, water comes out of the rock, where you overthrow enemies, Lord, without any of our help. And then there comes that time in the land of promise, where we have to live by faith and you don't necessarily move so quickly, we have to trust you and watch you and look to you. Even as the Jordan River overflowed its banks, how are we gonna get across? But the minute the priests went in and your presence with them, the waters rolled back. It becomes a time of being cared for like a child and then being asked to walk like an adult, a believer in faith. So Lord, may we learn in the weeks to come what it means to live for you to walk by faith. And before we have communion tonight, I would encourage you to think about whether you've had an exodus in your life. If you come out of a life of sin, because really, you've been born into the world, but now you need to be free from it. Sin has turned you away from God, has caused you to suffer the consequences and there's really no joy or peace there, is there? But God sent his son so that you and I could be born again of the spirit we could come out where the flesh is no longer the dominant interest in my life. Where it doesn't have a hold of me, God can get a hold of me. And tonight God can get a hold of you and you can give your life to him and be saved. You can have an exodus, you can come out and be separate. And God says, I'll be your God, you'll be my children. In fact, that's the purpose Jesus came, is to bring us out of Egypt and bring us into the land of promise, into that life of faith. Tonight, maybe you haven't given Jesus your life. Well, do that even right now where you're sitting. You can come up afterwards and talk to one of the pastors and tell them what you did, but before you have communion, receive Jesus into your life, confess your need for him, to him. Agree with him that you're not getting out on your own, that sin destroys, is powerful, overwhelms us. And then believe him when he says that he's come to bring you life. And that he's taken the sins of the world and he's placed them upon his son that whoever would believe in him would in Paris that be given eternal life. You can have eternal life tonight. If you'll just believe in Jesus, the deliverer like Moses, who's such a picture in a type of the Lord's salvation, he led them out with a high hand. God will lead you out by his spirit. A simple prayer of inviting the Lord into your heart will be heard on high and God will come running to you and begin that work that he loves to be of saving. You from sin and death and given your life. Do that right now. Jesus save me, forgive me, come Lord, be the Lord of my life and he will. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) - Well, thank you for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and rating our podcast. You can visit us on the web at morningstarcc.org and on our YouTube channel at MorningstarCC. Again, that's at MorningstarCC. If you'd like to support this podcast, please look us up at patreon.com/morningstarcc. Again, that's patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N.com/morningstarcc. (gentle music) [MUSIC PLAYING]
