Lessons from the Exodus

Transcript

what I thought we could do tonight was just look at the story in Exodus and try to gleam some lessons from the children of Israel, the hardships that they went through, and relate that to our lives. We're all familiar with this story and the drama of it and the incredible display of the God to the then known world at that time. And there's so much information contained in this story and so much history for the Jewish people and for us. It was certainly trying times for the children of Israel when they were in Egypt, very desperate times, and we're reminded of our calling in that although we enjoy wonderful blessings in the gospel, we're told in Timothy chapter three of the day and age that we live in prior to the return of Christ, but mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. And we're told to have nothing to do with such people. And all you have to do is turn on the news to see these characteristics or just a lot of times out in everyday life. Unfortunately, we come across the rough edges of the flesh, so to speak, and the children of Israel when they were in Egypt were faced with these failings of the flesh. They were treated horribly as we'll see here and they were treated ruthlessly. But throughout the story, we are reminded of the bold woman of faith who refused to allow her child to be destroyed. Exodus two tells us, now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levi woman and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months, but when she could hide him no longer, she got a basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. And at first glance, this doesn't sound like a great plan, putting a baby in a basket in a river that had all kinds of problems with it. And this should have been such a joyous time for the family, but they were living in such times of distress, they were hiding their child and we've just had the wonderful announcement of Joel and Lisa and their new baby and it's such a wonderful time. And it's hard to imagine having a child under the circumstances that existed at this time. We also see in this story the enduring principle that God never forgets his people and he never forgets us. We're told in Isaiah 15, can a woman forget her nursing child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, they may forget, yet I will not forget you. And this is the enduring promise of God and of Christ that they will not forget us. Deuteronomy chapter 31 tells us, do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you. And so during the trials of life, during the ups and downs, during those times of distress, just as the children of Israel could look towards their maker, we can do the same that God will never fail us nor abandon us even though it may seem for a time that we're sitting in a problem and it's not getting solved the way we want or as quickly as we want. Trusting God in having faith when stress levels are high and it can be a challenge when we're under stress to consider the wonderful words of scripture. We tend to look towards our own abilities, but 2nd Timothy tells us in chapter 1 verse 9, he has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. So even if we're into look upward in prayer and that's what the children of Israel were doing during this time. They were trying to find a way out of the situation that they were in. So we see a story where the children of Israel go from slavery to covenant. They were in the land of Egypt for 400 years. They grew as a family to a nation. They were under enslavement by a new Pharaoh who didn't know Joseph and God confronts Pharaoh through his servant Moses. And then we see the Exodus, a mass departure of people typically leaving a hostile environment or fleeing a place. And certainly what the children of Israel were looking for was to have their circumstances eased. We read in Genesis chapter 46. So Israel set out with all that was his and when he reached Bersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. So Israel is gathering his family together. There's a famine and he's heading down into Egypt and he's remembering God. He's remembering to pray. He's remembering to do those things and realizing that his very life is tied up in the Creator. Goes on to saying God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, Jacob, Jacob, here I am, he replied. I am God, the God of your father, he said. Do not be afraid or go down to Egypt for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you and I will surely bring you back again. We know the analogy that the day and age that we live in is like Egypt and God is surely with us just as he was with Jacob at this time and he will bring us out of this day and age to a glorious kingdom. And it's the same, same promise that we have. It goes on to say then Jacob left Bersheba and Israel's sons took their father Jacob and their children and their wives and the carts that Pharaoh had sent to transport him. So Jacob and all his offering went to Egypt taking with them their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in Canaan. Jacob brought with him to Egypt his sons and his grandsons and his daughters and granddaughters, all his offspring, 70 people in and this is a wonderful, wonderful story, this famine. Having a new grandson, I could just imagine having these challenges with no food or limited food but now going to an area where you have your son Joseph is in charge. He's going to take care of you. He's going to take care of your entire family through the hand of God and so this small group of 70 people grows to two to three million people and they thrive as a nation in the land and we might question why did God do this? Why did he need to bring them down into Egypt? Why couldn't he just make them thrive where they were and fulfill his promises? But if we dig deeper we see the formation and growth Egypt offered during this time of safety and resources and this allowed the Israelites to grow into a large nation moving away from a nomadic lifestyle and the ultimate goal was to place them permanently in a land. At this time it was the land of Egypt but ultimately into the land of Canaan or Israel. This also provided an opportunity. We know how fickle flesh can be. We know how even the nation of Israel, they had hearts of stone we're told at times. They were stubborn and so this gave God the opportunity to show divine deliverance and display that to not only the children of Israel but also to the entire world. The slavery and subsequent exodus were designed to show the world the power and supremacy of the one true God proving his hand was upon Israel. Egypt at this time was a dominant superpower and was well recognized by the world at that time. Genesis 41 57 tells us in all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph because the famine was severe everywhere and it would have been a tapestry for God to provide the opportunity to teach his people, to save them, to help them, to deliver them. It also provided an opportunity when the children of Israel were suffering to learn through experience when times are tough and we know that sometimes in our lives when things are going easy and things are just kind of you know smoothing going very smooth and along the way with no issues maybe we don't have God in our mind the way that we that the way that we should. I know in my own life the flesh tends to just be more about myself when when things are just easy and we look at Hebrews what it tells us about our savior it says during the days of Jesus life on earth he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries in tears to the one who could save him from death and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was he learned obedience from what he suffered and once made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and so our Lord and master went through these same sufferings just like the children of Israel did in the land of Egypt and they learned through these things they learned those godly characteristics of compassion of grace and mercy and trying to create an environment of peace. Hebrews goes on to tell us no discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful later on however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it so we have an opportunity when we see someone going through a tough time or if going through a challenge on our own to provide comfort for them so that we can help them through it and be trained by it. I mentioned I'm a new grandfather and my daughter Rachel came up with a hip name for me Papa J because she's like dad you're really too young to be a grandfather which of course I agree with her but it was you know I watched my son and my daughter-in-law their baby came early by about a month and they were in the NICU and coaching my son through this time and giving him the support that he needed and giving my daughter-in-law Kaylee the support that she needed when they saw this little life that was helpless and they just had to be there and watch and go through that process and I told my son that this will pass you're going to be home you're going to be with your son you're going to be enjoying him growing up and he said dad I know I trust you I know what you're saying is true and when they got home and they were home for about a month he sent me a text and said dad you were so right you know it's like that never happened when we were in the NICU and I think for things that we go through in our lives they're they're very difficult in the moment and it's stressful and we can feel that anxiety of those feelings wash over us how are we going to handle this what are we going to do what what's going to happen is this baby going to be okay what's going to happen with my job how's my family going to be and it brings such peace of mind when we can transfer that worry onto God God God has made contractual arrangements with us at our baptism that he's going to take care of all these things he is going to guide us and shepherd us through our lives and if we can try to keep that in mind even when times are tough when when stress levels are high we're going to be better off for it we're going to get through these times in it in a way that is is easier so to speak because we're not going to be bearing that burden ourselves Christ tells us to place our burden upon him that he can carry it he has the capabilities he's the prince of peace he's going to rule the world he can certainly stretch out his hand in our own lives to tell us to help us at this time when the when Israelites came down into Egypt they were shepherds life was good Joseph was the highest in the land and they had food now they had security but as we've probably experienced in our own lives new management came in and that's not always a good thing changes are made um perhaps people lose their jobs a whole new mindset or philosophy can come into a a workplace or in this case into the nation of Egypt prior to the new Pharaoh there was a cooperative and respectful relationship with the children of Israel we're told in Genesis 49 when days of mourning had passed Joseph said to Pharaoh's court if I have found favor in your eyes speak to Pharaoh for me tell him my father made me swear an oath and said I am about to die bury me in the tomb I dug for myself in the land of Canaan now let me go up and bury my father then I will return and so there was no worry that Joseph wasn't going to return and we're told Pharaoh said go up and bury your father as he made you swear to do there was a respect for a an agreement for an oath and it says so Joseph went up to bury his father all Pharaoh's officials accompanied him the dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egypt besides all the members of Joseph's household and his brothers and those belonging to his father's household so there was no distrust or imagined evil that Pharaoh had for the people of Israel and I think there's a wonderful lesson there for us in our interaction with with each other and just a general outlook on life is to always think the best of people if if we're bothered by something somebody's doing think the best of of what their intentions are try to understand where they're coming from rather than only looking at our own perspective and we see that this is how Pharaoh looked at Joseph and and going to bury his father and and I think it's a wonderful opportunity for us to show that same mindset in our interaction Exodus 1 goes on to the new king to whom Joseph meant nothing came to power in Egypt look he said to his people the Israelites have become far too numerous for us come we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and if war breaks out we'll join our enemies fight against us and leave the country and so this was an imagined fear that Pharaoh came up with there was no indication that this is what the Israelites were going to do but it was his philosophy and so he set out in a plan to what he thought would prevent this from happening verse 11 tells us so they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor and they built Pithom and Ramses as store for Pharaoh but the more they were oppressed the more they multiplied and spread so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly they made their lives bitter with harsh labor and brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields and all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly and it makes a point to bring out that word ruthlessly and it's it's a way none of us ever want to be treated by another human being the it tells us as well they were oppressed and we see this throughout scripture that God uses trial or he uses individuals that are trying to oppress but the Israelites multiplied and spread and the people around them were just in awe that this could happen typically under terms of slavery it's very difficult for a people to grow it's very difficult to care for children and and that's one reason why they ended up with this edict where Moses had to be put in a basket but nations people usually do not grow under this type of hostile conditions except when you have the hand of God watching over you and that's what we have brothers and sisters in our lives circumstances that seem dire circumstances that seem like good may not come out of them there's nothing beyond God's reach nothing beyond his power he can make things multiply he can make things dry up and we've we've all seen it in our own lives and we'll continue to see it until the return of Christ and not only were the children of Israel worked ruthlessly they were recipients of a brutal extermination policy and these poor parents this poor people having to deal with an edict from a pharaoh that said we're going to kill your firstborn we're going to kill your your children if it's a son in exodus it tells us when you serve as a midwife to the hebrew women and see them upon the stool if it is a son you shall kill him but if it is a daughter she shall live and this behavior was absolutely ruthless and devoid of any morality whatsoever but the midwives would not carry this out they excused themselves by saying the israelite women are vigorous and give birth before we arrive and so God's hand to save Moses and to raise him up to save the children of Israel was worked out in the in in this situation in these dire situations you can only imagine the absolute depravity of anyone who could do this to a child and the you can see Moses children make a lot of noise they cry a lot potentially as they're younger they get active they need a lot of care and it would have been very difficult to care for Moses during this time they need a lot of attention and they're under hard labor they're being treated ruthlessly it's very difficult to do these things going through this experience would have seared into the mind of every israelite how painful ungodly behavior is they would have experienced it personally and each person would reflect in their own life on trying to never inflict this type of cruelty on any other person whether mentally or physically and there's a wonderful lesson there for us that we must avoid all such behavior like this certainly in our day and age with social media with our interactions we're not in a situation where there are extermination edicts but we have such a wonderful opportunity to help people through and in their walk towards the kingdom and to express in the way that we act those fruits of the spirit love care long suffering and we have wonderful examples of these characteristics and this behavior and everybody on this on this class tonight and it's a testament to our study of the word and the children of israel would have would have gone through this incredibly difficult time but it would have made an impact on their life it would have made an impact on how they treated their neighbor we had read earlier about moses being placed in a basket and exodus 2 goes on to say then pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe and her attendants were walking along the riverbank she saw the basket among the wreaths and sent her female slave to get it he opened it and saw the baby he was crying and she felt sorry for him this is one of the hebrew babies she said then his sister asked pharaoh's daughter shall i go and get one of the hebrew women to nurse the baby for you and so this plan starts to come together this plan of moses's mother to put the baby in a basket something that would seemingly never work out god can do all things and it goes on to say yes go she ends it so the girl went and got the baby's mother pharaoh's daughter said to her take this baby and nurse him for me and i will pay you so the woman took the baby and nursed him you get paid for taking care of your own kid when the child grew older she took him to pharaoh's daughter and he became her son she named him moses saying i drew him out of the water god was going to draw his people out of egypt by using moses and so it's an apt name for the deliverer moses the scheme of moses mother succeeds to the point that she's actually employed to care for her own son she not only nurses him but educates him in the principles of true worship in the hope of israel moses is brought up in pharaoh's palace and as he's growing older he realizes that god has a purpose with him in the deliverance of his people he sees the bondage that the israelites are under and he wants to do something about it and we can ask ourselves the same question as moses came to the realization that god had a purpose for his life do we realize that god has a purpose for our life and a plan for our future jeremiah 29 verse 11 tells us i know the plans i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future then you will call on me and come and pray to me and i will listen to you you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart this same god has a plan and purpose for each of us and it's important for us to keep this in mind as we live our lives we have a hope we have a future and that one of the core messages of scripture is that god as he was actively working in moses's life in jacob's life and in the children of israel's life he is actively working in our lives to bring out a positive outcome god's plans are meant to bring good as we read in romans chapter and we know that in all things god works for the good of those who love him and so it reinforces that god has a wonderful purpose in care for each of us in our lives god provides provides guidance and counsel to walk in his paths in his scriptures and our daily readings he's prepared a path for us in a place for us and we're reminded that even when situations are difficult god's promise assures us that he is in control and he has a higher better plan than we can imagine we can rely on divine care in a secure hopeful future first corinthians 2 verse 9 tells us however as it is written what no eye hath seen what no ear has heard and what no human mind has conceived the things god has prepared for those who love him and we only need to look around at this creation to understand the wonderful creative and caring nature that god has that we can't even imagine the wonder of the kingdom and these things that god has in mind all right but there was more trouble to come even with the ruthless bondage with the edict of extermination moses is now living in farrow's house he has status and he's going about his life he's probably about 40 years old at this time and we're told he saw an egyptian beating a hebrew one of his own people looking this way in that and seeing no one he killed the egyptian and hid him in the sand the next day he went out and saw two hebrews fighting he asked the one in the wrong why are you hitting your fellow hebrew the man said who made you ruler over us are you thinking of killing me as you killed the egyptian then moses was afraid and thought what i did must have become known when farrow heard of this he tried to kill moses but moses fled from farrow and went to live in midian moses identified with the israelites it would have been so easy for him to enjoy the riches of egypt and his power and status moses at this time tried to save the people in his own power and as moses was a deliverer for the people from egypt was rejected the first time they said who are you a ruler over us moses christ also was rejected the first time he came to deliver his people but his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say we don't want this man to be our king but as moses was accepted when he came back at age 80 and was used as the deliverer for the children of israel so christ will be accepted by the jewish nation and by israel at his second coming they will embrace the messiah as we're told in zechariah chapter 12 and i will pour out on the house of david in the inhabitants of jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication they will look on me the one they have pierced and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a force for a firstborn and we know grief that came out of egypt when the firstborn children lost their lives on that day the weeping in jerusalem will be as great as the weeping in the plain of megiddo the land will mourn each clan by itself with their wives by themselves and the clan of the house of david and their wives and all the rest of the clans and their wives when christ comes a second time just as moses delivered the children of israel from egypt christ will deliver each one of us he will deliver the nation of israel and the entire world at his second coming people will see christ and they will recognize him as the messiah as the savior they will mourn the children of israel that they did not accept him at his first coming but the time was not right for deliverance when moses was 40 moses had more to learn and there's a wonderful lesson for us in our own lives that circumstances help us to grow time helps us to grow patient and to consider our ways before the later moses at 40 years old 40 years old was powerful but he was weak and i came across a really interesting article that i'm going to read a just a few paragraphs of by the time moses murders an egyptian for striking a hebrew slave he is 40 years old up to this point he has been raised in farrow's house as an adopted son of farrow's daughter steven later describes him this way moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the egyptians and he was mighty in his words and deeds he's certainly skilled enough in combat to handle the egyptian on his own no wonder moses thinks he'll be the one to deliver god's people from egypt steven seems to imply this as well he supposed that his brothers would understand that god was giving them salvation by his hand but they did not understand and that's why they questioned moses and said who made you a ruler over us 40 year old moses is strong and educated and skilled he has political clout military knowledge physical gifting and deep sympathy for his people but it all unravels the people reject him farrow wants to kill him he's left with no other option but to flee to the wilderness but as is so often the case god does some of his best work in the wilderness moses needed that time to grow god needed to put moses through more education so that he could learn so that he could be ready to come back to egypt to deliver the people the article goes on to say 80 year old moses was weak but powerful full on decades later god meets moses at a burning bush he's been an ordinary shepherd in a forgotten area surely any dreams of being used mightily have faded into oblivion but god wants to use this moses not the earlier version no wonder moses responds who am i that i should go to farrow and bring children of israel out of egypt moses at 80 is weak he can't even talk well why would god choose him and why now moses has gone from it makes sense that god would use me to who am i that god would use me and in that change he demonstrates he's now ready god deconstructs moses's strength so he'll learn who's really in control god doesn't need moses moses needs god and we probably find these same things in our own lives brothers and sisters and friends that as we get older we realize how weak we really are but through god and through god's strength we can rely and trust on god to get us through any trial or tribulation that we are faced with moses was meek and we're told in numbers moses was the most meek of all men on earth hebrews tells us by faith joseph when his end was near spoke about the exodus of the israelites from egypt and gave instruction concerning the burial of his bones by faith moses's parents hid him for three months after he was born because they saw he was no ordinary child and they were not afraid of the king's edict by faith moses when he has had grown up refused to be known as the son of he chose to be mistreated along with the people of god rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin and that's the challenge for us right now in this day and age do we choose the fleeting pleasures of sin do we choose apathy in a world that tells us to don't worry about how you live life do we choose to be at times mistreated because we live as christians in a world that can sometimes look down on us i think we're all choosing to be like moses here to not look at the fleeting pleasures of sin but rather as it goes on to say he regarded disgrace for the sake of christ as of greater value than the treasures of egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward this is exactly what christ did when he had to go to the cross he was looking ahead to his reward and we can do the same thing and encourage each other to do the same thing it says by faith he left egypt not fearing the king's anger he persevered because he saw him who is invisible by faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of israel by faith the people passed through the red sea on dry land but the egyptians tried to do so they were drowned it's a wonderful example for us in faith and we too can see him who is invisible we only need to look at nature at the intricacies of this creation to know that there's a plan and a purpose to focus on doing those things which are righteous for the greater value that lies for us to follow the gospel looking ahead to the promise of that would meekness is seen as a strength characterized by restrained power gentleness humility and teach ability it involves having strength but choosing to use it with kindness self-control in consideration for others Matthew five tells us blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth and so we look at this quality of meekness and we think it's a wonderful foundation to build our character on that self-control kindness teachability gentleness beatitudes tells us again in Matthew chapter five blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy blessed are the pure and hot for they will see god blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of god blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven this is what the children of israel went through but they look ahead to their reward this is what christ went through and we are currently going through this process and the goal for our behavior is meekness it's encouragement it's self-control in a world that doesn't have control it's consideration for each other putting one another ahead of our own needs and showing kindness every house is built by someone and moses was not built by his own strength his ability to be the that god used to deliver the children of israel was not by his own strength second corinthians tells us my grace is sufficient for you my power is made perfect in weakness hebrews tells us therefore holy brothers and sisters who share in the heavenly calling fix your thoughts on jesus whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest he was faithful to the one who appointed him just as moses was faithful in all god's house jesus has been found worthy of a greater honor than moses just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself every house is built by someone but god is the builder of everything moses was faithful as a servant in god's house bearing witness to what would be spoken by god in the future but christ is faithful as the son over god's house and we are his house if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory and there's such a wonderful tie in here with moses and with christ in the play that the writer of hebrew tells us we have the opportunity every day to build a house of security around the things of the truth to allow each other into the safety of the ecclesia that we have into the safety that the gospel provides recognizing that just as moses was a faithful and all god's house we can and are faithful servants in god's house bearing witness of these things in in a dangerous and trying world matthew seven tells us therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock the rain came down and the streams rose and the winds blew and beat upon that house yet it did not fall because it had foundation on the rock the rock of christ but everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand the rain came down the streams rose and the winds blew and beat against that house and fell with a great crash and so the encouragement for us is to continue through difficulty to build our foundation on the rock it will stand christ will not let us down and so often when human strength fails we turn and rely on god his power can be fully displayed sometimes in those weakest moments god uses our limitations and hardships to show his strength and grace just as he did with moses and just as he did to show his power to the children of israel we can let go and place our full trust in god jeremiah tells us in chapter 17 blessed is the man who trusts in the lord whose trust is in the lord he is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear when the heat comes but when those trials of life come for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought for it does not cease to be a fruit as long as we continue in the things of the truth we will continue to produce fruit that's pleasing to god proverbs 3 tells us trust in the lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding and we can end with this image of the burning bush that the nation of israel was likened unto this bush it was on fire but it was not destroyed and so whatever the trials of life we might face we will not be destroyed we will be preserved until the coming of the lord or the resurrection to see our lord and master and even though it may seem sometimes like god is delaying or not hearing up prayer let's be patient and let's remember that although god does always answer prayer immediately he also does not discipline us immediately when we fall short he exhibits extreme patience to each of us in our lives and it's this wonderful characteristic of god that he has that he is slow to anger rich in mercy and profoundly patient offering time for repentance rather than immediate judgment and so let us never despair as we walk in the truth let us rely on the mercy of god and remember that god can use all circumstances to bring glory and honor to his name