OPENING

The Overarching Theme of the Bible

The Bible as one continuous story.

It begins in Genesis with God creating everything good, and dwelling with His creation.

But then sin enters the world… and though God atones for Adam and Eve’s sin, He casts them out of the garden… out of His presence because He is holy, and cannot be in the presence of sin.

At the end of the Bible, in Revelation, God ushers in the new heavens and the new earth, where He will dwell perfectly with mankind again.

The rest of the Bible, everything between Genesis and Revelation, God is working to restore what was lost in the garden…

Wherever you read in your Bibles, you are picking up somewhere along the path of the story.

Last week, Pastor Jake brought us the first message as we began the book of Exodus.

In Genesis we read of how God created all things good, but after the first sin, sin began to increase greatly.

God then called Abraham, and promised to give his descendants their own land and make him a great nation.

He has a son Isaac, who has a son Jacob, who has 12 sons, and through a famine God brings them to Egypt, where they will begin to multiply, and will be enslaved for the next 400 years.

Lest we think God is somehow incapable of fulfilling His promises to Abraham, we must understand that this is a part of God’s plan.

God had told Abraham this would happen when He originally called him.

Genesis 15:12–14 ESV

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

As Pastor Jake taught us last week, “God is Watching”.

Though His people are suffering, He is watching over them, blessing them, and causing them to be fruitful.

But at the end of chapter 1, we left on a cliff-hanger… where we read in Ex 1:22:

Exodus 1:22 ESV

Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

The Israelites were following God, they were working hard, and they were protecting innocent lives, but their suffering not only continued, but got increasingly worse.

And things were about to get a whole lot worse!

How is God going to save His people now?

IS God going to be able to save His people?

That’s where we pick up the story this morning…

My sermon title this morning is:

Safe and Secure in the Midst of Suffering

We automatically assume that suffering means that something is wrong.

In our world there’s an answer for everything, and if you just simply follow this 5-step plan, all of your problems will go away.

The Israelites could have been tempted to believe that God had forgotten about His promise to them… He had forgotten about them…

But this too, was a part of God’s plan.

Because it was part of God’s plan, this was the safest place they could be.

Open your Bibles with me and turn to Exodus chapter 2.

Last week Pastor Jake preached on chapter 1, so if you missed it and you’re interested in following the whole series, you can find our past sermons on our website, lemchurch.ca, as well as on Spotify and iTunes.

Chapter 1 tells us of all the suffering that the Israelites are facing as slaves in Egypt.

As we pick up in Exodus 2:1-10, we are going to be encouraged that…

In the Midst of Suffering, Trust God is at Work

Exodus 2:1–10 ESV

Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

EXPLAIN

In view of the suffering that God’s people have been enduring in Exodus 1, we are presented with a birth narrative.

As we read our Bibles, if children are born it is most often merely mentioned.

But every once in a while, an author will slow down and explain in detail the birth of a specific child.

Even if we did not know the story we are reading, we are led to believe that this child is going to become major character that will play a vital role.

That is exactly what we have here.

The author has not yet told us exactly how, but this baby is going to be a special part of God’s plan.

There was something special and unique about this child, so that his parents hid him for 3 months, until they could not hide him anymore.

Interestingly, in many of the other birth narratives we have in Scripture, God tells the parents that the child they are about to have is going to be special, and gives them special instructions about his life.

We aren’t told of anything like that in this story.

The only thing we are told is that there seems to be something unique about the child’s appearance that causes the parents to believe he is special.

So they make a waterproof basket and place it in the river among the reeds, and their suspicians that this child is special are affirmed as Pharaoh’s daughter has compassion on the baby.

Once again, we are not given much about the details of the story.

Did they intentionally place it in a spot where Pharaoh’s daughter would see it?

Did they have a reason to believe she would have pity rather than handing the baby over to the authorities?

We don’t know, but it must have been that God was working in her heart, as she has the complete opposite response of her father.

Pharaoh, her father, is maliciously killing all Hebrew baby boys for no other reason than to protect his own interests.

Meanwhile, she has compassion and pity on a helpless, innocent baby.

As Christians, we believe in the sanctity of human life. Each and every person has been created in the image of God, and is therefore worthy of respect and dignity.

Sadly, we live in a world not unlike that time, where the unborn are treated as meaningless… an inconvenience… and are discarded and disposed of, all in the name of women’s health.

We ought to stand up and defend the rights of the unborn. We ought to have compassion and pity for those babies who are not able to stand up for themselves.

Then, in an unexpected twist of the story, the baby is reunited with his mother, who nurses and raises him, and gets paid for it!

Later on she would bring the child to become the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, who would call his name Moses.

Ironically, the future deliverer of God’s people would be raised by Pharaoh’s own daughter.

MAIN POINT

We know that this child is going to important in God’s plan, but we don’t yet know how.

The main idea I want us to see here is that:

In the midst of chaos, disorder, and suffering, God’s plan begins to unfold.

God has not revealed His plan to His people yet, but there is a glimmer of hope.

Though it would have been easy for the people of Israel to get caught up in their circumstances, they needed to trust that God was at work.

They couldn’t see exactly what God was doing, but they needed to remain faithful to Him, trusting that He was going to fulfill His promise to bring them into their own land.

God’s deliverance and protection of this child was the reminder they needed that in the midst of their suffering, God was at work.

APPLY

The Israelites were literally slaves in Egypt, and although we may not be facing literal slavery, we all suffer in bondage to various things in this life.

I don’t know exactly what you all are struggling with in your lives, but I do know that we all have struggles.

Oh, I know we say things are fine when others ask, but if we were to truly share what’s going on in our lives, we would all be able to share:

Physical or emotional pain that we are facing,

Sins that we are struggling with,

Broken or damaged relationships that are causing tension,

Fears and worries that weigh us down.

Maybe you struggle to understand how God could let you face the difficult circumstances you are facing.

How could this suffering be a part of God’s will for my life?

Or am I suffering because God doesn’t love me? Maybe He has given up on me.

I’m sure the Israelites wrestled with these questions as they suffered under the hand of Pharoah.

ILLUSTRATE

Many of you have probably been on a roller coaster before.

You’re harnessed into a seat, and then thrown around like a rag-doll

as you climb high up, fly down steep banks, take sharp turns, go around in circles, go through dark tunnels where you can’t see anything, all while moving so fast you don’t have time to think.

And the worst thing you could possibly do while all of that is going on, is try to jump off!

That’s a lot of times how life feels.

We’re flying all over the place, and you have no control.

You don’t know what to expect at the next turn.

But the worst possible thing you can try to do is jump off!

We are “Safe and Secure in Suffering” if that is God’s will for our lives.

Tim Chester, in his commentary on the book of Exodus, says…

One of the ways in which God works good from suffering is that he uses it to make us cling to him in faith, to clarify our identity as his children and to increase our longing for the new creation.

In the midst of our suffering, we must learn to trust that God is in control… He has a plan… and He is at work.

It may be that His plan for your deliverance has already begun, you just can’t see it yet.

You must stay on God’s path. Continue to walk in His Word. Continue to trust in Him.

He will be faithful… He will carry you through.

TRANSITION

The Israelites now had a glimmer of hope, but it would still be 80 years before Moses would come back to Egypt to deliver God’s people.

They needed to trust God was at work, but they also needed to trust His timing.

In the Midst of Suffering, Trust God’s Timing

We are not patient people! We want what we want, and we want it now!

Especially in the area of suffering, it’s hard to be patient.

We wouldn’t be offended at all if the seasons of suffering that we had to endure lasted only a short time.

What we need to learn is that is God is doing something in and through the suffering that can’t be rushed.

We must learn to trust God’s timing.

Moses needed to learn this as well.

We pick up our reading in Exodus 2:11—15.

Exodus 2:11–15 ESV

One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

EXPLAIN

In the book of Acts chapter 7, prior to Stephen’s death, he details some of the history of Israel to the Jewish leaders.

There we learn more details about the life of Moses.

He says in Acts 7:23

Acts 7:23 ESV

“When he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brothers, the children of Israel.

We don’t know exactly how, but Moses is aware of his heritage.

Exodus 2:11 says… “(Moses) went out to HIS people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of HIS people.”

He was taken into Pharaoh’s daughters house at a young age, but he remained committed to God, and his people.

Seeing an Egyptian beating one of his people causes him to rise up to the defense and kill the Egyptian.

We can see that Moses himself knows this is wrong through his actions.

He made sure no one was looking, and hid the body in the sand.

Stephen gives us more detail once again in Acts 7:25…

Acts 7:25 ESV

He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand.

The next day, he tries settling a fight between two Israelites, but they say…

“Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”

Translation… “Who are you to judge me? You hypocrite!”

Moses’s rash act of revenge caused the Israelites to distrust him.

Moses was already a powerful leader, “mighty in his words and deeds” (Acts 7:22), and if that is how he leads, who is going to want to follow him?

Interestingly, this would not be the last time the Israelites question Moses’ leadership.

This time, Moses runs away, afraid of the people, and afraid of Pharaoh who is trying to kill him.

MAIN POINT

Moses acts in the heat of the moment and tries to force the hand of God to bring about deliverance.

We can see that Moses has a heart for God’s people, but he needs to learn to be in tune with God and His agenda.

What we need to learn is that:

We are easily led astray by our feelings. We must learn to wait for God’s timing.

APPLY

If we were honest, we think God’s ways, and God’s timing are off a bit.

Sometimes we feel like God must not really know what He’s doing, and He needs a bit of help.

So we rush in ahead, thinking that we’ll just bypass the process, and make an even bigger mess for ourselves!

Moses’ short temper literally pushed backed his ministry by 40 years!

He is going to spend 40 years in the wilderness as a shepherd before he comes back as God’s deliverer for the people of Israel.

How often do we delay the blessings of God because we are impatient and near-sighted?

We want the quick-fix.

Give me express shipping.

I want the fast-acting tylenol.

ILLUSTRATE

My wife and I have been married for almost 14 years. We have 4 children, and our oldest son is 12 years old, which means that for most of my adult life I have not spent a lot of time at home alone.

Which is a good thing, because when I’m home alone I don’t even know what to do with myself.

This is most true when it comes to what I am going to eat.

I may think about cooking something healthy, but after thinking about how long that will take, I usually choose something simple and fast, like a pizza pop, or going to grab some fast food.

Why would I want to wait?

The problem is, that by getting something immediate, I am sacrificing the quality of the food that I am putting into my body.

Health is usually sacrificed on the altar of getting your food quickly and conveniently.

This may not be that big of a deal with a meal here and there, but what about our spiritual lives?

We short-circuit God’s plans when we choose to take the path of least resistance.

Moses compromised his integrity by murdering an Egyptian, because he didn’t wait for God’s timing and blessing.

How many areas of our lives do we compromise God’s Word simply because we don’t have the patience and discipline to wait for the good things He has promised to us?

Maybe you’re choosing to take the easy road by looking at pornography...

Rather than pursuing your wife, and loving her as as example of Christ.

OR Maybe you’re choosing to look at pornography rather than striving for holiness and becoming a godly man for your future wife.

Maybe you’re choosing to take the easy road by being dishonest to others or at work...

Rather than being a person of integrity, who is willing to do what’s right even when no one is looking.

Maybe you’re choosing to find satisfaction in easy things like food/alcohol… tv/sitting on your phone… spending money on things you don’t need...

Rather than pursuing and loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Maybe you’re choosing to focus on your needs and desires...

Rather than sacrificing yourself for the good of your loved ones, and your brothers and sisters in Christ.

It’s easy to take the path of least resistance.

It’s easy to compromise God’s Word.

It’s easy to follow our feelings.

But those things all come with a cost.

We must learn to trust God’s plan and His timing, no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.

We must commit to following His Word, no matter what may come.

TRANSITION

As a result of Moses’ impatience, he flees to Midian.

But that doesn’t mean God is done with him.

Moses might not know it yet, but God is preparing him for the role He wants him in.

Moses needs to learn that…

In the Midst of Suffering, Trust God Has a Purpose

It is often hard for us to see when we are in the middle of a storm, but God does have a purpose.

This would have been hard for the Israelites to see God’s purpose in the midst of their pain and suffering...

It would have hard for Moses to see God’s purpose after having been rejected by his own people, and finding out Pharaoh wanted him dead.

Now he flees to Midian rejected, and discouraged.

How could this possibly be a part of God’s plan?

“I thought I was special… remember my birth… I was chosen by God… now I’m just a nobody.”

But notice what happens in Midian…

Exodus 2:16–22 ESV

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

EXPLAIN

Once again, we see Moses, a man of justice who uses his strength, wisdom, and position to defend the cause of the vulnerable…

Only this time, he doesn’t kill anyone!

He is already learning how to better use his God-given position better.

Notice what happens now though, he is not rejected, but accepted!

Reuel, the Midianite priest DOES recognize him as his daughter’s deliverer.

Here Moses is accepted for who he is.

God blesses him with a wife and family, and it is here, as he becomes a shepherd, that God will mold him into the man he wants him to become.

In his Exodus commentary, Tim Chester says…

One day, Moses will lead Israel like a shepherd leading sheep. So he is prepared for this great task by being a literal shepherd, leading literal sheep. From the moment Moses comes home to Midian, in fact, he is changing into a man who can lead God’s people.

We don’t know what Moses’ thoughts were during this time.

Did he think God had given up on him? Was he anticipating that God may still use him one day?

His response to God many years later would lead us to believe that he had let go of the dream to be the redeemer of his people.

But God was not done with him yet.

Someone has said…

“Moses was 40 years in Egypt learning something; 40 years in the desert learning to be nothing; and 40 years in the wilderness proving God to be everything.”

MAIN POINT

Maybe Moses had given up on the dream God had given him, but that’s because his dreams were only as big as his failures.

He failed to understand the greatness of God, and was only focused on his own ability.

He saw his failures as a sign that God had abandoned or given up on him.

We will struggle with those same feelings that God has given up on us until we realize that:

God doesn’t need my wisdom or strength, he wants me to trust Him!

APPLY

We are just like Moses.

We start out our Christian lives on fire.

We are excited, energetic, and enthusiastic!

Our focus is on God… His power, His might, His salvation…

But somewhere along the way our focus shifts away from God, and to ourselves.

Suffering comes into our lives because…

we sin…

or someone offends us…

or someone rejects us…

or we fail when given an opportunity…

and we start to wonder if God really loves us.

Maybe he made a mistake, and regrets that He saved me, or has changed His mind.

You see, we start to think in terms of the benefit we bring to God, rather than what He can do through us because of His power.

God doesn’t need you!

He doesn’t need your wisdom,

your strength,

your creativity,

your service...

He will use all of those things for His glory,

But He doesn’t need them!

He saved you when you were a nobody,

when you were nothing

when you were His enemy.

This is so important brothers and sisters!

Here’s why…

Because when things go wrong,

and you go through trials and suffering,

You don’t have to wonder if God still loves you…

if God has any use for you…

Your circumstances are not a reflection of God’s love for you.

Certainly God does discipline us…

So you need to prayerfully discern if what you’re going through is a result of your sin,

But even then, we can be sure of His love for us because He disciplines those He loves.

We must learn to trust that God has a purpose in what he allows us to go through.

The physical or spiritual suffering you are facing…

The trials you are facing at work or in your family…

The doubt and discouragement you feel in your life…

God is using these things to draw you closer to Him.

To trust Him more.

You are safe and secure in suffering, if that is where God can shape you into the image of His Son, Jesus.

Tony Merida says…

We may think that things are falling apart sometimes, but remember God’s mysterious providence. God works out His perfect will in amazing ways. Trust in Him.

TRANSITION

God brought Moses to be a “sojourner in a foreigner land.”

God used this season of his life to kill his pride, and self-confidence, so that he would learn to depend and trust in God.

Now, as a sojourner, Moses was going to be able to relate to his people.

We close this morning with the main point of Pastor Jake’s sermon last week…

God Is Watching

All the while God is shaping and molding Moses, the Israelites are still suffering… still crying out to God…

Even though He didn’t immediately deliver them, He was watching… He was listening… He knew what they were going through.

He was using this to cause them to trust in Him.

Exodus 2:23–25 ESV

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

This is leading us to a transition in the story...

NOW… God is going to act!

But He already has been acting through the whole story.

Protecting His people, blessing His people, raising up Moses, etc.

From the Israelites perspective, this is when they are going to begin to be able to see God’s hand moving.

God had made a covenant to His people, and God is faithful to His Word.

God is faithful to His promise… to His covenant.

The best definition of “covenant” may be in The Jesus Story Book Bible: “a never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love” (Sally Lloyd-Jones, Story Book, 36).

God did not abandon His people… and He has not abandoned us…

God heard them … and He hears us …

God remembered His promise to them … and He remembers His promise to us …

God saw their pain and suffering … and He sees our pain and suffering …

God knew what they were going through … and He knows what we are going through …

May He remind us through His Spirit…

and may we remind one another…

that no matter what we are facing…

we can trust that God is at work…

we can trust God’s timing… and …

we can trust God has a purpose.

CLOSING

The writer of Hebrews shines a light for us on Moses’ faith in God.

This is an example to us!

Hebrews 11:24–26 ESV

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, we must strive to believe and trust in God’s Word.

We have such wonderful promises in God’s Word.

May the promise of His reward enable us to remain committed to God’s will for our lives!

Let’s pray.