Exodus Beginnings
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 6 viewsNotes
Transcript
1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob. 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
they have started from very humble beginnings
they had to leave the land that God promised Abraham due to hardship
there wasn’t that many of them yet, though God promised Abraham his descendents would grow to be a great nation
Now, due to Joseph being who he was, they were taken care of with a place to live and with food
but it may have seemed like life had taken a very unexpected turn
sometimes that happens to us, we’re trying to go one way, build up our lives, progress toward a better place
with this family, it wasn’t even their fault, a famine had forced them to move
it was just a freak accident - these types of things can happen to anyone at anytime
microwave capacitor story that mike told me
sometimes other people in our lives cause our lives to take some unexpected negative turn
sometimes world events
but regardless of what happens, we know that everything happens for a reason, and that God has a plan
and if we just stay faithful to Him, He will pull us through
water skiing illustration
5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.
the hebrew word behind “out of the loins of Jacob” means direct descendents specifically
“seventy” - various meanings
possibly 7x10 = 7 being perfection or completeness and 10 possibly referencing God’s law
seen all over the Bible, 70 people Christ sent out, 70 weeks of Daniel, 70 elders that moses later appoints, etc.
imagery/typology - very early example from exodus but exists so much throughout
joseph, moses, and even stuff in the tabernacle are types
6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
it says the land was filled with them - archeologically, it’s been proven that there were a large number of semites in the land at this time
with this bunch of people, evidence of a distinct culture has been found as well
“Features that demonstrate the presence of Syro-Palestinian material culture at this time include: tombs located within residential dwellings (a practice well attested from Middle Bronze Age Megiddo in northern Palestine); pottery from a type known as Tell el-Yehudiya ware, which is associated primarily with locations in Palestine; and burials of humans that also included the nearby burial of donkeys and sacrificed sheep, a Semitic custom.”
The capital at this time was a place called Avaris, nearby being the land of Goshen
Pi-ramses, the city which the Israelites were told to built, was located very close by as well
Pi-ramses, only existed for a very short period of time, historically speaking, so the fact that the Bible mentions it demonstrates the Bible’s accuracy
we start to see the fulfilment of the promise of God
it shows that even though things had gone wrong for them, God had not abandoned them
God will do the same for us, if we just cling to Him, He will pull us through
we might not know why these things are happening, but ultimately, it doesn’t matter and isn’t for us to always know
it IS for us to cling to God and to follow His ways, and He will direct our paths
and His paths will provide us a way out
8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
So Pharoah, inspired and motivated by totally worldy things, decides he’s going to start dealing with them cruelly
How often do we see this in the world today
a boss, or some countries leader, as one person, can make a decision which can really change the lives of people for the worse
Our motivations take us down a particular path
James talks about our thoughts being as seeds which blossom into actions
Pharoah had cruel motivations, the Israelites at this time had more Godly motivations - where did that end up? how did that end?
it’s important to think about
11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
Treasure cities were largely used as storage cities for things such as building materials, grain, and various valuable things
Pi-ramses ruins
Pithom ruins
Some say, “when it rains, it pours”, and this is happening to the Israelites
Imagine what this would have been like
Egypt is very hot, it’s very dry, they are building entire cities, pharoah intentionally gave them hard work
additionally, if we think of the time period 1400-1300 BC - the bronze age - things were just different back in this time - much more brutal
these guys were greatly suffering
12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
we see a contrast here: between the cruelty of the Pharoah and the mercy of God
we can always know, and take comfort in, the fact that God’s hand is greater
no matter what it is we’re suffering with on this earth, we know that there is something more, something better
and that God is always ready to hear our burdens and to have mercy on our souls
and He will help us to eventually rise up under the weight imposed upon us, and be all the stronger, built up, and better for it
not only that, but it’s a demonstration of the greatness of God and what He can do for people
so many people have been enslaved by sin, and the terrible consequences of it, and people have gone through very hard times because of it
but God in His infinite mercy saves the sinner, and helps them to rise above, showing His superiority over the powers of the world and evil
so many believers have gone through hard times, freak accidents, just things that have happened to them
but God brings them through all the greater at the end of the day
13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
Here is the level of rigour the Israelites were working at:
An Egyptian text from early in the reign of Ramesses II describes an attempt to determine how many bricks were needed for a ramp—essentially just a piece of construction equipment—over 1000 feet long, 80 feet wide, and about 90 feet at its highest point.
Another report records that work was moving along smoothly in one of the royal workshops and that those responsible for producing bricks were meeting their daily requirements
Egypt is a type of the world, so that is some more imagery and typology we see here
and doesn’t the world just feel this way sometimes? it certainly does.
it can feel like youre just getting ground into dust
but there is peace in God and the salvation He provides
we see Moses lead eventually lead the children of Israel out of their suffering - just like Jesus leads us out of the of the things of this world to a better place
15 And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah:
16 And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
yet again we see more foreshadowing/imagery/typology of things that would come in Christ’s lifetime - the king declared this very type of thing after Jesus was born in an attempt to stop Him
so we see that Pharoah is clamping down even harder on them at this point, even taking it out on the children
now, if you were an Israelite, you might start to feel hopeless, maybe completely giving up
it would be easy to see why, sometimes the world can be overwhelming, or you can wind up in a spot that just seems incredibly hopeless
however, no matter how logical it may seem, giving up is the worst thing you can do
you would be giving up on God pulling you through, and He’s all powerful and can do anything, nothing from the world can defeat Him
not only would you be giving up, but you’d be doubting in His power AND His mercy
imagine what would have become of the Israelites had they began to doubt God
they probably wouldn’t even exist today, they would have probably been wiped out by the egyptians, or just taken out by something else in history
if you give up on God, it’s like letting go of the jet ski, it’s like letting go of the rope that can pull you out of the pit
think back to joseph, he was in this actual pit with nothing, but God provided him a way out and his life was totally changed
then if we think about the Israelites here, they were enslaved under the most powerful country in the world at the time
and God pulled them out in a great and powerful way, and they went on to establish their own nation in their own land
so God fulfilled His promise to them, even though it looked bleak
and He’s made promises to us
so there is no reason for us to doubt in God’s power to bring us through and absolutely no reason to give up
there is HOPE in God, and He is our ONLY real hope in this world
so what do we see that the Israelites do at this point? do they give up on God?
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.
They absolutely did not give up, and they followed God’s path
even though it was potentially dangerous for them, they had great faith in God and that He would bring them through
and eventually, through their heroic actions of faith, would their way out of Egypt come
let’s see what happens next:
18 And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? 19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
They stood strong for the things of God, even against all odds and the highest power in Egypt
the midwives technically lied to the pharoah here, saying that the Israelites had their babies before they got to them
“The point of this brief section is that the midwives respected God above the king. They simply followed a higher authority that prohibited killing.”
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. 21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses.
We see here yet another example of God blessing those who follow Him in tough times
God sees and knows all, and He will never forget or overlook things
So each and every one of our actions are not in vain, we can rest assured
so if we’re being faithful to God in a tough time, even though it may not seem like it, God WILL NOT FORGET ABOUT US
22 And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
We MUST cling to God in the face of adversity
We must NEVER give up
Because even though we can be against all odds and it seem hopeless, IT NEVER IS
God is our mercy, God is our strength, God CAN and WILL bring us through
if only we lean on Him