Part of the Plan
Exodus • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 4 viewsLife is short, but God is good. This introductory passage sets the tone for the book. Ultimately, our confidence is affirmed as God works out His perfect plan before us, beside us, and beyond us.
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Exodus 1 (NASB95)
1 Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household:
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah;
3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin;
4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.
5 All the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were seventy in number, but Joseph was already in Egypt.
6 Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.
7 But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them.
8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
9 He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.
10 “Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.”
11 So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel.
13 The Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously;
14 and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other was named Puah;
16 and he said, “When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.
18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?”
19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them.”
20 So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty.
21 Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them.
22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive.”
INTRO:Today, we begin a new series through the book of Exodus. An exodus is a mass departure of people. This book records the journey of a God’s people from Egypt to the promised land. There are 40 chapters in this book, so it will take us a little while to walk through it.. but hopefully not as long as it took the Israelites to live it!
Now, this text is foundational in our faith. In this book, we will see God reveal Himself, His plan, and His purposes for His people. I hope that we can not only learn what God intended for the nation of Israel, but also how we can connect it to God’s big-picture and to our lives today.
We must begin with WHO God is and a few fundamental truths:
God is the Almighty Creator.
He is NOT a created being nor is He contained by creation. He stands outside of time and space and is the One who brought all things into existence. He is eternal- He has always been and always is.
God is bigger and more powerful than our imaginations can fathom.
God is the Sovereign Ruler of His Creation
The world is His. All creation is under His rule and reign. Though there is brokenness, sin, and rebellion, all creation will be judged by God and according to His standards.
God has a purpose and a plan- both are perfect
God’s Purpose and Plan for His creation are above us.
Isaiah 55:8–9 “8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
But God DOES have a plan and He is always working out His plan for His people.
ILL: When I was a kid, one of my favorite TV shows was the A-team. And, if you’ve seen the show, you know that each character has his thing that makes him memorable. For Mr. T, it’s the gold chains and intolerance for ‘fools’.
But you know, toward the end of every episode, Hannibal Smith, the leader of this crew would put a cigar in his mouth and proclaim, “I love it when a plan comes together!”
The challenge for us is that we can sometimes lose sight of the fact that God has a good plan. Sometimes the pain is too much. Sometimes the toiling seems that it will never end. Sometimes we look at the lives of others and we cannot believe that God is good because [honestly] we don’t see the good in someone’s cancer, someone’s grief, or someone’s tragedy.
Our limited perspective often hinders us from seeing the BIG picture of God’s perfect plan. This was true even through the pages of Exodus. It was true for many Jewish leaders through the NT who could not see God’s big plan in Jesus… Hey maybe you are struggling right now trusting that God has a good and perfect plan.
I want to encourage you to lean into this study with me this morning. As we examine the first chapter of Exodus, my hope is that you will see some of the ways that God was at work then- and you can trust that He is still at work now.
The message is titled, “Part of the Plan.” Go ahead a grab your sermon guide so you can jot down some notes along the way. Through this passage, you will see that God is at work Before Us, He is at work Beside Us, and He is at work Beyond Us. It’s all part of the plan.
First, let us look at how
God is at Work Before Us (1-7)
God is at Work Before Us (1-7)
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Before the nation of Israel would ever get introduced to the holiness of Yahweh; before they would truly understand what it means to be God’s chosen people, God was at work.
The opening paragraph points back to how the Israelites ended up in Egypt to begin with. You may remember how Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and taken down to Egypt. There, he found favor with his master, Potiphar, but was thrown in prison due to false accusations by Potiphar’s wife. Then, he rightly interpreted dreams which led to him predicting a major famine and then being placed in charge over pretty much everything, second only to Pharaoh.
The famine in the land forced Joseph’s family to come seeking help and eventually 70 people moved into Egypt in the land of Goshen. Now, 70 is a pretty big number if you’re hosting them at your house for Thanksgiving, but it is a small number in terms of a nation or people group. You likely would not attempt to engage in war against another nation if your total population was 70.
But look at this: Joseph and his generation died, but his people were multiplying so much that the land was filled with them.
Now, I want you to think: God promised Abraham way back that from his seed, God would bring forth a mighty nation. He began with 1 man, then 70 went into Egypt. 4 generations passed and now the promise of God that seemed so silly that Abraham’s wife laughed at God, now looked like a land filled with his descendents.
All the Israelites alive in Egypt were living in a time of fulfilled promise because God was at work before them. You see, God was laying the groundwork for His plan generations before it could be significantly realized. But the promise God made was not just for numerous people, but there was also a promised land.
That promised land was not Egypt. Again, God had already been at work before them. Now, we won’t get into this too much here, but I want you to know that the land that these folks were heading to was going to be built up when they arrived. They would go to a place where cities were established, vineyards were mature, and God was working this all out beforehand.
Now, let’s just step back a minute and think about how God has been at work before us. Think about the generations that God used to build His church- the missionaries, the translators, the church planters. Those who gave their life so that we might know God. And think about, in this very church, three and four generations ago, the men and women who God worked through so that we might live in the promise of God today.
You are here today because God was at work yesterday. You have the resources, talents, and knowledge you have today because God has prepared you for his plan that you are to walk in.
You might say, “Well I don’t see it, Pastor!” No? Neither did the Israelites in Egypt. They didn’t know what role they would play in God’s plan, but God had used each family to multiply and be poised for what was next. God is at work BEFORE us - we are exactly where God wants us to be and friends, you and I can confidently trust in His plan today.
But I want you to know, God didn’t punch out and leave us alone. No, when we look down here to v. 8-14, we can see that:
God is at Work Beside Us (8-14)
God is at Work Beside Us (8-14)
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There are several points we can note here-
A new king was in charge, and this king didn’t know who Joseph was and he was quite concerned with the number of foreigners who had taken up residency in his land.
Maybe he didn’t read the history or maybe he didn’t care. Either way, he feared that these people might seek an opportunity to overthrow his reign or just up and leave and cripple the economy of Egypt since they made up so much of the workforce.
So, his response was to oppress them; to make them work so hard and so long just to live that they would not have the energy to fight or reproduce.
Now, even so, the people kept on reproducing and the fears of the king grew even more.
So, how was God at work beside them? Allow me to point out a few things:
REMEMBER: God’s plans are higher than our plans. He is not limited to our lifetime or working career when it comes to accomplishing His goals.
So, with that in mind, look at what God was doing:
He was distinguishing His people from the rest.
God was going to do something with this whole group. This oppression upon the Israelite people would have made clear distinctions between who was a respected citizen and who was a lowly foreigner.
In their oppression, the people were also unified. The common hardships likely led to deeper community and reliance upon one another.
So God separated them from the Egyptians through this difficulty
He was making them uncomfortable.
Now, you might think that’s a bad thing, but remember, God has a bigger plan! If they would have never been oppressed- if life would have remained comfortable, would they have ever wanted to leave?
ILL: In Acts, we see that God did something similar to disperse the NT church out of Jerusalem. God allowed persecution to make the Christians uncomfortable enough to leave and obey God!
You see, God was working in the midst of the suffering to do greater things! They were being prepared - mentally and physically for what God was leading them to.
So, let’s look at our own circumstances. Are you suffering? Are you experiencing frustration, grief, heartache, etc.? Perhaps God is working to get you to lean into the community of this church. I believe God is working beside you to take your eyes off of living comfortably and onto living obediently.
Are you uncomfortable? (Not just because the pew is hard) Could it be that God is allowing you to be uncomfortable so that you will seek His direction?
Proverbs 3:5–6 “5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”
God is at work BEHIND us and BESIDE us, so we can confidently trust His perfect plan. But God is infinite. We cannot see everything He is doing. So, let’s look at these last few verses in ch. 1 to see that:
God is at Work Beyond Us (15-22)
God is at Work Beyond Us (15-22)
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This section is interesting. Why did Pharaoh want all these babies dead? Because he feared losing personal power. We saw the same thing with Herod in the NT around the time of Jesus’ birth.
You see, when someone has power but not God, they often find themselves waging all kinds of wars to keep this power. Pharaoh saw everyone of these boys as a personal threat. So he leveraged his power to try and eliminate these threats.
But God was at work beyond the Israelite nation. You see, God had already worked something out in these midwives because the text says that they feared God.
Now remember, at this time, there was no Law, no 10 commandments. But God was at work. And this is important as we’ll see next week. Because God was at work beyond the Israelites, the baby who would one day lead His people out of bondage would be born and preserved. Because God was at work beyond the Hebrew people, this child would be educated and experienced in Egyptian ways and poised to be used by God in a unique way.
You see folks, the future of God’s plan was yet to be realized by this Israelite nation. And the future was more than freedom from slavery. It was a whole new life and intimacy with God. And because God was at work beyond the hardships, the Israelites’ children and grandchildren would be able to know and worship the one true God. They would be given the opportunity to be part of God’s family.
And you know, God is at work beyond us too. I know that we can get wrapped up in all the bad news, but what if we trusted that God was working in the lives of others too and we walked confidently in our faith and hope? What if we trusted God to work out His plan even if we are not able to see how it comes together?
Look, I know that sounds scary…
I mean, imagine the fear of the Israelites who were commanded to throw their baby boys in the Nile…one person who rebels couldn’t stop Pharaoh. But God was working beyond each one to ask the same question as the midwives. “Who will I fear? The king of Egypt or God?”
I look out and thank God that He is working beyond me. I thank God that He is working in a future that I don’t know and I pray that my kids and your kids and the generations that will come will see GREAT things because God is at work beyond us. I pray that God’s perfect plan includes a great awakening of those who are unbelievers- even if I don’t get to see it.
You know, if God is working before us, beside us, and beyond us, I can’t help but think that God is working in us as well. We are His church, after all. Perhaps God is working in you and calling you to respond to His plan today.
Maybe you are uncomfortable and need to take your eyes off of all the junk in this world, and place your hope in the one true God, who as part of His plan, put on humanity, suffered, died, defeated death and rose again!
Listen, God’s plan is perfect. I’ve read the end of the book- He has told us the BIG picture of His purpose and plan and it is far greater than anything in this temporary life.
Won’t you trust Him today?
[PRAY]
Discuss: Where can you look back and see God’s handiwork which allowed for today’s success?
Discuss: Talk about various ways that God is working among His church.
Discuss: Read through Revelation 22 and talk about the future hope that supports the reality of God’s work in all things.