Waiting for Exodus

There they were. Two Hebrew women, probably illiterate, probably unlearned, probably more elderly, probably impoverished stood there. Before them was a man seated on a throne. But he seemed otherworldly, somewhat divine. He was adorned with gold and makeup. He had courtiers and soldiers and officials all around him. He seemed larger than life. He seemed to have a supernatural aura around him. He spoke with authority and with confidence. And he looks at these two women, with scorn in his voice and asks a question to enlist their help in destroying their own people. But behind the question is another, more fundamental probing question, “Who will you serve?” Who is the true God? Is it me in all my power, in all my splendor, in all my glory, or is it some deity that you can’t see or hear or talk to or touch or taste or smell. WHo is the real God? This is the qeustion beffore us today.

Exposition

(vs. 1-6) So the book of Exodus begins by listing out the sons of Jacob. Now, three or four times, the name “JOseph” is emphasized, and what the book is trying to do is to locate Israel’s present in Israel’s past. It is saying, there is something about the story of Joseph that is absolutely fundamental to understanding the story of hte Exodus. So we have to do a little bit of a review. Now, you will remember that Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, and the son of Isaac, had twelve sons. And during a time of famine, God brought him to the land of Egypt by the hand of one of his youngest sons, that is the son Joseph. Now, you will remember, that Joseph was Jacob’s favorite son. And Jacob loved him and doted on him, and all the other brothers got ejalous. SO they threw him into a pit, and sold him into slavery, and they pretended that Joseph was dead. So Jacob of course, is distraught, in fact Genesis tells us that he refused to be comforted. But meanwhile, Joseph is in Egypt. ANd he ascends to the righ thand of an official named Potiphar. ANd everybody loves Joseph, he is just one of those people who is good at whatever they do and everythign they touch turns to gold. Now, Potiphar’s wife is really attracted to Joseph, and so she tries to seduce Joseph into having an affair with her, but Joseph refuses and says, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” So Potiphar’s wife grows bitter, and has him thrown into jail. Well, in the jail, Joseph again rises to the top because the Lord is with him. And he becomes the union chief of hte people in the jail. Well, one day there are two prisoners in the jail. there is the king’s baker and hte king’s cupbearer. And they both have these very vivid dreams, which Joseph is able to interpret. THe baker’s dream means that he is going to die, but the cupbearer’s dream means he will be brought back into the Pharoah’s house. So in just a few days, both of these dreams are fulfilled. And Joseph says to the cupbearer, “DOn’t forget about me!” But the cupbearer does forget about Joseph. And for two long years, Joseph is left in prison to rot. But eventually, the Pharaoh has these dreams that he is hautned by. ANd he searches far and wide to try to find someone to interpret it, but nobody could interpret them. Well, finally, the cupbearer comes forward and says, “I know someone who can interpret them for you.” So Joseph is brought into Pharaoh’s household. ANd there, Joseph tells Pharaoh’s dream that there will be seven long years of prosperity, follwoed by seven years of famine. And Joseph recommends that Pharaoh find someone who can administrate well and store up grain during the years of prosperity to keep them during the years of famine. Well, Pharaoh appoints Joseph to this role, and also makes him the prime minister of all of Egypt. ANd he follows through, getting ready to save all of Israel from this terrible famine that is coming. Well, eventually, the famine years come, and it afflicts the whole region, and the only place to get food in the whole area is Egypt. So thousands come from far and wide to Egypt to be fed. And among these are none other than Jacob’s brothers. Well, Jacob and his brotehrs eventually reconcile thorugh this whole process, and he tells them that “You meant this for evil, but God meant it for good.” Then he tells them that there are still five years of famine left, and that if they want to live, that they should all come down to Egypt to survive. So all of Israel comes down to Egypt and dwells in teh land of Goshen, seventy people in total. Now, while they are on their way to Egypt, God appears to Jacob and says in …

(vs 7) Now, what we see in these first few verses of Exodus is that God keeps his promise to Israel. He makes them a great generation and they increase and they grow very fruitful. They reproduce into this huge nation, with as many as two million people. ANd for four hundred years, the people of Israel live in Egypt, and they grow strong. So, to give you some perspective, the founding of Jamestown, the first British colony in America was just over 400 years ago, and the Pilgrim’s landing is 399 years ago. So they were in Egypt for a very long time. And they grow into a mighty nation. And God keeps his promises to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob.

Crisis

(vs. 8) But then something happens. There arose a new king over Egypt. Now, probably this was not just a new person, but this was probably actually an entirely new dynasty. We know that around this time approximately, Egypt was invaded by an Arabian group called teh Hyksos. And they install their own Pharaoh. ANd most people think that this is Pharaoh is a Hyksos Pharaoh. And yet, even though we will see two or three different Pharaoh’s throughout the book of Exodus, Exodus treats them all as the same. Because they ahve the same behavior. And that behavior is that they set themselves up as a god. In fact, Egyptian religion believed that Pharaoh was semi-divine, that he was a god and that he was eternal. And these pretenders challenge teh Lord, the king of hte universe. Exodus, especially this first half, is very much the battle of the gods, who will win. And this Pharaoh has no repsect for the true God, the God of Israel. ANd he could care less about Joseph and about everything that Joseph had done for Egypt. He has no resepct for God, no respect for his people. And this is the beginning of troubles.

Rising Action

(vs. 9-10) So the first thing that this king does is he gathers together his people. ANd he lays out the problem, Israel has grown too large to manage. And he stokes up the fears of the people that Israel will turn against them. At this time, Egypt was a very diverse nation, with different languages and ethnic groups and different histories. It was kind of the Manhatatn of the world, and many different people passed through Egypt on their way to Africa or Asia. And so, Pharaoh has this incredibly diverse people, and he unites them by giving them a common enemy. Now, I want to point this out, notice how fearful the Pharaoh is. You see, there’s this funny thing that happens when you set yourself up as god, you cannot abide anyone who might be a challenge. Because when you start to believe that you are god, then anythiung that might threaten your power, anything that might threaten your authority, anything that might disrupt you gives you great anxiety and dread and fear. And Pharaoh has set himself up as god, and yet immediately, he is filled with paranoia and with fear and with dread. He does not want to lose face, honor, or glory that would come from having Israel leave the land, so he must act quickly.

(vs. 11) So what does Pharaoh do? Well, he puts governors over them and he afflicts tehm with heavy burdens. You will notice how subtly the persecution of god’s people always happens. It usually has the pretension of legality. Notice how careful the process of the Pharaoh is, he sets up his leaders as judges and princes over them and then he begins to put every burden on them. He has them build storage cities of Pithom and Raamses.

(vs. 12) Of course, this doesn’t work, because the more that Egypt afflicts the Israelites, teh more that they multiply. Now, remember, this is a battle between the gods. God, teh God of Israel, has promised to make Israel into a great nation and to bless all the families of the earth by them. And Pharaoh has called himself a god and has staked his claim on putting down the Israelites. So the position of the Israelite is really a proxy battle for who the greatest god is. Well, Pharaoh puts his might to work, and yet, it doesn’t work. The more they try to persecute them, the more it backfires. And notice again this: the Egyptians are filled with dread. When you try to set yourself up as god and it doesn’t work, when you realize you cannot control the universe, when you realize that your power is limited, and that you are not god, you are filled with fear and anxiety.

(vs. 13-14) So of course, the Egyptians escalate the situation. They decide to do the nuclear option and they make them work “ruthlessly” as slaves. Notice how this word is used twice in these two verses. It is to emphasize just how difficult the situation has become for Israel. This “ruthlessness” connotes violence and oppression. In fact, Israel is forbidden from treating one another in this way in . You will notice, when you set yourself up as a god, just to what extent you will be willing to go to prove that you really are what you think you are. Here, the Egyptians are willing to subjugate the people, treat them as chattel take away their dignity. Make no mistake about this: the sin in slavery is that it regards someone as if they are no longer worthy of the image of God. When you think that you are god, then you will be willing to take away people’s God-given dignity to prove that you are superior. Pharaoh’s point in this is to say that we are superior, you are of a different race, a different ethnicity, a different background. Pharaoh’s sin is not far off from the sin of modern racism: it regards some people as less-than others because they are different. This is profoundly offensive, because it treats others as if they are not made in God’s image. And if you believe that others have absolutely no dignity from God, then you will be willing to go even farther to prove your point. In fact, when we stop seeing who is really God, and who is really the Lord of the heavens and earth, then we are willing to go so far as to genocide to prove it.

(vs. 15-16) So Pharaoh calls to himself the midwives and he says, “When you are serving as a midwife, and you see a boy on the stool, kill him.” This is is cold-blooded genocide. To be willing to kill a child, a baby, an infant is one of the most profound horrors the Bible can imagine. Pharaoh’s intention is to weaken the Israelites by taking away the men from their land. Because if there are no men in Israel, then there will be no husbands to pass on teh inheritance. There will be no men to protect them if they enter by force. There will be no men to provide for them in times of severity. Make no mistake, Pharaoh has decided that he wants to totally annihilate and wipe out this people.

There are two things at stake here.

There are two things what is at stake here.

Who is the real god. Because Pharaoh has set himself up as a god, and God has set himself up as the true God. And if the God of Israel is the real God, then Israel will continue to multiply and increase in the midst of suffering. But if Pharaoh is the real god, he will succeed in his goal to wipe out God’s people. If Pharaoh succeeds in his goal and his plan, then all the promsies that God made to Israel were for nothing. Then he is powerless. Then he is no good. Then his word is not trustworthy. He hasn’t kept up his end of the covenant. What good is a God who can’t keep his word? This is the central question of the book of Exodus. Who is the real God. Who should we serve. Who should we serve. Time and time again, we will return to this question. Who is the real God?

Times of waiting: Of course, God had promised Israel that he would provide salvation and redemption for Israel, and he promised Jacob that he would bring them up out of the land of Egypt. He promised Joseph that evnetually his people would return to the land of his birth. But it wasn’t time for Exodus yet. ANd Israel, in chapter one is still waiting for Exodus. And while they are waiting, they are suffering persecution, and they are being pressed. And they are forced to ask the question, “Who will we serve? Who is the real God? Who shall we worship?” These two midwives are forced to ask, who should we fear, God or Pharaoh, the Lord or man? ANd they are forced to ask teh question, “Shall we take God at his word, will God really provide salvation for us?”

Who will you serve? And this same question is posed to us each and every day. Who will we serve. Will we take God at his word? Will we allow culture to take us and sweep us along, or are we going to say, no, there is only one God. Friends, this culture that we live in has set up a thousand different gods for us to worship. It has set up the god of sex, the god of money, the god of control, the god of comfort, the god of safety, teh god of family, and, what is ultimately underneath all of these, the god of self. And we each have to make the choice, who will we serve? Who is the real God? Can we take God at his word? You see, we believe that God sent his Son to die on the cross and rise again from teh grave, we believe that Jesus ascended to heaven and he sits at the right hand of God the Almighty, we believe that he will one day come back to judge the living and the dead. We believe that eternity is looming over us and we will one day see God. But we’re not there yet. We are like Israel, in a season of waiting, in a time of waiting. And we have to ask as we wait, just like the two women did in this story: Who will we serve? Whose side are you on?

Joshua and the Messenger of the Lord: One of the stories that this reminds me of is in the book of Joshua, before Joshua leads God’s people on this epic campaign to capture the promised land, Joshua is praying over what to do about the city of Jericho. And he sees this man who has this bright sword. And Joshua approaches him and says, “Whose side are you on?” Are you for us or agianst us? And the man says, “No.” He doesn’t answer the question becuase it is a bad qeustion. The qeustion is not, “Is God on my side,” but “Am I on God’s side?”

Climax

(vs. 17) Feared God and not man: Well, what did the two women do? I love what it says, “They feared God and did not do as Pharaoh commanded them, but let the male children live.” And this verse literally says, “they gave them life.” WHy did they do that? Because they feared God and not men. They knew who they were going to worship. They knew who they were going to serve. They were not afraid of pharaoh. They knew who the real God was. They knew who to obey, and it was not going to be Pharaoh. They were persuaded and convinced who the true God was, and they threw all their lots in wiht him.

(vs. 18-19) Lied to Pharaoh: Now what’s interesting is what they do next. Because Pharaoh realizes that the male children are not dying, so he calls them in, and he says, “Why are the male children living?” Now, the Hebrew midwives say, “Well, the Hebrew women are just too strong, obviously they give birth before we even get there.” Now, of course that’s not true in every circumstance. This is a lie. I mean, what would have happened if they got caught? Why did they lie to Pharaoh this way, why didn’t they just tell him, “Do your worst, we will nto do what you tell us to”? Well, they lie to Pharaoh because if Pharaoh would ahve thoguht they were the problem, then he would have just found some other midwives to do his bidding. The two Hebrew midwives are being subversive and trying to undercut any attempt by Pharaoh to recruit any other midwives to do his will.

Chose to be God’s instruments: We have said that the central question of this story, and this whole book really, is “Who is the real God?” And, if God is the real God, then he must keep his word and make Israel a great nation. ANd if Pharaoh is the real god, then he must stop Israel from multiplying. Now, the midwives are given a choice, which God is the real God, and which God do they want to be instruments of? Are they going to be instruments of life, or are they going to be instruments of death? Are they going to serve the God of Israel, or are they going to serve Pharoah? And they choose, we would rather be instrumetns of the real God, even if it means that we die for it.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: It reminds me of the story in the book of Daniel about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. You see, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were three Hebrew slaves of the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. And Nebuchadnezzar set up this huge image for everyone to worship. NAd Anyone who won’t bow down to it gets thrown into the fiery furnace. Now of course, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego fear the Lord, so they won’t bow down to the image. And Nebuchadnezzar brings them before him and says, “What gives, why don’t you bow down to this image?” And they respond in ....

Big Idea Reveal: Here is the lesson we need to learn today: While we wait for redemption, we need to choose to serve God. While we wait for Jesus to come back, we must make teh decision, teh choice, the resolution to serve God rather than man. While we are waiting for the resurrection of our souls, no matter what kind of persecution comes our way, no matter what decision teh supreme court makes, no matter who kind of job we lose, no matter what our family thinks, no matter who abandons us, no matter what happens, we need to choose to serve God rather than man. Along the way to heaven, there are many dangers, toils, and snares. But we must keep our eyes fixed on Christ, the founder and the perfecter of our faith.

Irony: Now, this story is a great example of irony. Because, here is Pharaoh, the most powerful person in the whole world, and Pharoah decides that he is going to destroy Israel by wiping out all teh males. And who does God use to defeat him? two women. In fact, in the book of Exodus, God will repeatedly and continually use women as foils to powerful men. God will use these two women, he will use Pharaoh’s own daughte,r he will use Miriam and Jochebed, he will use Zipporah, alll to prove that there is one mighty God. Thgis hearkens back to the garden of Eden. There, the serpent deceives woman into eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But what does God promise woman? That her child will crush the head of the serpent. That the same woman that the serpent deecieved will be her downfall.

Weakness: And as these two women defeat Pharaoh’s strength from a place of weakness, they give us a picture of Christ. Because Christ did not come to us in strength and in power, but in weakness. As says. We are saved by a suffering savior. God did not use power, and strength, and wisdom, but the weakness of God is stronger than the power of men. And the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men. God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God defeated the power of death by putting his own son to death. God defeated the power of sin by making his son to be sin. God defeated the power of Hell by putting his Son through Hell on teh cross. Those who want to follow Christ must not be strong, but they must be weak. Those of us who want to follow Christ cannot boast in themselves, but can only boast in teh power of the cross. Those who want to follow Christ must be like Paul when he says, “Take away everything in my life, and give me Christ, and will be okay.” THis is what it means to choose God rather than man.

True beauty: One of the other things that we see from these two women is what true beauty is. Because the name of Shiprah, in Hebrew, means “beautiful one.” But here’s the thing, we know absolutely nothing about her appearance. True beauty is not about physical looks, but spiritual state. True beauty is not about how pleasing something is to the eyes, but how pleasing we are to God. True beauty is godliness. True beauty is choosing to follow the words of God rather than the words of man.

Big Idea Reveal: Here is the lesson we need to learn today: While we wait for redemption, we need to choose Christ. While we wait for Jesus to come back, we must make teh decision, teh choice, the resolution to serve God rather than man. While we are waiting for the resurrection of our souls, no matter what kind of persecution comes our way, no matter what decision teh supreme court makes, no matter who kind of job we lose, no matter what our family thinks, no matter who abandons us, no matter what happens, we need to choose to serve God rather than man. Along the way to heaven, there are many dangers, toils, and snares. But we must keep our eyes fixed on Christ, the founder and the perfecter of our faith.

So what happens next?

Denouement

Conclusion

vs. 19-20: So, the ending here ends by saying that “God is good” to the midwives. God gives them a family. God gives them securiyt. God is faithful to them. God does not leave or abandon them. Now, it might very well have gone the other way, right? Don’t you think Pharoah might have killed Shiprah and Puah when they chose to serve God rather than him? Don’t you think that Pharaoh could have just as easily put them to death for their disobedience? If Pharaoh would ahve done that, then God would not have been any less faithful. Because he will ultimately keep his word. He will still provide salvation and redemption. He will still Exodus teh people. There is still a resurrection coming. But God, for at least two reasons preserves them and gives them a family of their own. The first reason that God does this, is out of his sheer kindness. He didn’t have to, he didn’t need to, there was nothing that made him do it other than his sheer kindness. Notice what it says here it says, “He did good to them.” He was so good to them. Secondly, God gave them families as a sign to you and I. That no matter what happens, when we choose to serve God, he will not forget about us. He will not abandon us. He will still be faithful to us. There is absolutely nothing, on heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, which can separate us from his love for us. And this one little tiny insignificant gift to these two brave, bold women, is God saying, “I Don’t forget about my people.” As Jesus tells the disciples in ....

NOw, you know when you’re watching a movie, and you stay behind, and you watch the end of the credits. And there is this scene and everybody in the movie theatre gasps and gets all giddy about what’s coming next, cause you thought the villain was dead, and he’s really alive. Well, that’s kind of what happens here in vs. 21. Because Pharaoh has clearly lost the battle. But the war is not over. And he is determined to win at all costs. But he has absolutely no idea what he’s up against. And that’s exactly where we’ll pick it up next week.

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