Sermon Tone Analysis
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Big Idea:
Tension: How did the Israelite wait for Exodus?
Resolution: By serving God rather than man.
Exegetical Idea: While they waited for Exodus, Israel served God rather than man.
Theological Idea: The genuineness of our faith, and trust in God rather than man, is tested is periods of waiting.
Homiletical Idea: While we wait for redemption, we must serve God rather than man.
Introduction: In Media Res
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
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.
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