Let My People Go

Good morning, Ambassadors! I want to once again wish you a Merry Christmas! I trust you are enjoying the 5th day of Christmas. It has been a full season for us in our home, and I trust that we are all preparing our hearts for a new year!

This morning, our message is a continuation of the Christmas story, but not just of the baby in the manger. We will be reading in , and jumping into the book of Exodus as well. It’s been a couple of years now, but in our Ignite Youth group, we did a study of the Book of Exodus that took 10 weeks. It was such a great opportunity to work through one of the most riveting stories in all of Scripture. I would encourage all of us to take a serious look at the Book of Exodus as a wonderful story to read through and see not only the faithfulness of God, but the signs all throughout that pointed to our salvation in Christ.

Back in Exodus, we meet Moses. Moses is born in Egypt, almost 400 years after the families of Israel followed Jacob and his sons to Egypt to escape famine. Now in the time that Moses was born, Israelites had become so big in number that it began to scare the Egyptians, who thought that at any moment they could lose their country. The people of Israel had never returned to their homeland, and found life comfortable near the Nile River. They were unfortunately turned into slaves and were forced to build the empire and its structure under threat of penalty and death. Moses’ birth specifically came when there was a law made by the Pharaoh to kill all the baby boys that were born of the Israelites. This population control was to make sure that there weren’t enough men to make an army against Egypt in the future.

To make a long story short, Moses grew up and returned to Egypt as the sent messenger of God. He went to Pharaoh, who knew him, and demanded that Pharaoh obey the command of God to “Let my people go.”

Let’s move back into the New Testament and to the Christmas story, as we see Jesus’ experience with Egypt in the circumstances of His birth. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 2 and we will pick up where we left off during our Christmas Eve service, as we saw the visit and gifts of the Magi.

Matthew 2:13–23 ESV

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.” 16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” 19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Matthew 2:

Our text leads us to our first question to answer today:

What made Jesus flee to Egypt?

1. Jesus’ family fled the threat of death under the order of King Herod

Here in this text we see the story of Jesus’ life being put in danger from the very beginning. Herod was a jealous man, power hungry and willing to kill anyone to maintain his position. He ordered the killing of countless innocent little boys because he was afraid of losing his power. His fear was both rational and irrational, as well as rightfully concerned but woefully misplaced. Herod was right that we would not last as king, but it was not the purpose of Jesus’ coming to replace Herod.

2. God loved Jesus and His family by putting them through a temporary trial for an eternal purpose

I’m sure the joy that Mary and Joseph experienced in the arrival of Jesus quickly turned to fear as news of the the evil of Herod began to spread and the angel’s message arrives. Here they were, parenting by some incredible miracle the Son of God, and yet, his life is almost immediately in danger. That had to put a ton of questions in the minds of Jesus’ parents! Why would God promise Jesus and then put Him in harm’s way?

3. God loved Jesus and His family by putting them through a temporary trial for an eternal purpose

We don’t know why God’s will operates as it does, but we can come to some conclusions about this affair. This temporary trial opened up the eyes of Mary and Joseph; it further humbled them to the point where they would be raising Jesus, but recognizing that they are fully dependent on God to see it through.

This leads us to our next question:

So what does God want us to remember about Egypt?

1. Sometimes God puts us in a place for a season because that’s exactly where we need to be, not where we want to be.

I’m sure many of us can relate to this! How many of our kids feel like school isn’t where you want to be at this stage of life? I’m sure on certain days that ‘s quite a few of you. How many of us adults have felt this way about our city, our jobs, or our relationship status?

Before coming to ABC, my full-time job was working for the state of Maryland, staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day and hanging out with the IT guys everyday at 2 o’clock for coffee time. In that time working for the state of Maryland, I found myself, and by extension Amanda, miserable. I loathed that job, even if it was a job that provided for our young family and that had good stability for us. I desperately wanted to be in a job that I had worked towards or felt fulfilled in. It wasn’t until after my family and I arrived at ABC did we see that the time spent in that loathsome job was necessary for us to be ready for the right moment and the calling of God on our lives. We give thanks to the Lord regularly for His allowing us to be here.

Mary and Joseph had no desire to be in Egypt - but it’s where God knew they needed to be. They needed not just the physical safety of Jesus, but there was much to teach them, and this experience would have been a perfect opportunity to lean on the Lord in all things.

God often returns us to a place where we can be reminded of His goodness and grace.

2. Being in a place like Egypt is the direct result of sin; sometimes ours, sometimes others

Egypt in the Scriptures is always a picture of sin, slavery, or bondage. Before we become followers of Jesus, the Bible says that we are slaves to our sin, and in bondage under our fleshly desires. That means that we do what we do to serve ourselves and to make ourselves happy than we do to follow the commands of God because of the love of God in us.

The sin of Herod caused the fleeing of Jesus family from Israel. Perhaps the spiritual/emotional/personal bondage in which we find ourselves is rooted in unresolved sin and in a relationship with God that is on life support - unengaged and lacking in discipline. We must seek out the truth of where our hearts are before the Lord to gain the humility to see the will of God clearly in our lives.

Unresolved sin can also become a painful experience for us when it is something that has happened to us. This can be devastating if it goes unresolved. We must seek reconciliation, forgiveness, and justice if we are to move forward with God’s purpose in our lives.

Now what does deliverance mean for us?

1. We have a savior who can empathize with our experiences of fear and struggle

One of the most encouraging perspectives is that Jesus had a family that struggled and worried and panicked from time to time. Encouraging to realize that Jesus’ experiences are so similar to ours.

2. God offers deliverance to His people through Jesus

Exodus 2:23–25 ESV

23 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. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

Exodus 6:5–7 ESV

5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

God loved His people. He had them in Egypt for the appointed time, waiting for the right moment with the right leaders.

God loved His people. He had them in Egypt for the appointed time, waiting for the right moment with the right leaders.

The Lord sent his deliverer Moses into Egypt to deliver His people from slavery and bondage; the Lord also sent His deliverer Jesus into Egypt as part of His story to deliver all of His people from the slavery and bondage of sin.

Moses delivered the message of God, saying, “Let my people go.”

Jesus delivered the message Himself, saying also, “Let my people go.” We ought not be like Pharaoh with hardened hearts, but instead receptive of God’s deliverance in our lives and the lives of those close to us.

God is offering to us deliverance and forgiveness; He gives us love and tenderness, so that we may see how good and gracious He is. Our hearts are desperately wicked without the love of Jesus coming in and breaking the bondage we have to serving ourselves. Then and only then will we be free.