Out of Egypt

Moses started with nothing.

Born into slavery - under “all kill” orders (not just stay at home orders!

Moses is born during a time that Pharaoh has ordered all of the midwives to kill any male Hebrew child born. The midwives disobeyed this order - but in an effort to protect her child, Moses mother puts him in a basket, in the water. The basket is found by Pharaoh's daughter. He is raised by his mother until the age of 3, when he goes to live in the palace, raised as a son of the royal family. He has seen the poverty and brutality that his biological family lives with, and now in the palace there is not a pleasure, blessing or benefit denied him.

exodus 1.16

God provides a way - In a way that only He could do - God provided a way for Moses to be experienced, and trained, knowledgeable of what he would need to know in order to do what God’s plan for him included. So we understand that everything that appears to be chaotic is not chaotic to the Lord. He is not up there eating Rolaids, drinking Maalox, hoping everything turns out okay with the election. He has never hoped that everything would work out. He's got everything under control. The Proverbs even say in Proverb 16:33 “We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall.”

Raised to glory -then throws it all away - Moses was raised to an exalted level by God. Again, provided with everything he needed - blessed within the world and culture he was living in - Moses did not forget where he came from. Killing the Egyptian whipping an Israelite slave changed his life. Changed the direction of the course of history. Concerned with the consequences of his actions - he fled Egypt - into the wilderness, where he would spend the next 40 years as a fugitive.

The church - started with nothing - and let it all slip away. The church in our culture, decades ago, was a force in this country. Over and over we hear that our country is founded on Christian principles, that we are a Christian nation. Unfortunately this is no longer true. By doing nothing, by avoiding facing the music, facing the facts, watching numbers decline, we have reaped the consequences we are looking at today. No longer are we a Christian nation. According to the Pew Research think tank: “The religious landscape of the United States continues to change at a rapid clip. In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009.” Those are disheartening numbers - at best!

Moses had all kinds of excuses too!

The Lord called - He was clear what He wanted - Moses wanted his comfort zone. And so do we!! We want life to be comfortable - the kind of comfortable of knowing what’s going on - the kind of comfortable that says ‘this is the way its supposed to be.

The Bible is clear - are we staying comfortable. We don’t want to do what we are supposed to do - we want to do what we LIKE to do!

Its been an uncomfortable 2 months. Being restricted - having rules in place that said where we could go - when we could go - how many of us could go are not rules we are used to living within as adults. Which of God’s commandments have you violated or been tempted to violate, in the last couple of weeks?

God Gets the Glory … Always!

So we're not dealing with non-religious Egyptians, we're dealing with Egyptians – listen now, this is pretty important – we're dealing with Egyptians who had bad theology. Religious, yes. Probably thought they were created, indeed. Thought that life came from a deity, certainly, the Nile. But was their theology correct? No. It affected their thinking and affected their behavior.

Plague after plague - all in God’s timing

Miracle of the staff /snake change

Plague of water turned to blood

plague of frogs

Plague of gnats

Plague of flies

Plague of death to all livestock

Plague of festering boils

Plague of hail

Plague of locusts

10.Plague of darkness

11.Death of all firstborn

People of Israel are released - but that does not mean ‘easy street’ As the people of Israel leave Egypt they run into challenges - in every direction. Just because God has harden the heart of Pharaoh and they have been allowed to leave - that doesn’t mean they are now on easy street. I have always been amazed as I read this story that not only does God convince Pharoah that He is God but He also provides for the daily and long term needs of His people. Men and women are instructed to ask their neighbors for gold, silver, jewelry, articles of clothing. The Egyptians were stripped of their wealth as the Hebrews left Egypt.

Passover - God’s continued glory and care of Israel - While still in Egypt God provides His people with a celebration - a way to remember and acknowledge his divine work and presence in their lives. He not only allows the people of Israel to be excluded from the experience of having the firstborn of each family die overnight, they are instructed in the process of the passover festival. The first passover was celebrated this night - and continues to be celebrated every year. Over and over as the Hebrew nations makes its way out of bondage - out of slavery - God shows His glory.

God shows his glory! While dealing with the Egyptians - he sent plague after plague. In guiding, rescuing, caring for His people - we see the stories of the parting of the Reed Sea. He provides Manna & quail from heaven - only enough for their needs - but absolutely enough for their needs.

While they are in the wilderness - the are attacked by the Amalykites. This is a band of people - coming out of slavery - not an army of warriors. BUT GOD - directs Moses in what needs to happen - It takes a village -Joshua leads the troops (AKA the men voluntoldit) to fight, and Moses walks to the top of the hill overlooking the battlefield. While he holds the staff up - Joshua and the men are defeating the Amalykites, when he lowers his arm, the tide turns. When Moses is too tired to hold up his arms, Aaron and Hur hold hold the arms of Moses - It takes a village - everyone is needed! That hasn’t changed! All of God’s people are called to be part of God’s purpose here. Working within His will means doing what He says to do.

When your God is underestimated, you often are underestimated. Let me say that again. At the workplace, in your family, on the road, in your business, often in the military when you have all of your eggs in the basket of God usually what ends up happening is people have a low view of God, end up having a low view of you. Does that happen to you? "You're so weak. You need God. It's such a crutch."Yes, I admit that I have an authority higher than myself. I admit that. I admit that because I know me. I know how I've made a mess out of things in my life. I know where I was before Christ found me. I know the condition of my heart. I know how I hated myself. So do I need a crutch? I absolutely need someone to lean upon and no one will do except the Lord and his Christ. So, yes, I am guilty of needing a crutch.

How have you gotten through each day during the COVID stay home orders. If you are like me - its taken LOTS of prayer.

Israel’s Response

Complained in Egypt

Exodus 3:7–10 NLT

Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

Complained at the Reed Sea - Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Why did YOU make us leave Egypt??

Complained in Marah - What are we going to drink? They demanded that Moses ‘fix it” It must be his fault, his problem to solve!

Received Manna - Why didn’t God kill us back in Egypt? We had food, bread and water. Here in the wilderness we are going to starve!

The reason I complain about things is because I think that it's a curse. The reason I think it's a curse is because I don't see God as sovereign. Let me say that again: the reason I complain about things and, yes, I complained about something yesterday and God convicted me, and the reason I complained about something over here was because I was thinking that maybe it was just circumstance, consequence of someone's actions besides my own and what that reflected was God is not in charge, he did not have my best interest in mind, God is not omni-benevolent, he is not all-wonderful. So a right theology kept in the front of my mind dictates a right philosophy, which is a right way of thinking, which dictates exactly what I will do.

Chapter 6. Verse 5, "And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel," I'm not deaf, "whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD," I am Jehovah, "and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians," look at all these "I wills," "and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and you shall know that I am the LORD your God." "You see, if I brought you out easy, then you would think that you got you out of Egypt and we can't have that, can we? I want all the glory so I'm going to wait until it's so desperate that you give me the credit for SALVATION! freedom, liberty ...I need it."

"And I will take you and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians." "It was to heavy for you. Remember, you called out to me and if I took the weight off too soon, then you might have thought maybe the king had a change of heart; you might have thought maybe it was Moses' charisma; you might have thought maybe the elders got in good with the taskmasters and I can't take the risk of you sharing my glory. So I'm going to wait until I'm the only one that could ever be mistaken as the one who did this."6. 8, "And I will bring you into the land, I swore to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you as your very own possession: I am the LORD." I am Jehovah. Remember what Jehovah means? I am the non-created Creator. I am the first uncaused. I am the Creator. When Lord God is together it means, "I am the self-existent Creator. Jehovah Elohim. I am the one. The one." And so it's getting crazy in your life. As west Virginia, and the US re-opens for business, as we come back together - remember - we are not coming back to the way it was. Tomorrow at the job, tonight with the family, tomorrow with the health, this week with the bills, pay attention: God's just trying to straighten out some folks' theology. He'll not share his glory with another.

Its all about HIM.