We ended our overview of EXODUS 1 with the Israelite still being held captive in Egypt, but the time was quickly approaching when God was going to deliver them out of slavery, and He was going to use a man by the name of Moses to lead them out of Egypt. The first part of EXODUS is almost as much of a study on Moses as it is the Hebrew nation.
During the time when Moses was born, 1536BC, all of the Israelite male infants were being killed, so Moses mother put him in a wicker basket and set that basket in the Nile River, so it would float down to where the Pharaoh’s daughter bathed every morning.
As the basket neared the Pharaoh’s daughter, she saw it and rescued the “lost baby.” And so, begins the story of Moses. He was adopted into the Pharaoh’s house and raised as royalty, receiving the best of education and living accommodations. He stayed there for 40 years, and then ended up killing an Egyptian who was beating up an Israelite.
This made him flee from Egypt in fear of his life, and so he went far away into the desert and spent the next 40-years of his life as a shepherd, watching the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro.
After this 40-year span, God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush and told him to go and lead His people out of Egypt. And what did Moses do? He did the same thing we do today when God calls us to do His work: He started making up excuses why he couldn’t do what God commanded.
I believe there are many who have not responded to God’s call they are waiting for an engraved invitation to be hand delivered by an angel, or some mystical moment before they finally become obedient. There are many who miss opportunities to brightly shine for God, like the radiant city upon a hilltop. We squander our opportunities to be blessed because we don’t act. Opportunities to reach others for Jesus are constantly being missed because we sit idly by, doing nothing but trying to get out of being called.
And all the while, God is just waiting for us to say, ‘I’m here, Lord. I’m Yours. Set me on fire for You!
Moses finally consented to be obedient and he went back to Egypt and confronted the Pharaoh. But the Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he refused to let the Israelites go. Every time the Pharaoh told Moses he could not take the people out of Egypt, God then sent down a plague over the Egyptians. There were 10 different plagues in all.
In EXODUS 8-11, we read about THE PLAGUES:
1. EXODUS 8:2-4 tells us that God instructed Moses to turn the water in the Nile River into blood.
2. In EXODUS 8:2-3 we see the plague of the frogs, where frogs would come out of the river and invade every nook and cranny of where the Egyptians were.
3. EXODUS 8:16 tells us about the lice and gnats that came up out of the dust of the ground and inflicted every Egyptian and their homes.
4. EXODUS 8:21 describes how flies were so numerous that they swarmed in the homes of the Egyptians. They were everywhere and none of the Egyptians could get away from them.
5. EXODUS 9:3 says God sent down sickness unto death for all the livestock in Egypt. But He also said none of the Israelite animals would die.
6. EXODUS 9:9 tells how a dust came from the east and that produced boils on every Egyptian and the animals they had left.
7. EXODUS 9:18 details the hailstorm that came upon the Egyptians. The intensity was like none every seen since the formation of the earth.
8. EXODUS 10:5 explains how locusts were so thick that nobody could even see the ground, and the locusts ate all the trees and all the grain and crops that the Egyptians had left.
9. EXODUS 10:21-22 says that a thick darkness that could actually be felt came over all the land for three days. It says that none of the Egyptians could see anything during this time and couldn’t see to go anywhere, but the Israelites had light where they lived in Goshen.
10. And finally, in EXODUS 11:5, we read about how God sent death to the firstborn of every Egyptian household, including the Pharaoh’s house. And this included the cattle belonging to the Egyptians.
In these plagues, we find two things: We see the power of God Almighty and how He uses it against those who oppose Him or His people. Secondly, we see that all these plagues only affected the Egyptians, not the Israelites.
THE PASSOVER
In chapter 12, we learn about the Passover.
The Lord told Moses and Aaron to remember that month, and on the tenth day of that month, each man was to take a lamb, one for each household. God gives further instructions, too. He tells them the lamb must have no blemishes and be one-year-old males. He says to take care of them until the 14th day of the month, and then everyone must slaughter their lambs at twilight.
Then, they are to take the blood from that lamb and sprinkle over their doorposts. This is a sign that as God goes over every house in the nation to deliver the death of the firstborn in the 10th plague, He will literally pass over the homes with blood on the doorposts, sparing the Israelite family inside. And then God gives detailed instructions on how to cook the lamb, and even what to wear as they eat it; they were to be prepared for immediate flight from Egypt.
And so, after the plague of death was given to the Egyptians, the Pharaoh let the Israelites leave Egypt. And when they got to the Red Sea, they found themselves with the sea in front of them; steep mountains on all sides; with the Pharaoh’s army coming up swiftly behind them. They were boxed in on all sides with nowhere to go.
So God performed another miracle for His people. He caused the sea to separate, leaving a wide path all the way across with no water in it. And then God sent forth a strong wind that dried the muddy bottom overnight so that all 2 million plus Israelites could cross without getting bogged down in the mud.
The next day they crossed, and the Egyptian army followed behind them. But as soon as the Israelites got on the other side, and the army was still in the middle of the sea, God caused the water to come together again and all the army was killed.
We talked about how Moses was handpicked by God to lead the Hebrew nation. But what else was Moses called to do for God?
In addition to being called to lead God’s people out of slavery in 1446 BC, he was called to write the 10 Commandments, or the 10 simple rules God gave us to live by. After they got on the other side of the Red Sea, Moses led them to Mt. Sinai, and in chapters 20-24, we learn that is where he went up on the mountain and God gave him the 10 Commandments, or God’s law. God also chose Moses to write the first five books of the Old Testament. And Moses was also the first prophet.
In EXODUS 20, we can read about; The 10-Commandments
1. Don’t put any other god before the Almighty God. (Put God first in everything)
2. Don’t worship anything but God. (Do not depend on any manmade objects, but depend fully on God)
3. Do not take God’s name in vain. (Never speak in a way that takes holiness away from God)
4. Keep the Sabbath a holy day. (Set aside one day a week to remember God and honor Him)
5. Honor your mother and father. (Even when you think they’re wrong, be respectful to your parents)
6. Do not murder. (Never do anything that would harm someone else in any way.
7. Do not commit adultery. (Be faithful to the commitment you made to your spouse)
8. Do not steal. (Respect other people and their property at all times)
9. Do not lie. (Respect other people’s reputations as well as their lives & property)
10. Do not want what others have. (Care about other people, not the possessions they might own)
It is important to note that God did not give these commandments to everyone and say, ‘If you keep these laws, you will be saved.’ He gave them to His very own people and said, ‘If you love Me, you will want to keep these laws.’
That same message applies to us today just as much as it applied to the Israelites the day Moses brought the Commandments down from the mountain. If we love God, we will want to be obedient to Him. And if we are obedient to God, we shall receive the rewards of Heaven. If we don’t bother to try and keep every commandment all the time, we don’t really love God. And if we do not love God, we will receive punishment for our disobedience.
A couple of years ago, Alabama’s chief justice was fired for the stand he took in trying to protect a monument with the 10 Commandments on it. I see a line being drawn in this country. That line is separating those who believe keeping God’s commandments don’t matter at all, from those who believe that keeping God’s law matters more than anything else.
Let’s do a quick recap over, to see what we have learned thus far.
CHAPTERS 2-6
Moses was an Israelite, born in a time when all baby boys were being killed. To save his life, Moses’ mother put him in a basket and set him in the Nile River, to be found by the Pharaoh’s daughter.
Moses was adopted into the Pharaoh’s family and raised as royalty. But at 40-years old, he killed an Egyptian for beating an Israelite, and then he ran away and spent the next 40 years tending sheep in the desert for his father-in-law, Jethro.
And then, God appeared to Moses as a burning bush and called him to go back to Egypt and convince the Pharaoh to free the Israelites from slavery. Moses tried every way he knew of to get out of doing this, but God told him he would be successful and to walk with Moses. Moses then did as God had instructed.
CHAPTERS 7-19
When Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go free, Moses announced a series of plagues that would punish the Egyptian people. After suffering greatly through 10 terrible punishments, the Pharaoh finally let them go free, just to try and chase them down later.
The Lord opened up a path across the Red Sea which allowed the Israelite to escape the Egyptian army, and once they were on the other side, God closed the waters on top of the Egyptian army, killing all of them as they pursued God’s people.
After the people had received God’s law, they became accountable to following it. They knew what they were supposed to do and their lives on earth would be blessed if they obeyed God. And they knew that God would punish them if they refused to obey.
By the way, that still applies to us today! If we obey, we will be blessed. If we refuse to obey, we will be punished. So don’t fall into the trap of passing the blame by asking how a loving God could punish in such harsh ways. He wrote the law and gave us the freedom to follow it or not. When we get punished, it is not because forced it on us; but that we were disobedient and are now just suffering the consequences of breaking the law.
After God freed His people, God continued to be with them as they began their 40-year journey in the desert. Here are some of the miracles God performed for them during this time.
· · · He shielded the Israelites from danger (EXODUS 14:5-20)
· · · He purified undrinkable water (EXODUS 15:22-27)
· · · He provided their daily bread for them (EXODUS 16:1-5 & 13-34)
· · · He provided water from a rock (EXODUS 17:1-7)
· · · He assured them of military victory (EXODUS 17:8-16)
· · · And He displayed His power at Mt. Sinai (EXODUS 19:16-20)
This will complete our overview study of EXODUS 2-19.
