Admin OptionsFeature Edit Discussion Close Discussion Add Tags
Cancel
Delete Discussion Intro:
1. President Harry Truman began an unusual Thanksgiving tradition. He selected a turkey, that was to be brought to the White House, and there the Commander in Chief would grant that bird a pardon. It was then brought to a Virginia farm, where it would live out the rest of its life in peace and safety.
2. We are all like that bird, who come to Christ, we are pardoned turkeys!
Before we get to Moses, we must look at some background material. The main thought is that in spite of our sin, God graciously forgives and blesses us.
3. Grace in the Face of our Disgrace.
Exodus 1:1-22 (NKJV)
1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob:
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
5 All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already).
6 And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation.
7 But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
9 And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we;
10 come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land."
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel.
13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor.
14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage--in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah;
16 and he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive.
18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?"
19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them."
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very mighty.
21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them.
22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive."
I. First, the Special Sons. Ex. 1:1-7
Exodus 4:22 (NKJV)
22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My firstborn.
A. For starters, their Presence in Egypt. 1:1-6
Background: Genesis chapters 46-47, it would be good to read them.
"We cannot and must not separate a person from his time. Our moment in history and our unique individual circumstances become the anvil upon which our character is beaten out and formed...Hatred and mistreated by jealous brothers, Joseph was kidnapped as a naive teenager and sold to a passing caravan bound for Egypt. God greatly honored this young man and promoted him out of slavery, to the right hand of Pharaoh himself. And it was a good thing, too because just at that time a terrible famine swept the land.
Jacob and his sons back in Canaan would have died of starvation had they stayed put. Instead, several of them traveled to Egypt and to make a long story short, were reunited with Joseph and invited to come and live in Egypt, where they would enjoy plenty of grain and a fine spread of land.
At that time they werer only an extended family, a small band of bewildered refugees. You could have loaded the whole tribe on a couple of Greyhound buses. For about 71 years after the relocation life rolled along like a lazy Nile River.
With Joseph's death, life began to change for these transplanted Jews - subtle changes at first, but soon the Israelites fortunes plunged like the stock market of October 1929 - all the way to the bottom. By this time the population of Jews in Egypt exploded. The native population began to look upon Israel wiht growing suspicion." [Swindoll]
B. The Population Explosion. 7
C. The Promise of an Exodus. Gen. 15:13-/46:3
1. God gave them a Promise.
Like them we have God's promises to live by.
2 Peter 1:3-4 (NKJV)
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2. A promise does not eliminate Persecution. 2 Tim. 3:12
3. Divine Procrastination preceeds the promise.
They would be in Egypt for hundreds of years before this promise would be experienced. Heb. 10:36
Butler, "God's promise proved, as always, to be stronger then man's problems...The devil really fights the promise of God, and at times the saints in viewing their current circumstances may wonder if God's promises will prevail. But have no fear. If God promised, God will fulfill.
But what if we fail, we sin? God's grace remains firm even in the face of our Disgrace.
These brothers acted in Disgrace by Launching Joseph into the pit, and then slavery. Yet, God's grace is seen in using that very act to keep those same brothers from starvation, by way of Joseph being in Egypt!
Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)
20 But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
We need to confess sin and then press on, claiming God's promises. Promises that include victory over sin (I Cor. 10:13).
The Australian national coat of arms, features two creatures, an ostrich like emu and a kangaroo. They picked these because neither of these animals has the ability to move backwards.
II. Finally, the Sinful king who Enslaved. 1:8-22
A. His lack of Education. 8
"After centuries the name Joseph became virtually unknown. This new Pharoah despised the growing Hebrew population. All too suddenly for the bewildered Israelites, a devasting new policy came into effect and life would never be the same. Exit - ease, abundance, and prosperity; Enter- taskmasters and the whip."
B. His Evaluation. 9
He viewed God's blessing as a curse!
C. His plan of Exploitation. 10-22
1. Deception. 10
2. Destruction. 11, 13-14
rigor - "to smash or crush."
Part of the reason for this crushing is Israel's own sin!
Joshua 24:14 (NKJV)
14 "Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!
Ezekiel 20:6-8 (NKJV)
6 On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, 'flowing with milk and honey,' the glory of all lands.
7 Then I said to them, 'Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'
8 But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, 'I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.'
Such suffering is designed to bring us back to God.
Psalms 119:67-71 (NKJV)
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.
68 You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes.
69 The proud have forged a lie against me, But I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart.
70 Their heart is as fat as grease, But I delight in Your law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.
Hosea 5:14-15 (NKJV)
14 For I will be like a lion to Ephraim, And like a young lion to the house of Judah. I, even I, will tear them and go away; I will take them away, and no one shall rescue.
15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me."
3. The Dissatisfaction. 12-14
a. They Grew. 12a
b. He was Grieved. 12b-14
Again in spite of Israel's Disgrace, being steeped in idolatry, we see God's grace continue to abound. When we get sin conscious instead of Christ conscious we allow our sin problem to over shadow God's promise.
Bonnie Booth tried to remove a callous from her foot with a razor. She became obssessed with getting infected, after drinking a bottle of vodka, she shot it off with a 410 shotgun!
She ended up not only in the hospital but the psychiatric center. How many times do we do that to our problems, we exaggeragte our failures and forget God's grace.
4. His Determination. 15-22
a. The Orders. 15-16
The Hebrew midwives, were to notice what sex the emerging baby was, then kill if it was a male, the females could be eventually married and assimilated into Egyptian society.
If it was a male they were to suffocate the helpless infant, and say, "Oh, I'm sorry this one was stillborn."
b. The Obstacles. 17-21
(1) The Godly Fear. 17
(2) The Ungodly Fear. 18-19
The sin was not in disobeying the government. We can disobey delegated authority IF it contradicts scriptures.
Acts 5:29 (NKJV)
29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men.
Romans 13:5 (NKJV)
5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake.
However, it is a sin to tell a lie...
(3) God's unmerited Favor. 20-22
Again we see the principle, lying is disgraceful, but in God's sheer grace they were still blessed. They were not blessed for lying, but inspite of their lies.
I read this the other day, a house servant had two large pots, which hung at the end of a pole. One pot had a crack in it, but the other one was perfectly sound.
So, each day when the servant returned from the stream, one pot was full and the other half full because of the crack. After several years the cracked pot spoke to the servant and said, "I am sorry, so ashamed of myself for leaking out so much water! The servant said, "Come let me show you something."
As they walked to the stream the servant pointed out that one side has beautiful flowers growing alone it. She said, "I knew you leaked, so I planted flower seeds along the path for the masters table. Notice only your side of the path has flowers, your leaky pot watered them as we walked."
Have you ever noticed how little the ungracious, self righteous person ministers to you? It is the humble, struggling believer that usually helps you grow the most.
c. The Outrage. 22
Con:
1. The Launching Joseph into slavery; Israel's Living in sin in Egypt; and the Lying of the midwives, is all a disgrace. But it also, gave an opportunity to show God's grace.
2. Johnny Cash wrecked every vehicle he owned over a 7 year period: he destroyed 2 jeeps; demolished a camper; sank two boats; jumped from a speeding car just before it went over a 600 foot cliff; He also drank way too much whisky and beer; swallowed amphetamines by the handful; divorced his wife, leaving her to care for 4 children; drug crazed he drove a tractor in an ice cold lake; He knocked down doors and smashed in walls, sawed the legs off furniture in motel rooms. He triggered fire alarms in the middle of the night; broke his jaw and nose in a reckless car accident. He did all this before his 36th birthday.
At the age of 12, Johnny Cash had received Jesus Christ as his Savior. And through all these bad and ugly years God never gave up on Johnny Cash.
There came a day when he recommitted his life to Christ, and appeared often as a singer at Billy Graham crusades; made many gospel films and records. Wrote a book about the life of the Apostle Paul.
A month before he died he said, "Oh, I expect my life to end pretty soon. You know I'm 71 years old. I have unshakable faith." He was then asked if he had any regrets?"
He said, "I use to, but I forgave myself. When God forgave me, I figured I'd better do it too."
Johnny Cash, like all of us, brought about a lot of Disgrace in his life, but he faced his disgrace by God's grace...so can we.
Johnny Palmer Jr.
www.strugglingthruscriptures.ning.com
www.blogtalkradio.com/strugglingthruscriptures
