THE DARKNESS OF SIN
TEXT: Exodus 1:8-11
Exodus 1:8-11 KJV Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. [9] And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: [10] Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. [11] Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
I. INTRODUCTION—THE EBOLA OUTBREAK
-The thought for this message came to a few weeks ago when I started following the Ebola outbreak that began in West Africa. I have been somewhat aware of the fearful nature of this germ for a number of years. Some of the fear of this disease comes from the way that patients succumb to death. In the final stages, patients literally hemorrhage to death as their blood vessels literally break down all over their body.
-Throughout all of this spread of Ebola, I have watched with some curiosity the comments of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta and the World Health Organization as they chose to address the fears of many around the globe. They have used words like incubation period, fever, symptomatic response, and hazmat suits. There is very much a sense of fear that you can feel prevailing through the various news agencies as they make efforts to cover the news.
-What you have occasionally heard them address is the potential for a pandemic. This simply means that there is a possibility that the disease can spread around the world at a blinding speed and infect hundreds of thousands of people. Once a pandemic gets started, it is very difficult to gain the upper hand and control it. In fact, one area of the CDC website states that it would take 12-18 months to control and eradicate a pandemic. By that time there would have been thousands of deaths to take place. Presently they are saying that around 4,500 have died as of October 17, 2014. There are some medical professionals both in professional medicine and academic medicine who think the number is much higher. They believe that we are not getting the full story because officials do not want a global panic to set in.
-For those of us who have worked in medicine and around hospitals for any length of time, we are very aware of the potential and power of germs. We know that it is crucial that sterile technique and isolation protocols are maintained to prevent the spread of disease and germs. However, we also know that despite the best intentions and procedural guidelines that germs are something that cannot be seen and therefore they are very dangerous.
-While I contemplated all of that, I started thinking on the deadly nature of sin and how it has very detrimental effects on all men. The question at large is this: Do I attempt to protect my life from sin with the same stringent protocols that healthcare workers are using against the Ebola virus?
C. Neil Strait—Sin does not serve well as a gardener of the soul. It landscapes the contour of the soul until all that is beautiful has been made ugly; until all that is high is made low; until all that is promising is wasted. Then life is like a desert—parched and barren. It is drained of purpose. It is bleached of happiness. Sin, then, is not wise, but wasteful. It is not a gate, but only a grave.
II. ISRAEL IN EGYPT
A. The Prevailing Will of God
-This chapter picks up with one of the greatest dramas in human history. The children of Israel have been living in Egypt for more than 400 years. It all began when Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers.
-The slavery of Joseph was actually used by God to put His plan in motion for the benefit of the Israelites. While there are some very dark turns and difficult days that they will experience, God’s will still prevails in all and they are ushered out of Egypt in the middle of the night to experience freedom.
-As is often the case with the children of God, what starts as a great tragedy often ends up being a great blessing. The Lord is the Master at causing our dark circumstances to bring us great light.
-The will of God often prevails in such a surprising way that we are amazed at how it turns out for us. Just as a bit of a footnote on the will of God, consider what Paul wrote to the Colossians:
Colossians 1:9-10 KJV For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; [10] That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Colossians 4:12 KJV Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
-There are a host of other Scriptures concerning the will of God for our lives but we can rest in knowing that if there is an allegiance to the Lord, He will guide and direct every step of the way!
B. Egypt’s Dark Side
-While Egypt would serve as an incubator for Israel, none can say that Egypt did not have its dark side. Moses affirms that it was the will of God for Israel to be there:
Genesis 46:3 KJV And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
-But on the other hand there are some times we observe in Scripture that a trip to Egypt was often a great mistake that involved disobedience on some level for the children of Israel.
• Egypt speaks of the world.
• Egypt represents extreme paganism.
• Egypt is a land that is filled with ease and luxury.
• Egypt was immersed in materialism and riches.
• Egypt encourages moral and spiritual decay in undisciplined souls.
• Egypt was a culture that pampered the flesh at the expense of the spirit.
• Egypt had a negative effect on the character and spiritual health of God’s people.
• Egypt does not represent spiritual life but rather spiritual death.
-Various examples of this are scattered throughout the Word:
• Abraham’s trip to Egypt was an act of unbelief (Gen. 12:10-20).
• Abraham’s trip to Egypt resulted in him lying about Sarah’s relation to him.
• Abraham’s trip to Egypt was a place he picked up bondage such as Hagar.
• Abraham’s trip to Egypt was the place where his relation with Hagar would plague him for life.
• Israel made unspiritual alliances with Egypt which would cost them much (Isaiah 30).
• Israel immigrated to Egypt and it proved their rejection of God and it would cost them even more (Jeremiah 43).
-However, there are also some exceptions to this because there were a few times that going to Egypt had its benefits:
• Jacob and his family going to Egypt at the request of Joseph.
• Joseph and Mary taking Jesus for protection from the wicked Herod.
-The lesson for us in this is that our own carnal cravings and carnal nature would always like for you to believe in the exception to this rule. But a spiritual man knows much better that you cannot go to Egypt (the world) unless there is a clear directive that comes from God.
-Egypt’s dark side prevailed on most of the Israelites. There were a few hardy souls who did stand strong in their faith such as Moses’ parents and a few others but mostly Israel became not just slaves to the Egyptians but slaves to sin.
-There are a couple of passages that we find in cross-reference that helps us to see this:
Joshua 24:14 KJV Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
-Note carefully the phrase, “and in Egypt,” and it becomes clear that there were even some of the Israelites who were practicing idolatry before the exodus ever took place. There is great danger in importing “gods” into your relationship with the one true God. That is why there must be an absolute vigilance and in our walk with the Lord!
-This is further confirmed in another passage from Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 20:6-8 KJV In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands: [7] Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. [8] But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
-To my mind, you would think that Israel would have gladly given up their attraction to these false gods so they could escape the bondage but sin had a grip on them.
F. B. Meyer—The worship of the calf, the lusting of Kibroth-hataavah (Numbers 11:34), the outbreak of iniquity on the frontiers of Moab, all proved how deeply the taint of Egyptian idolatry and impurity had wrought.
-The Lord was going to deliver Israel from Egypt but the bigger challenge was to get Egypt out of the heart of Israel.
III. A NEW “KING”
A. He Was Ignorant
-The text tells us that there was a king who came along who had no idea who Joseph was and did not know the history of the people of Israel. His concern was heightened when he started looking at their strength. He thought that they could very easily overpower the Egyptians should they desire to do so.
-Some historians seem to think that this pharaoh was a man who had conquered Egypt and although he may have been from that nation, he was of another dynasty who did not know the Israelites.
-His ignorance would be a catastrophe for him. He could have been a man so well educated and cultured on a thousand other things but because he did not know this key piece of information, his ignorance would do him in.
-The ignorance of this king proves to us the great peril of lacking in knowledge and discernment. Hosea touched on this lack in his day also:
Hosea 4:6 KJV My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
-In another place a similar lack was also brought to bear:
2 Chronicles 15:3 KJV Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
-A lack of knowledge sent Israel into captivity and for a long period of time they did not even have recognition as a national people.
-We can have an education in a lot of different areas, math, science, literature, English, the arts, and a host of other disciplines but if we do not have spiritual knowledge, we literally are as lost as we can be! Despite the fact that our land is mocking spiritual values and scorning the principles of the Word, those values should be the driving force behind every saint of God.
• We ought to know who Jesus is.
• We ought to know of the death, the burial, and the resurrection of the Lord.
• We ought to know about the act of redemption in personal salvation.
• We ought to know the Word of God, the greatest book known to man.
• We ought to know the truth. . . for the ignorance of these matters pushes us closer to the brink of destruction than any of us can understand.
B. He Was a Type of the Devil
-This new king was a type of the devil. Just as the devil hates anything of the Lord and His Kingdom, this new king hated the people of God.
-You can see the movements of this pharaoh all through Exodus for a comparison of the devil:
• 1:9—He notes the children of Israel are mightier than he and his kingdom—The apostolic church will always be mightier than the devil and his kingdom. It doesn’t stop him from battling it but the true church is far more powerful!
• 1:11—He put harsh taskmasters over them and put huge burdens on them—Just as today the devil does the same thing, he uses demons and huge burdens and trouble to pressure the saints of God.
• 1:16—He wanted to kill the sons so he could stop the potential of the future. The enemy will do his best to get into the labor room of the church. He will work to hinder what takes place in the altars. (NOTE: We ought to make a big deal about the altars. Let others neglect the altar call, the invitation, whatever you choose to call it but our altars are necessary for ongoing spiritual breakthrough to take place.)
• 4:21—His heart was hardened at the words and the wonders of the Lord. The devil works to do the very same thing in every apostolic church. He will make you think that the Word of the Lord is so unimportant and he will cause you to doubt anything that remotely looks like a miracle or deliverance.
• 5:2—He mocks the Lord and His prophet. The devil continues that even until now.
• 5:7-9—He afflicted them with heavier loads of work and heavier burdens in an effort to destroy them. The same continues in the present. Never have we seen a time where the American church is under the greatest pressure we have ever seen. It doesn’t matter if you are a minister or a good saint of God, hell is afflicting us as never before.
• 5:14—He beat them.
• 7:9-10—He is always demanding a sign. You can look at his in two ways: 1) there are sign seekers in this generation like never before and all you have to do is turn on “Christian” television and you can see miracles for sale; or 2) the Lord can provide a sign as he did with the new king and they will oppose it and even attempt to destroy it. The devil is still doing that in this hour!
• 7:14—He still won’t let the people go despite seeing a sign.
• 8:8—He moves into the bargaining stage with Moses. Take away the frogs and I will let the people go. . . The devil still operates in that manner, he wants to make a deal for your soul.
• 8:15—He changed his mind and will not let the people go.
• 8:19—Even the magicians of pharaoh said the wonders are the “finger of God” and this angered the pharaoh. Even the demons know and can recognize what are the true works of God. This recognition of the power still infuriates the devil. Jesus noted that the strongman can be bound!
-On and on, you can note the bargaining back and forth and the actions of the pharaoh with Moses and Aaron but ultimately with God. The same kind of activity goes on in our world today.
-The pharaoh bargained with their freedom:
• You can sacrifice but on these conditions. . .
• You can leave but you can only go so far. . .
• You can go a day’s journey from here but not three days journey. . .
-If ever the principle of separation from Egypt ought to be seen clearly, it is in this series of transactions that are taking place between this pharaoh and Moses.
C. Let Us Deal Wisely. . .
-The pharaoh decided he would deal “wisely” with them. The same word is noted as “subtlety” in Acts 7:19. It means craftily, dishonestly, and crookedly.
Matthew Henry—When men deal wickedly, it is common for them to imagine that they deal wisely.
-Anything that violates the law of God is foolishness. Yet men do it all the time from the beginning of history and will continue to do so until time runs out. Sometimes even good saints fall into this trap of craftiness and dishonesty with God.
• They justify behavior that is ungodly.
• They harbor attitudes that are opposite of God’s character.
• They decrease their attachment with the house of God.
• They cheat in their business affairs.
• They steal from their employers.
• They will marry those who are unsaved which creates an unequal yoke.
• They will argue against the will of God.
• They refuse to entirely surrender their will to God.
-This is not the wisest way to live, in fact, there will come a day that it will catch up with them.
IV. THE DARKNESS OF SIN
-Here is the whole crux of this message. . . To help all of us grasp the darkness, the bondage, and the destruction that sin puts on our lives.
-If you are given to reading the sermons and Scripture studies of two hundred years ago or even backing up to the early church fathers, you find something prevailing in their preaching that is seldom covered in our day.
-These ancient preachers were men who preached regularly against any kind of sin that worked to gain a foothold in the soul of men.
C.S. Lewis—(Screwtape’s advice to Wormwood)—You will say that these are very small sins, and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness. But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate man from the Enemy (God). It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to keep the man away from the Light. . . Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.
-There is a word that is used in Exodus 1:13-14:
Exodus 1:13-14 KJV And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: [14] And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
-The word translated as “rigour” is a very rare one. It is used in the connotation of severity, cruelty, and harshness. It has the concept also of a bone that is fractured. The root word indicates that it means “to break to pieces, to crush.”
-This new king literally imposed his will on the children of Israel. The slavery they were forced to endure was a picture of the way that sin works in the lives of mankind in general.
A. Sin Is Slavery
-The sin of the new king enslaved the whole population of Israel who were living in Goshen.
• Sin will always enslave men.
• Sin keeps men under the control of evil and destructive habits.
• Sin holds men hostage from freedom.
-More times than not the world looks at the church and thinks they are under bondage when the reality is that men are held prisoners to their sin.
-There would be those who take the matter of sin very lightly but sin will choke the life out of your worship, your prayer, and your desire for fellowship with God.
-What is sin? One of the best factors to determine what sin looks like is to look to the character of God.
• God is good. . . Sin is evil.
• God is pure. . . Sin is filthy.
• God is love. . . Sin is hatred.
-What of that word “filthy”? Those who are involved in sin have immersed themselves in the filthiness of the flesh and spirit. We have perhaps gotten too genteel in our day to say that people who practice sin are filthy.
-But no matter how I try to cover my sin or you choose to try to cover your own sin, it is abhorrent to God.
Robert Baylie—Sin is a practical blasphemy to all the attributes of God. It is the dare of his justice, the rape of his mercy, the height of his power, and the contempt of his love. It is all contrary to God.
-The Puritans of 16th and 17th centuries were called specialists of sin. They would routinely preach about the evils of sin that would take hold of the people of their congregations. They warned, they cautioned, they pleaded, they prayed, and they preached with great power against it.
-They knew that sin was literally a fight against God. Any sin that we allow into our lives is that which fights against God. It fights against the goodness and the works of God in his saints.
Several years ago when the Internet was in its earliest stages in the US, there was a company who made much money. America Online was a company that gave out free access to their internet browser but you had to become a subscriber to it. They had a huge consumer base but they made a mistake. They accidentally released the internet search history of 650,000 of their users. Whatever they typed in whether it was weather reports, scores to ballgames, how to fix a motor in a 2002 Chevy Camaro, or other silly things. But as you can imagine people also searched for sad things, disturbing things, and dark and sinister things and it was available to the general public. One thing that did not accidentally come out was the names of the subscribers only a number that identified them. However the New York Times quickly demonstrated that it was easy to take the number and put a name to it. Each user’s “data trail” drew an unfaltering picture of that person.
Here are some things we need to understand about more than just the internet but about life in general. We are all defined by our searches. We are defined by the data trail we leave behind us. We are searching for things that our hearts crave! What you are looking for reveals the “god” that you are serving. Think of your heart as a battleground of “gods” (little “g”) and these “gods” gather and they battle it out. Whatever “god” wins, it is the one who whom we become a slave to. (Adapted from gods at war¸ Kyle Idleman.)
-There out to be a constant check on our “search history” and we can do this by examining the condition of our heart. Everything flows out of your heart! (Prov. 4:23).
B. Sin Is Bitterness
-The new king and his taskmasters made their life bitter.
• Sin never provides happiness.
• Sin advertises great fun but in the end it is like a snake bit.
• Sin brings pleasure but it is just for a season and then it is gone (Heb. 11:25).
-Sin has a corrupting aspect to it that makes everything about it very bitter. It is like a malignant cancer. It is like a poisonous spider. It is like a venomous snake. Whatever it strikes at, it has a tinge of bitterness in it.
-In 1 Corinthians 5, there is a mention of a man who is immersed in dark immorality and Paul instructs to deliver the unrepentant man over to Satan. That seems like a chilling matter to me. But the prophet Ezekiel seems to say that there is a worse thing that can take place in the life of a man who will persist in sin. . . He can be turned over to himself.
-Those sinners who have been turned over to themselves appear to be those who never recover.
Ezekiel 24:13-14 KJV In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee. [14] I the LORD have spoken it: it shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent; according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord GOD.
-What does a person look like that has fallen into this trap? They are like the woman in Proverbs 30:20, they will eat, they will wipe their mouth, and they will deny that they have taken part in any wickedness.
C. Sin Is Exhausting
-When the taskmasters were finished with them for the day, the slaves had very little strength left for anything else.
-Sin always takes the best from us. It demands a huge price from us and it overdraws our account until we are morally and spiritually bankrupt.
• Sin exhausts our energy.
• Sin exhausts our time.
• Sin exhausts our possessions.
• Sin exhausts our character.
• Sin exhausts our interests.
• Sin exhausts our relationships.
• Sin will ultimately exhaust our soul!
-If we let sin gain control of our lives, it is devastating. Some of the exhaustion of body, soul, and spirit comes from trying to cover it up. Often men are very pleased with their ability to cover up their secret sins. What they don’t realize is the measure of space the Lord is giving them for repentance is not a reprieve from judgment but rather a call toward repentance.
-Sometimes the Lord instantly deals with sin as he did with Jeroboam. He put his hand against the altar and the Lord smote him so that his hand drew up. Another young prophet disobeyed and a lion killed him. Others break down the hedge and are immediately bitten by the serpent.
-But others become exhausted trying to cover their sin. But it is just a matter of time before the dance will be over. Judah’s sin with Tamar was covered about three months. Saul’s disobedience was covered for a matter of hours until Samuel heard the lowing of the sheep and oxen.
V. CONCLUSION—THERE IS HOPE
-Despite the fact that sin may have a stronghold on man, there is always hope. Moses is called the lawgiver of Israel but it was through the work of the Law that he became the emancipator. He became the one who led the children of Israel out of the land of sin.
-The Lord Jesus Christ leads us out of the land of bondage through the work of the Cross. There is salvation that can come to any man. But we also have to understand our responsibility and fight against the sin and the weights that so easily beset us. We do that through Romans 6 and following.
Philip Harrelson
October 19, 2014
