<ILLUSTRATION> I’m a big movie fan and often have a movie playing next to my computer when I’m working at home. I really enjoy some of the classic movies from several decades ago. In 1956, a famous film maker, Cecil B. DeMille produced an epic and spectacular movie that I consider one of the true classics of entertainment and a great telling of the Exodus story. Of course, the movie I’m talking about is called The Ten Commandments. Have any of you seen this movie? This is one of my all-time favorite movies and included notable actors such as Charlton Heston who played Moses, Yul Brynner as Pharaoh and other notable actors of the day such as Edward G. Robinson and Vincent Price. These were the headliners of movie picture industry of the Hollywood in their day, and I think this picture stands the test of time.
Today, we begin another journey as we begin a new series at Concordia based on the book of Exodus. This second book in the Bible is a powerful story of the nation of Israel rescued from the clutches of slavery at the hand of the Egyptian Pharaoh, and deliverance of God’s people by His servant Moses to the Promised Land. It’s quite the picture of dichotomies the will of Pharaoh versus the will of Moses, the command of God versus the power of Egypt, and the confinement of slavery versus the hope of freedom. Exodus is the powerful story of Moses. He was one of the most notable figures of history, not only in the book of Exodus, or even the Old Testament, but the entire Bible and the world itself.
There is so much more to this story, but you’ll have to stay tuned for the next few weeks to hear how it all turns out. Like so many other stories… the book is worth the read and much better than the movie.
Today, we’re going to take a look at the beginning of that Exodus story and ponder Israel’s slavery to Egypt and our own slavery to sin. There are two things I’d like you to reflect on as we start through this book.
First, we are all slaves bound to our environment and unable to free themselves, and secondly, we have been freed from oppression and assured of salvation that we cannot obtain ourselves.
Slaves Bound to the Environment
The book of Exodus begins with a new Pharaoh in Egypt and the head of a new dynasty. Years ago, the Israelite Joshua served Egypt and saved the country from a 7-year famine. But, 400 years had passed and the new Pharaoh had no fond memory of Joshua or the drought that threatened the existence of his people or his country. Being a new King, Pharaoh was looking to make a name for himself. He was looking to shore up his power base to ensure a stable and powerful Egypt. But, Pharaoh recognized a threat to his rule, and an opportunity. He saw the Hebrews as a danger to Egypt as they were thriving, but they were also an answer to some of his problems.
To combat this difficult situation of too many untrustworthy, unreliable, disloyal Israelites running around the Egyptian countryside, Pharaoh proposed working the sons of Jacob to exhaustion to limit their strength to attempt any sort of rebellion. But, it would also limit their population by making them too tired to do anything else. In this way, the yoke of slavery became the new way of life for the Hebrew people. No longer was Israel an honored people in the land of Egypt, but property owned by the Pharaoh himself.
Remember that I said Pharaoh saw and opportunity? Egypt had a need for additional granaries to store harvests, and cities to help with commerce. With Hebrew slaves, Egypt had the labor necessary to make those public works projects possible. This would assure a prosperous Egyptian nation state, and the Israelites were seen as the only feasible option to ensure progress.
Now the Egyptian King had the ability to control his workforce. He had a powerful military at his disposal that was known for many recent victories. That power would ensure that the Hebrews stayed in line.
At the same time these difficult tasks are being performed, Pharaoh wasn’t satisfied that his work plan was limiting the population like he thought. He expected their numbers to decline as the work increased. But their numbers only grew. The more the work was laid on the back of the Hebrew people, the more they continued to prosper and grow.
So, Pharaoh came up with another idea to limit the tribes of Israel. He decided to tackle the problem from the future source of the population, Israel’s sons. He ordered the mid-wives to kill all male-Hebrew children, but to allow the females to survive. But, instead of following the Pharaoh’s decree, the mid-wives understood this to be evil and followed the will of God. They claimed that Hebrew women were more robust than Egyptians and that the babies were born before they arrived. By fearing God instead of fearing men, the children lived, and the Hebrews continued to grow even more abundantly.
Pharaoh saw that this plan wasn’t working and decided on another plan to protect Egypt. He decreed that all male Hebrew newborns were to be drowned in the Nile River by the Egyptians themselves. This would result in the Hebrew women growing up and having no Hebrew men to marry. Within a generation, this would ensure that they married only Egyptian men, causing future generations to be Egyptian rather than Hebrew. This was nothing less than genocide for the tribes of Israel.
This is the environment that Moses faced upon his birth. Egyptians ready to drown newborn children, Pharaoh building another monument on the backs of Hebrew labor, and little hope for the future of the tribes of Israel, unless a miracle just happened to come along.
And Moses was one of many in need of such a miracle. Being a newborn child, he was unable to survive on his own. Infants can’t feed themselves, can’t clean themselves, can’t move around by themselves, can’t communicate their needs, wants and desires. They are completely and totally dependent on those around them. They often sleep more than they’re awake, which limits how much noise they make. As they grow, they stay awake longer and they start to become aware of their surroundings, and they begin to cry more often and more loudly too. At three months old, this is probably where Moses was in our lesson today. The baby had to be sent away if there was to be any hope of his survival. He needed help from others. He needed a redeemer.
But, it’s not just the Hebrews that struggled in their situation. Each of us in this room has our own Achilles Heel that causes us problems. For some is may be adultery whether in thought, like watching pornography, or in deed, in a physically relationship. For others it might be abusing and beating a family member, or mentally causing a loved one to suffer. In still other cases, it may be gossip about a co-worker down the hall, or that weird family that just moved into the neighborhood. Sin in many forms has found ways into our lives. Any sin is not in line with God’s command, and not in line with Jesus command to be patient, kind, or forgiving of those around us. Sin surrounds us. And when it comes to our own actions, it’s so much easier to go with the crowd, rather than go with what God has told for us to do.
It comes down to this…by ourselves, we are weak. The lure of sin overtakes our lives and we find ourselves stumbling one more time. No matter how good the intentions are, we do bad things. Sometimes we can keep it secret, like an alcoholic hiding another drink. But, eventually, that hidden cache will be revealed either in our actions, or by others finding the bottle. But it’s not just us that struggle with sin. Even the Apostle Paul struggled. In Romans 7 he wrote this:
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold as a slave to sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate. (Rom 7:14-15, CSB)
If the Apostle Paul, who spoke with God and not only understood, but explained to us what Jesus’ message actually meant, if even he can stumble, can we expect ourselves to do much better? Paul was a great spiritual leader not only of his time, but for all time. Much of the New Testament is from his pen. Paul struggled, and we do to. Like Moses and like the Israelite slaves, we are also in need a rescuer. We need a savior to break us from the bonds of sin. We need a redeemer to clear a path for us, and get us back on the journey towards God, rather than on the path of sin that leads away from Him. Like the Hebrews in bondage, and like Moses threatened with death, we too need a redeemer to break us free from the slavery of sin that is upon us. And we can’t do it by ourselves.
Freed People Redeemed from our Oppression
So, is there a redeemer for us? Was there one for the Hebrews? What about Moses? The answer is yes for all of the above.
In Moses’ case, it was his mother who had a plan. She started by making a small ark out of materials that were available, coating the ark with pitch to make it water worthy and preparing it for the day Moses would be sent away on a river journey. The preparations showed that Jochebed had hope and was optimistic for the future for this small child. But, there was more to this plan than just making a small baby boat.
The River itself was part of the plan, and so was Moses’ sister Miriam. At this time, she was likely about 15 years old and able understand how to protect the defenseless youngster. The natural shield of water plants around the Nile allowed her to hide in the reeds and launch Moses in his floating bassinet. When the time was right, it was her job to ensure someone rescued the small child.
Another component of this plan was the royal family. The Nile was seen as a sacred and health-giving river so there is nothing unusual about a princess bathing in the natural waters. She would have been surrounded by many women attached to the household including several hand-maidens. With the royal party in place, the time was right to send Moses on his way.
The plan went like clockwork. Moses was put in the ark, the small boat was placed in the Nile River and sent toward the princess and her party, Miriam escorted the floating basket from a distance, and Moses floated to the princess. The Pharaoh’s daughter heard the cries and directed her staff to get the ark and bring it to her. Even though this was a Hebrew child, she had compassion on this little one and was overcome with motherly love. At that moment in time, it didn’t matter that this was a Hebrew child, nor that her own father condemned him to die. She was ready to care for this lost baby and adopt him as her own son, and that is what she did.
Miriam showed up just as the princess saw Moses. It would have made perfect sense to have a Hebrew wet-nurse take over the task of feeding and caring for the young child. This was also the norm in society as a wet-nurse would often take care of young children until they were 2 or 3 years, then turn them back over to their parents.
So Jochebed wins everything she could imagine! Moses is not only safe, but he will receive the best that Egypt has to offer, and Jochebed received one other benefit… she got paid not only for protecting her son, but for caring for him, feeding him, loving him, each and every day, for the next 2 to 3 years.
But, God had a broader plan than just redeeming one child. He had a path in motion that would redeem not just the Hebrew people, but all mankind. That plan involved a miracle birth, that had a lot of similarities to Moses. About 2,000 years ago, God sent a different miracle into the world. He was born to a virgin mother, fled to Egypt due to death threats made by Herrod to Israel’s sons, and rose to prominence as a healer of disease, teacher of men and preacher with authority. His name was Jesus and He paid the ultimate price to free all of us from the bondage of sin. He did what none of us could do. He led a perfect, sinless life. He faced temptation from none other than Satan himself, but He did not give in. He was true God that took on the form of man and did what we could not do. Through His perfect example, He defeated sin, by being blameless. He received judgement in our stead, the judgement that we deserved for our disobedience to God’s law. He placed his body in the way of the whip, He was ridiculed and made fun of, and He even bore the pain and torture of the cross. He did all this so that we would not have to endure that punishment. He showed us what true love really is, by taking on the pain of the world. Then He died, rose again from the dead and defeated even the grave itself.
Though his sacrifice, he saved us of from the errors that we just can’t seem to get away from. He took on His shoulders the punishment for our sinful disobedience and paid the price of pain and death that we so well deserved.
Here’s another way to look at what Jesus did that may help understand his sacrifice. <ILLUSTRATION>: Remember how I said I was a big movie fan? This movie example might drive home what I’m trying to explain. I once saw another movie called The Last Emperor. In that movie, a young child is anointed as the emperor of China and lives a life of luxury with thousands of servants at his command. The emperor and his brother were having a conversation and his brother asks “What happens when you do wrong?” The boy emperor replied. “When I do wrong, someone else is punished.” Then he demonstrates this, by breaking a jar, and one of his servants is beaten.
Sin is like breaking a glass jar. We can’t put it back together because it has been shattered. We can’t repair the transgression. Sin is like this because when the law is broken, there is nothing that can be done to fix the law. The only option is justice… and that requires a punishment.
In Christianity, Jesus reverses this ancient pattern. When the servants, that’s us, make a mistake, the King is punished. That’s how it works. Instead of us being condemned eternally for our sins, Jesus is condemned instead, and in so doing, we are now blameless in His sight and assured of a heavenly reward when we pass from this life to the next.
Summary
So, what can we learn from this small example of a Hebrew boy threatened with death and sent down a river? Plenty. Like the Hebrews, we are all enslaved to something, whether it is the oppressive nature of a corrupt government, or the oppressive nature of the sinful environment around us. No matter what we do, we are slaves to sin, and cannot free ourselves. Pharaoh controlled Egypt and Moses. Sin itself has a hold on our lives.
In all of these cases, God had a plan. In the case of Moses, his mother was the instrument of that plan and it centered on a vast amount of preparations that involved an ark, the Nile River, Miriam, and a rescue by Pharaoh’s daughter. For all of us, the ultimate plan involved sending God’s one and own son, Jesus Christ as the instrument of redemption to take on the sin of the entire world and assure us that we are now blameless in God’s sight. We are forgiven. We are free from the bondage of sin, death and even the devil. We are blameless in God’s sight because we are redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
