Psalm 91:15, says,“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.” (AFV)
As we continue our meditation based on Psalm 91, we will dwell on the aspect of God who delivers us in this study.
The Israelites multiplied greatly
We read in Exodus 1:7, “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased very much and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty. And the land was filled with them.” (AFV)
The people of Israel who are the descendants of Abraham, lived in the land of Egypt. There are three words in the above mentioned verse that best described the people of Israel as they dwelt in the land of Egypt, they were fruitful, increased, multiplied and were also exceedingly mighty. The reason for this increase was that God had made a covenant with their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that this would be so, and God was faithful to fulfill the same.
Here’s the promise of God as mentioned in Genesis 17:6, “And I will make you exceedingly fruitful,” (AFV)
Therefore, as the blessing of God remained on the Israelites, it was evident in the way they increased and grew from strength to strength. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt was not too pleased with this increment in the population of the Israelites and wanted to hinder it somehow. What Pharaoh failed to realize was that this growth was entirely because the hand of the Lord was on them.
The prophet Isaiah says it this way in Isaiah 14:27,“For the LORD of hosts has purposed, and who shall reverse it? And His hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" (AFV)
Let us be assured that the plans and purposes that God has decided to fulfill through us, can never be thwarted by any man or any authority on the earth.
Pharaoh’s schemes to quell the growth
• The first plot
We read in Exodus 1:10-11, “We must make plans to stop them from growing stronger. If there is a war, they might join our enemies, defeat us, and escape from the land!" The Egyptians decided to make life hard for the Israelites, so they put slave masters over the people. These masters forced the Israelites to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses for the king. The king used these cities to store grain and other things.”(ERV)
The first hatch from Pharaoh was to make the Israelites slaves to the Egyptians, thereby subjecting them to hard labor and also crushing their spirits. He used the Israelites to work extremely hard and build the cities of Pithom and Rameses.
In spite of all that Pharaoh did this was the result as recorded in Exodus 1:12, “The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work harder and harder. But the harder they worked, the more they grew and spread, and the more the Egyptians became afraid of them.” (ERV)
The more Pharaoh tried to suppress them, the Israelites grew stronger and became a force that Pharaoh could not reckon with. This was simply because the hand of the Lord was with the Israelites and God’s powerful might was no match for Pharaoh’s cunning schemes.
As children of God we too may face evil schemes from those who seek our downfall. However, we should never be fearful or get discouraged, for we can be certain that God’s purposes will always prevail over every wicked scheme of men. This will be applicable to anyone who has made God their stronghold. In the midst of all our affliction we can be sure that God will give us the increase and the strength to overcome all the challenges we encounter.
The early church is a great example of those who triumphed over such oppositions that they were confronted with.
In Acts 11:21, we read, “And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.” (AFV)
The hand of the Lord was with the early church and therefore, no animosity or resistance from men could hinder their growth and expansion.
The secret to our victorious living is that the hand of the Lord should remain with us. If this is so, we can be confident that we can overcome every challenge
• The second plot
We read in Exodus 1:15-16, “And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah. And he said, “When you midwife the Hebrew women, and look on the birth stools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him. But if it is a daughter, then she shall live.”” (AFV)
The second scheme of Pharaoh was a crueler one wherein, he wanted to destroy all the male babies, thereby stopping the population from growing further. Pharaoh instructed the midwives to kill the baby boys at birth itself, thereby putting an end to an increase among the Israelites.
This is what happened as recorded in Exodus 1:17, “But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved alive the male children.” (AFV)
The midwives however, feared God more and did not obey the command of the king and let the babies live. I am sure that Pharaoh may have bribed these midwives with gifts and offers to carry out his evil plan. Nonetheless, these women were so driven with godly fear that they could not be allured to be party to Pharaoh’s wicked plot. They did what was right in the sight of God.
This is what happened to these midwives as a result of their faithfulness to God. We read in Exodus 1:21, “And because the midwives feared God [with profound reverence], He established families and households for them.” (Amplified)
The Lord blessed and established the families of these midwives because of their fearful reverence for Him. Once again, the next scheme of Pharaoh also did not materialize.
We too must have this sense of fear and reverence for God. The one who fears God will have no need to fear any man. Let us be reminded that the word of God assures us that no weapon formed against us will prosper. When we are safe under God’s protection, nothing that is aimed at us will be able to overcome us. Many people are in constant fear when they get to know that people are plotting against them, but to such let me comfort you that God will keep you safe from all harm, and attacks of those who come against you.
• The third plot
Pharaoh did not give up when his second plan failed. He now had a third one that he wanted to execute. When the secret conspiracies did not work out, Pharaoh had a plot that was open and outrageous.
In Exodus 1:22,we read, Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, “You shall cast every son who is born into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.” (WEB)
This brutal order of Pharaoh required that every new born baby boy, born to the Israelite family be thrown into the river Nile and that only the baby girls should be spared. It was in this situation, where many families lost their babies and were in mourning, that a baby boy was born to one such Israelite family. The parents of this baby, especially his mother had such faith in God and not fearing the king’s decree she decided to hide the baby, because she believed that God was able to save her baby.
We read about this in Hebrews 11:23,“By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden three months by his parents because they saw that he was a beautiful little child; and they did not fear the king's decree.” (AFV)
There are times when we have to keep somethings hidden, either not spoken or done openly. It is also important for us as believers to do everything with faith and wisdom.
We have no idea as to how these parents managed to keep their baby boy hidden for three months. After three months however, when they were unable to hide the baby, they had no heart to throw the baby into the river as per the king’s command. Their faith is God was still strong and this is what they did.
A baby is saved
We read in Exodus 2:3-6,But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of papyrus for him, and daubed it with bitumen and with pitch, and put the child in it. And she laid it in the reeds by the river's edge. And his sister stood afar off to know what would happen to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along by the riverside. And when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her slavegirl to bring it to her. And she opened it, and she saw the child. And behold, a boy wept. And she had pity on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' sons."(AFV)
Instead of throwing the baby into the river directly, the mother decided to place him in an ark made of papyrus, having coated it with tar and pitch and then placed it in the river Nile. The baby’s sister stood among the reeds and watched over the baby in the basket. I believe that the baby’s mother put the child there after praying much and trusting that God would do the needful to save the baby. The setting was perfect, when Pharaoh’s daughter, the princess came along with her maidens to bathe in the river. On seeing this ark, her curiosity was aroused and they brought the ark to the princess, who on opening it found that there was a beautiful baby boy in it. When the baby cried, the princess heart melted and she understood that this was a Hebrew baby.
It is so amazing that God’s timing and ways are amazing. God was in control and it was the perfect time for the princess to come to the river, to see the ark and that the baby actually cried at that moment when she opened the ark. The princess was moved with compassion, though she realized that this was an Israelite baby who was doomed for death.
It was the princess who named the baby as Moses saying ‘I drew him out of water’. Baby Moses’ sister who was watching the baby, went speedily to the princess and offered to find a woman to nurse the baby. Moses’s sister brought her own mother to the princess, who handed over the baby to be taken care of until he was weaned.
The Lord expects us to do all that is possible for us to do on our part, just like Moses’s mother did. Those things which are beyond us, we can leave in God’s hands and He will handle those in His way. At the wedding at Cana, where Jesus was invited there was a lack of wine. The Lord commanded that the stone jars be filled with water, which when they served to the guests was turned to the most delicious wine. However, for that miracle to happen, Jesus did His part of turning water into wine, but the men also had to do their part of filling the jars with water.
The ways of God are always amazing and beyond us. Pharaoh planned to have all the Hebrew baby boys killed, but the Lord intervened to spare a baby born at that exact same time. Not only did God protect the baby, he made the princess take custody of the baby. Baby Moses was handed over to his own mother with full protection and his mother was probably given a wage to bring up the baby until he could be handed over to the princess. After Moses was a little older he was given over to the princess and was brought up as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter right in Pharaoh’s palace. Moses grew up as a prince in Pharaoh’s palace and when he was a grown man, God called Moses and used him to deliver his people from the cruel bondage of the Egyptians. Pharaoh had no clue that the one whom God would use to defeat him and deliver the great nation of Israel was being raised in his own palace.
Isn’t is astounding that God’s ways are mysterious and way beyond our understanding. They are plans that are far beyond human thinking and comprehension. God’s plans can never be defeated by any human strategy. God’s purposes will always prevail over every situation. It does not matter who opposes us, who speaks against us or falsely accuses us, or how dangerous our situation, God will step in to change our precarious situations to become those that are conducive to us.
We are again being reminded from Psalm 91:15, says,“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.” (AFV)
God did this for Moses, when He delivered him, saved him from trouble and later used him to subdue Pharaoh and honored Moses amongst all the people of Israel. If we cling on to this God and call unto Him, He will deliver us too from every troublesome circumstance that we are in, will bring peace in our turmoil and will certainly honor us in due time.
Pastor F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by Sis. Esther Collins
