I Live In Goshen
Scripture: Matthew 24:6-12; Genesis 45:9-10; Exodus 20:20-23
The title of my message this morning is “I Live in Goshen.” Now all of you know that I actually live in Lenexa, KS so I am not speaking of a physical address, but a mental one, a mindset. Based on my being a child of God, I think of myself as living in the land of Goshen alongside of the Children of Israel as they were waiting on God to deliver them out of Egypt.
If you recall from my message last week, I asked the question “Why are we so afraid.” I told you in that message that one of the drivers of hate is actually fear. Fear is an emotion that triggers other emotions with anger and hate being two of them. I told you that I believe the reason we are experiencing the anger and hate that we are seeing exhibited across the world from Christians is because many are afraid. Jesus said that, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12) When we read the first eleven verses, we find that the things we see happening in the world is the reason people are becoming afraid. I want to read verses six through ten from the Amplified Bible. We are going to see how fear leads to anger, how anger leads to hatred and how hatred leads to our love running cold. It reads, “(6) You will continually hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end [of the age]. (7) For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. (8) But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs [of the intolerable anguish and the time of unprecedented trouble]. (9) Then they will hand you over to [endure] tribulation, and will put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. (10) At that time many will be offended and repelled [by their association with Me] and will fall away [from the One whom they should trust] and will betray one another [handing over believers to their persecutors] and will hate one another. (Matthew 24:6-10) Then verse twelve from the Amplified Bible reads, “Because lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12)
If you backtrack from verse twelve to what precedes the love of many growing cold, you see that hardships elicit feelings of fear, which leads to anger and a spirit of self-protection, which in turn leads to more fear of being associated with Christ. And some Christians will walk away from Him and ultimately end up being filled with hate. We cannot stop what is coming, but we can establish now how we will respond to it. My response is to believe that “I live in Goshen.” In other words, my mentality is not focused on all of the bad things happening around me, even though some of it will impact me, but on my belief that I am under God’s care in the midst of those things. And, because I choose an “I live in Goshen” mentality, I will not default to fear, anger and hate as bad things continue to happen and expand all around me. We are seeing a lot of ungodly things happening in this country and in the world, and they are going to continue, and they are going to get worse. Now I want you to hear what I am about to say New Light. No amount of prayer is going to change the ungodly direction our nation and world are headed in. We need to get this settled in our hearts and minds. Jesus did not come to change the world. He came to save the world from eternal damnation. He came to give people an opportunity to choose Him and right now we are witnessing the choice they are making. And sadly, it isn’t Jesus. So, let’s talk a little about Goshen.
The land of Goshen is mentioned first in the book of Genesis and carries over into the book of Exodus. If you recall in the story of Joseph, which comprises the final thirteen chapters of Genesis, the patriarch Jacob is facing famine and sends ten of his eleven sons to Egypt to buy grain. Joseph, another of Jacob’s sons whom he thought was dead but had been sold into slavery by his brothers, was now in Egypt and second in command behind Pharaoh over all of Egypt. When Joseph brings his family into Egypt, he settles them in Goshen, so that they will be close to him. Genesis 45:9-10 records, “(9) Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay. (10) For you shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your grandchildren, and your flocks and your herds and all that you have.” Goshen is called “the best part” of the land of Egypt, and it was also somewhat set apart from the rest of Egypt, which worked in their favor years later. In Exodus, Jacob’s descendants, the Israelites, continued to live in Goshen (Egypt) and grew numerous. The name of Goshen appears only twice in Exodus. The narration of the Plagues of Egypt, which devastated Egypt but did not impact the Israelites, and those who lived among them in Goshen to the same degree, is what I want to focus on this morning.
At the time of the plagues, the Israelites were living as enslaved people in Egypt. They were undergoing a great deal of suffering and were crying out to God to save them from their cruel and inhumane life of bondage. God heard their cries and appointed Moses to lead them out of Egypt. Moses began by asking Pharaoh to release the Israelites, but he refused. It was in response to the Pharaoh’s refusal that God sent the 10 plagues that literally wiped out Egypt’s wealth and prosperity. The plagues, which some scholars believe lasted for 10 months, were intended to force Pharaoh’s hand and make him release the Israelites. Now the Israelites, as we know, were already suffering at the hands of Pharaoh, but when it comes to the ten plagues, they were not as impacted by them as the Egyptians were. Some of the plagues affected everyone to some extent, but there were others where God specifically proved His sovereignty over Pharaoh and his magicians when He specifically established boundaries for where the destruction would take place. These are the ones I want to call out this morning.
The first three plagues (blood, frogs and lice or gnats) and the sixth plague (boils) appear to have impacted everyone as the Scripture does not specifically state that Goshen and/or the Children of Israel were spared. We are not told why the Israelites were not spared from the first three plagues but I believe it was possibly because when God made the distinction between the Israelites and the Egyptians, it would be such a drastic changed that it would definitely prove a point. The fourth plague of flies is where God directs Moses to tell Pharaoh that He was going to show him how powerful He was. I also believe that God was sending a message to the Israelites demonstrating His power. It’s like the Lord was also saying to the Israelites, “Let Me show you how I am able to bless My people.” Up until this moment, Pharaoh had not witnessed a difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites but this plague would be different. Exodus 8:20-23 records, “(20) Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Rise early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh, as he comes out to the water; and say to him, this is what the LORD says: let My people go, so that they may serve Me. (21) For if you are not going to let My people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and on your servants and on your people, and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they live. (22) But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, in order that you may know that I, the LORD, am in the midst of the land. (23) I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will occur.’” During this plague there were no flies in Goshen. Now let’s look at the next plague where God spared His people.
In the fifth plague, God destroyed the livestock of the Egyptians, but not those of the Israelites. Exodus 9:1-7 records, “(1) Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and speak to him, this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews says: let My people go, so that they may serve Me. (2) For if you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them, (3) behold, the hand of the LORD will come with a very severe plague on your livestock which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks. (4) But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.’ (5) And the LORD set a definite time, saying, ‘Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land.’ (6) So the LORD did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but not one of the livestock of the sons of Israel died. (7) And Pharaoh sent men, and they learned that, behold, not even one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.” (Exodus 9:1-7) Can you imagine the Egyptians watching as their livestock, one by one, just suddenly dropped dead before their eyes? Imagine their reactions. They just saw the animals that they needed for their food, clothing, and livelihood collapse in front of them. And not only that, imagine how they reacted when they learned that the livestock of their slaves were alive. New Light, if the God of all creation, who is our Father, can protect His servants like He did here, don’t you think that He will do the same for His children today?
The seventh plague consisted of hail and I want you to see something here. Exodus 9:18-21 records, “(18) Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will send a very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. (19) So now, send word, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every person and animal that is found in the field and is not brought home, when the hail comes down on them, will die.’ (20) Everyone among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring his servants and his livestock into the houses; (21) but everyone who did not pay regard to the word of the LORD left his servants and his livestock in the field.” Some of the servants of Pharaoh had taken notice of the God of the Israelites. They had learned to fear Him and understood that He was able to do exactly what He said He would do. He was not like the quiet, immovable gods of Egypt. No, He was a physical force in the land, and they recognized Him. Those who feared God brought their servants and livestock in from the field to save their lives and those who did not fear God lost their livestock and servants. Now notice that this is their “replacement” livestock. All of their previous livestock had been destroyed in the fifth plague. So obviously they had purchased more livestock and those who feared the God of the Israelites had learned their lesson while those who didn’t fear God hadn’t and for the second time, lost their livestock along with some of their servants. But this was not so in the land of Goshen. Exodus 9:26 records, “Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, was there no hail.” New Light, I can’t help but ask myself if the Egyptians who lived near Goshen, took all of their cattle over into Goshen just to make sure that they would survive – and in doing so acknowledging the God of Israelites.
The eighth plague of locust finished off what was left remaining from the hail, but it appears that they also did not attack Goshen. Exodus 10:5 records “And they will cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They will also eat the rest of what has survived, what is left to you from the hail, and they will eat every tree of yours which grows in the field.” So it appears that once again Goshen was spared this plague, even though it is not specifically stated. But the wording of the verse strongly suggests that the locust did not enter Goshen. The ninth plague of darkness also did not affect the land of Goshen as it did the Egyptians. Exodus 10:21-23 records, “(21) Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Reach out with your hand toward the sky, so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt.’ (22) So Moses reached out with his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. (23) They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.” The darkness was so thick that you could actually feel it. Egypt was in total darkness, but Goshen had light.
The tenth plague was the worse, as all of the firstborn in Egypt perished. This included humans and animals. Again, no first born in the land of Goshen died because of the blood placed on their doorposts. The death angel “passed over” them on this night. Exodus 11:4-7 records, “(4) Then Moses said, ‘This is what the LORD says: about midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, (5) and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well. (6) So there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again. (7) But not even a dog will threaten any of the sons of Israel, nor anything from person to animal, so that you may learn how the LORD distinguishes between Egypt and Israel.’”
I want you to see something very clearly now. The first three plagues and the sixth plague impacted the land of Goshen along with Egypt. Because of this, especially the first three plagues, Pharaoh probably did not take notice of anything different between his people and the Israelites. However, when God made a clear distinction between the Egyptians and the Israelites, Pharaoh and the Israelites took notice. It was no longer happenstance, but a purposeful act by the living God! He made a powerful point with Pharaoh and the Israelites. With the earlier plagues, a point could be made that those were natural acts that happens in nature and affected everyone. However, when God made the distinction between His people and the Egyptians, it could no longer be claimed as a natural act and even some of Pharaoh’s servants began to fear God. With the other six plagues the Lord demonstrated His might by separating His people, who lived in Goshen, from those in Egypt, who were not His people. It is important to understand this because there are things that are going on around us that will have some impact on our lives because Jesus did not say that they wouldn’t. What He told us was that we had to make a decision about how we would respond. The Children of Israel lived in Goshen – a place that was eventually protected by the plagues that came upon every person and animal that lived in Egypt. As a child of God, my mentality is that I too live in the land of Goshen – a place under God’s protection.
This does not mean that I will not have to deal with harsh things and the troubles that impact everyone else around me. The fact that Jesus tells us how we need to prepare to respond to these things lets us know that we will be impacted. The fact that the love of many Christians will grow cold because of what will and is happening in the world today lets us know that we will be impacted. And again, I want to stress that no amount of praying is going to change the world – our prayers will change how we respond to the world. Our prayers can help other individuals who we are praying for respond to this world. But please understand, this world is going to get worse and worse until Jesus returns. Soon we will be attacked on all side because what will become normal for the world will be so out of place for us. If we are not prepared for that time we will find ourselves caught up in every battle that will come before us. New Light, this is not how we are to walk in this world! So my mindset is one of being under God’s protection and knowing that whatever I experience – good, bad or worse – that He has me, and I will not default to fear leading to anger leading to hatred. Jesus said in Matthew 24:13, “But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved.” Understanding God’s word and believing it is the first and the most crucial step to an “I live in Goshen” mentality. Do you believe that as the world gets worse you do not have to get worse with it? Do you believe that as the world fears more, you do not have to grow or walk in more fear with it? Are you living in Goshen mentally? Are your family members living in Goshen mentally? Are your friends living in Goshen mentally? Is your Church living in Goshen mentally? If we are not willing to have a mindset that God will provide for and take care of us as we living in these last days that will continue to get worse, then we will run the risk of responding to the world as the world responds to itself. I choose not to do this. New Light, I live in Goshen!
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
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