Souls in slavery.
Exodus 1:1 -- 7. 06/22/03
Moses is one of the most prominent men found in the Old Testament. He was truly a man of God. Even his obituary bears his greatness, it says, “there arose not-a -profit sense in Israel like unto Moses, whom the lord new face-to-face.” He was also the picture of the coming savior. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 18: 18, “I will raise them up a profit from among their brethren, like unto thee.”
Often times, if you are like me, when we read about a Bible character, we don’t think about them being of like passions as we are. But Moses lived in this world we live in and had the same struggles with the flesh as we do. If we continue our study with this man we will learn something about his struggles. Even though he struggled with the flesh and temptations as we do, he won the victory by the grace of God. So can we.
As we look at the circumstance of Israel in Egypt, it isn’t a pretty picture. But the picture is not unique. Books, like chapter one of exodus, can be written of man in every age. When man turns his back on God, one of the first things noted is his treatment of humanity.
I want us to talk about souls in slavery this morning. Here we are going to take a look at the Israelites, the people who will be led to freedom one day by Moses.
The first point of attention we want to discuss is THEIR PRESENCE IN EGYPT. Look at verse 1.
I suppose most all of us know something about the Jews presence in Egypt. Joseph, as you read in the book of Genesis was the favorite son of Jacob. He had other sons who did not appreciate the way Jacob showed partiality toward Joseph. As a matter of fact, they hated Joseph and decided to kill their brother Joseph. Instead, they sold Joseph to some slave traders who took Joseph to Egypt. He was the first of the Israelites to experience slavery in Egypt. But Joseph did not remain a slave. His slavery led to prison but he came out of prison to be the number two ruler and saved Egypt from being destroyed in a severe seven-year famine. This same famine brought Joseph’s Brothers to Egypt for food. This eventually led to Jacob and all his family in Canaan moving to Egypt to be under the care of Joseph.
Now what is the spiritual application here? I think it is obvious as we read the story of Joseph in Egypt. What started out as a tragedy, and meant for harm, ended up a great blessing. Have you noticed that God is a master at causing our dark circumstances to bring us great light? While there was famine in the land God protected Israel by placing them in Egypt. They ended up with some of the most fertile land down in Egypt. God knows where to put us to provide for our specific needs at the very time they are needed.
Not only noticed their presence in Egypt but also THEIR PRODUCTIVITY IN EGYPT. Look at verse 7. “And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.”
That was a fulfillment of a promise of God made to Jacob. In Genesis 46:3, the Bible says about Jacob, “I will there, make of thee a great nation.” I want you to underline the word there. There, was the place of fulfillment. In Jacob’s case, the there was down in Egypt.
In the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah was told to go down to the potters house to hear from God. Jeremiah was told, “there I will cause thee too hear my words.” Had Jeremiah not gone down to the potters house he would not have received the blessing of hearing God’s word.
Those who most often complain about coming up short on the blessings of God are the same ones who are not careful about being there in the place of blessing. Blessings are not apart from responsibilities. One of the responsibilities is to be there in the appointed place of blessing. It seems there are many Baptists who are aware of this fact. The there is the church, a place set aside to come together, bringing our worship with us and receive the blessings of God. The there may not necessarily be the place we want to go. We need to be there no matter our feelings when we are physically able. I get somewhat mixed feelings when I hear people who want the will of God for their life, the blessings of God and yet his “there” the church just once in a while.
We see not only their presence in Egypt, their productivity in Egypt but also THEIR POLLUTION IN EGYPT.
The Israelites multiplied so rapidly that they outnumbered the Egyptians. The Egyptians were afraid that if war came, the Israelites would turn against them and fight on the side of the enemy. So, they made slaves of people of Israel. They became under bondage.
I believe if they had maintained a strong stand in their faith in Egypt, things would have been different. But a great portion of Israel was polluted spiritually and morally. They were so caught up in the blessings of God that they allowed God’s blessings to draw them away from God’s plan for them. Isn’t that often the case? The things God allows us to have draw was away.
