September 8, 2006

WHEN ISRAEL WAS IN EGYPT’S LAND

Exodus 1:1-2:10

I have a question for you this morning. It is a question that you are required to answer over and over, every day of your life. Your answer to this question will do more to shape your life, actions and personality than any other single thing. Are you ready? Here is the question. CAN GOD BE TRUSTED? Tuck that away for now. We’ll come back to it.

Today we are launching into a new study; what will be our major sermon series for this new ministry year. There are three men of God who stand head and shoulders above the rest in the Old Testament. They stand out for their larger than live characters, for their impact on their nation and upon history. They stand out for the sheer volume of Sacred text that is devoted to their story, and also for the number of references to them in the New Testament. Those three men, of course, are Abraham, Moses and David. I have preached sermon series on Abraham and on David. But I have never preached a series of messages on Moses.

So that is what we are going to do in our messages this year. I am going to focus on the narrative sections of Exodus through Deuteronomy, books 2-5 of the Pentateuch. The chapters we will be studying tell the story of the formative events of Israel’s story. These are the traumatic, dramatic, exciting events that brought the nation of Israel into existence and established its corporate identity.

Every nation has its story. This story becomes part of the national identity and is part of what binds a nation together and gives a sense of cohesiveness and unity. As an American, I was raised on stories of America’s history: Christopher Columbus, the Mayflower and the early Pilgrims, the Boston Tea Party and the Revolutionary War, the Declaration of Independence and George Washington at Valley Forge. Those stories give me a sense of what it means to be an American. You all come from different nations, but your nations also have a story, and that story has not only shaped your nation. It has shaped you and your perception of yourself and your place in the world as an Indian, or a Canadian, or a South African. So it was with Israel. Down through Israel’s history, if you were to ask any Israelite what it meant to be an Israelite, without question, he would soon have been telling you the story of the Exodus and the nation’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt.

As the story unfolds, we will find that there are actually three main characters who will draw our attention. The first, obviously, is Moses himself. The second main actor on the stage is the nation of Israel. As a group they assume a corporate identity and they make choices and decisions that have very real and drastic consequences.

The third main character in the drama is God. Actually, if I were choosing, I would say that he is the MAIN main character. The story of the Exodus is truly His Story, the record of his actions in forming and delivering the nation of Israel, providing for them, revealing himself to them and leading them to the promised land. And he says it so clearly. “I will do these things so that they will know that I am the LORD.

Let’s get into the story. I am glad that Pastor Joe has done a great job of setting the stage for this series through his semons on the life of Joseph, from the last 14 chapters of the Book of Genesis. Because Exodus simply picks right up where Genesis leaves off. And these are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt… He gives the names of the sons, and their number, and then he states: Now Joseph and all that generation died.

The descendants of Jacob were all now in Egypt. Egypt was a perfect “God-designed” womb in which this family of seventy some people could become a nation. First, when they were tiny, they had a favored status under Joseph. They were settled in one of the most fertile areas for grazing cattle, where they could not only survive but thrive. On top of that, they were protected from the threat of assimilation, because the Egyptians disliked foreigners, and refused to allow them assimilate. I am not going to say that there was no impact of Egyptian culture on the Israelites. But it was limited, and they remained a separate and distinct ethnic and cultural identity within the nation of Egypt. That was God’s plan.

So what do you think happened in that “womb”? Exactly what you expect to happen in a womb. Look at verse 7: But the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous so that the land was filled with them.

Do you remember what God promised Abraham, way back in Ur of the Chaldees? In Genesis 12:3, he said, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you.” He says it again in Genesis 15:5: He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.” The he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And Abram believed God. Now, here in Exodus 1:7, God is fulfilling that promise as the nation multiplied and filled the land. God is keeping his promise! He is carrying out his plan!

But there is one constant of the Biblical record. It is a sobering one. It is one we need to keep in mind. Whenever God works, and wherever God works, Satan opposes him. The path of God’s kingdom’s growth is never smooth and trouble free. There is always opposition. So it is for the nation of Israel, even while they were still in the womb. (Read Ex. 1:8-11)

Pharaoh is threatened by the multiplication of God’s people. But notice what happens in spite of his strategy of oppression: (verse 12) But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread.

When this strategy didn’t work, Pharaoh turned up the heat. He made their work even harder. Not only that, but he instructed the Hebrew midwives to control their population growth through infanticide, killing any baby boys at birth. This strategy was thwarted when the midwives refused to carry out his commands. The result? So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. (verse 20)

Remember that principle from a moment ago? Whenever God works, Satan opposes him? Well here’s the other side of the story that we must also keep in mind. Satan’s opposition cannot prevent God from fulfilling his plan. God was intent on growing a nation. No matter what Satan (through Pharaoh) attempted, God moved his plan forward. The nation continued to grow and to multiply.

Those are twin truths that we need to keep always in front of our eyes as we engage in God’s work, as we seek to live out his will in our lives. It will never be easy. Satan will always oppose the work and will of God. Problems and difficulties will arise. But Satan’s opposition cannot prevent God from fulfilling his plan.

Exodus 2:1-10 records a story that has long been a favorite of children, of Sunday School classes, and Bible story books. It is the story of the birth of Moses. In this harsh environment in which all Egyptians have been commanded to throw Hebrew baby boys into the Nile river, a young Hebrew couple gives birth to a child. It is no doubt with a real mixture of emotions that they discover their newborn child is a boy. But with divine courage and parental love, they seek to secret the child away from harm. For three months they succeed in concealing him in their home. But as he grows, his cries become louder and the threat of discovery is more intense. Now they face the risk of endangering the rest of the family if they are discovered.

And so careful preparations are made. I admit to being rather uncertain as to their strategy here. Did they indeed plan on the baby being discovered by Pharaoh’s daughter? More likely, I think they are complying with the letter of the law (putting the baby in the Nile), yet in a secure little boat made of reeds and covered with pitch. Maybe they intended only to hide him in this way during daylight hours while bringing him into their home at night. We can’t be sure. But with gentle hands and pounding heart and more than a few tears, the baby is placed in the boat and hidden among the reeds along the bank of the river. His older sister (from later Scripture, we know her name to be Miriam) was assigned the task of keeping watch.

The drama is at its height. The suspense of the story is finely balanced. Pharaoh’s daughter comes down to the river. Whether this is her regular custom and her regular place, we do not know. Whether she has come to do a ritual ablution to the Nile as one of Egypt’s many gods, or whether she came simply for a cooling dip in the water, we do not know. She did not come alone, but with her usual retinue of attendants. We can imagine the rapid beating of Miriam’s little heart, as there is a cry of discovery. Pharaoh’s daughter points toward the little basket and commands one of her slave girls to fetch it. When she opens the basket, she discovers the little baby, crying his eyes out. Her heart melted, and she gently lifted the baby from the basket. She recognizes the baby as a Hebrew. She is surely aware of the command for such babies to be killed. But she resolves to disobey her father and exert her royal privilege. She will keep this baby! In fact, she will adopt it!

At this point in the story, a young girl does a very brave thing. Miriam approaches the princess. With fear and trembling, she nonetheless speaks out: “Your highness, would you like me to find a Hebrew woman who will be able to breastfeed the baby for you?”

Surprised, but pleased at this offer, the princess responds, “Yes, do as you have suggested.” Miriam runs! Guess where she goes? Straight to her own (and Moses’ own) mother. Together they rush back to the river bank. There the deal is sealed and the contract is made. “Take this baby and nurse him for me. I will pay you well.”

Can you imagine the rejoicing in that home that evening? Not only did they have their precious son back with them, but the long nights of anxiety and hushing the crying baby were at an end. The awful fear of his being cast headlong into the river if discovered was gone. With Pharaoh’s daughter’s protection, they could move about freely. Their baby was safe. There were difficult days ahead, There would come the day when he was weaned and old enough to go and live at the palace. But for now, he was safe and he was theirs to love and cherish.

Let’s step back from the canvas, and the details of this wonderful story, and consider the wider sweep of what is taking place. God is at work. He is forming a nation. From that nation he will single out one tribe and from that tribe he will raise up a dynasty from the descendants of David. From that dynasty will come the Messiah, who will save his people from their sins.

This chosen nation has now been formed and grown in the womb. It is almost time for it to be born. God now moves in history to provide the human leader, the deliverer who would lead his people to freedom. He is born a Hebrew, in a Hebrew home. But he will be raised in Pharaoh’s own palace with all the advantages of culture and education that such an upbringing can provide. Only God could put such a plan together! So this is a divine story of God at work.

But it is also a very human story. That is why we are so fascinated by it. Real people with real emotions, who trust God and through whom God is able to work to carry out his plan; The midwives, Moses’ parents, Miriam. Now here is the question I want to address. What is the link between the Divine element and the human element in this story? What creates that essential spark, by which the power of God is released into this very human story?

That essential link is something the Bible calls faith. What is faith? Do you remember that question I asked you at the beginning of the message? Can God be trusted? Faith is answering YES to that question. The faith of the midwives is clear right here in the text in regard to the midwives. Look at verse 17: The midwives however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Lots of people want to stop here and talk about the ethics of the midwives in their answer to Pharaoh. I am going to leave that as a little riddle for you to ponder and figure out. That’s not what the Biblical writer focuses on. They feared God. And lest we miss the point, he says it again in verse 21: And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. To fear God is one of the manifestations of faith. It means to believe in him and take him at his word, and place him above all other authorities and fears in our life. Thus they chose to obey him rather than the Pharaoh’s awful command.

The ingredient of faith is also clearly spelled out in terms of Moses’ parents, this time in the New Testament, in Hebrews 11:23: By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. Once again their faith in God was the link to God’s working through them. That same faith is the key link if we want God to work in and through us. From this story, let’s look at three areas in which we can rest our faith and thus “live by faith.”

1. Faith in God’s promises.

I’m not sure how aware the Israelites, particularly Moses’ parents and the midwives were of their own spiritual history. But we are. Let’s look at the promise of God in Genesis 15:12-16. (Read) This is God’s promise to Abraham to bring his descendants out of a strange land. It is made even more clearly to Jacob in Genesis 46:3-4. (Read)

As difficult as things were in Egypt, the promise of God was still an absolute rock for his people to stand on if they only would. Can God be trusted to keep his promises? Faith answers YES!

2. Faith in God’s plan.

This cannot really be separated from the previous one. God’s promises are often very clear, but his plan is sometimes obscure. We don’t see how God is going to do it. But as we see the unfolding of God’s plan in Genesis and then Exodus, we cannot doubt that he has a plan and that it is a great plan. It is often the same in our lives. We may be clinging to the promises of God, and have no clue how God is going to fulfill them. Imagine the Israelites as they suffered under the slave master’s whip. “Some plan, God!” they might have cried. But there was a plan and the plan was moving forward, even though they couldn’t see it. Does God have a plan and is it a good plan? Can God be trusted? Faith answers YES!

3. Faith in God’s providence.

This one puts the previous two together. God makes promises. God has a plan. Providence includes the steps whereby God arranges the circumstances to fulfill his plan and keep his promises. The story of Moses’ birth is a wonderful story of God’s providence to protect the baby and bring him up in an environment that would prepare him for the task that lay ahead. Is God able to accomplish his plan in the everyday details of life? Can God be trusted? Faith answers YES!

What’s going on in your life? Trouble adjusting to life in Abu Dhabi? Are you wondering why he brought you here? Are you having problems at work? Does it feel like your family is falling apart? Does your life seem increasingly complex and just plain difficult? Maybe you feel like you are shaping mud into bricks down in some pit in Egypt. No one ever said it would be easy. And that is where our need for faith comes in: Faith in his promises, faith in his plan, and faith in his providence. CAN GOD BE TRUSTED? Life asks the question. Faith answers YES!