Sunday
Morning Bible Study
November 18, 2007
Introduction
Our English title of this second book of the Bible is “Exodus”, which means
“a going out”. The first half of the book deals with the nation of Israel
“going out” of the land of Egypt.
We place the year that Israel
was delivered from Egypt
to be the year 1446 B.C. It’s a book about deliverance. We’re going to see a
people who have become slaves be set free. It’s about the birth of a nation. This
family of slaves will go through a process that turns them into a nation.
Exodus 1
:1-7 Israelites in Egypts
In verses 1-5, we have a short recap of the 70 Israelites that made it down
to Egypt…
:1 Now these are the names of the
children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with
Jacob:
:2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah;
:3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin;
:4 Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
:5 All those who were descendants
of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already).
:6 And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation.
:7 But the children of Israel
were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty;
and the land was filled with them.
We believe that when the time came for the Israelites to leave Egypt,
there were close to two million of them. That’s being fruitful! If you start with 100 people and have a 5%
growth rate, it only takes 215 years for a population to reach two million.
This is close to three hundred hears later.
:8-14 Israel
becomes enslaved
:8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt,
who did not know Joseph.
During these years, the nation of Egypt
was ruled over by various dynasties. After several hundred years, the good
reign of Joseph over the land had long been forgotten.
:9 And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel
are more and mightier than we;
:10 "come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it
happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against
us, and so go up out of the land."
shrewdly – chakam
– (Hithpael) to show oneself wise, deceive, show one’s wisdom
The Egyptians will move the
Israelites into being their slaves and take advantage of their labor potential,
yet at the same time they will also try and curb their population growth.
I find it interesting that they weren’t afraid of the Israelites conquering
and ruling over them. They were afraid they would leave.
This is a hint at Satan’s own
heart. He doesn’t want you to leave his
kingdom.
:11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their
burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.
afflict –
‘anah – (Piel) to humble, mishandle, afflict; be humiliated; weaken oneself
This is the same word that was used
in the ancient prophecy given to Abraham hundreds of years earlier:
(Gen 15:13 NKJV) Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly
that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will
serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
burdens – c@balah
– burden, forced labor, compulsory service, burden bearing
Pithom – Pithom
– “the city of justice”
Raamses – Ra‘m@cec
– “child of the sun”
:12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.
And they were in dread of the children of Israel.
afflicted –
‘anah – (Piel) to humble, mishandle, afflict; be humiliated
in dread – quwts
– to feel a loathing at, abhor; to feel a sickening dread
:13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel
serve with rigor.
rigor – perek
– harshness, severity, cruelty
:14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage; in mortar, in
brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which
they made them serve was with rigor.
Lesson
Affliction can bring growth
:12 the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew
We’ve seen it historically in the church:
In the days of the early church, when persecution started the church didn’t
disappear, it grew.
We see it in countries like China
and Iran, where
it is not very safe to be a Christian, and yet the church hasn’t disappeared,
the church has grown.
We see it in the physical world.
Affliction can build strength. This is how weight training works – you work
to “afflict” your muscles through exercise, and they heal and grow back
stronger. A beginning guitar player will have a difficult time after a few days
of practice because their fingers become so tender from the guitar strings. But
if you keep playing, your fingers develop calluses and the muscles grow
stronger making it easier and easier to play.
We see it in our own spiritual, personal lives.
Paul writes,
(2 Cor 4:7-12 NKJV) But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
{8} We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but
not in despair; {9} persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not
destroyed; {10} always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. {11} For we who live
are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may
be manifested in our mortal flesh. {12} So then death is working in us, but
life in you.
Paul’s point is that the difficulties of life only cause
others to see less of us and more of Jesus.
For the Israelites, this time in Egypt
was compared to an iron furnace:
(Deu 4:20 NKJV) "But the LORD has taken you
and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt,
to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.
As Christians, our difficulties are compared to a gold furnace:
(1 Pet 1:6-7 NKJV) In this you greatly rejoice,
though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various
trials, {7} that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than
gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor,
and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
A furnace will heat the metal to a liquid state where the
impurities rise to the surface and are skimmed off. The difficulties in life do
this same kind of refining process in our lives, bringing all the crud to the
surface, showing us the areas where we need to let God work in our lives.
But to be honest, difficult times don’t always help people. Some people are
ruined by them. Some people become bitter, not better. Some people will walk
away from the Lord. Jesus talked about how different people respond to the work
of God in their lives and compared some people to a seed being planted in stony
ground:
(Mat 13:20-21 NLT) The rocky soil represents
those who hear the message and receive it with joy. {21} But like young plants
in such soil, their roots don't go very deep. At first they get along fine, but
they wilt as soon as they have problems or are persecuted because they believe
the word.
My question to you is – just how deep do you want to go
with the Lord? Are you here because you want God to take away everything that
makes you uncomfortable or are you here because you want God to help you grow
up?
A person with a severe headache can mask the pain with
painkillers. But if what they really need is surgery to remove a tumor, they
aren’t going to be healed by just masking the pain. They need surgery. Even if
it’s painful.
I think whether you grow or are crushed is a choice you
make. Will you choose to let God do whatever He needs to do through your
difficulty, or will you continue to demand that He makes you comfortable?
:15-22 Midwives and baby killing
:15 Then the king of Egypt
spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name
of the other Puah;
midwives – these were the gals who helped deliver the
babies when a mother went into labor.
These gals were probably just the head midwives, probably not the only
ones.
Shiphrah – Shiphrah
– “fair”
Puah – Puw‘ah
– “splendid”
:16 and he said, "When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew
women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill
him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
Daughters were allowed to live
because they could become wives to the Egyptians and assimilated into the
culture.
:17 But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt
commanded them, but saved the male children alive.
:18 So the king of Egypt
called for the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this thing,
and saved the male children alive?"
:19 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are
not like the Egyptian women; for they are lively and give birth before the midwives
come to them."
This may not be an outright lie. It’s possible that the Hebrew women gave
birth quickly because they were in better physical shape from all their hard
work. It’s also possible that the Hebrew midwives showed up a little slower
than they used to.
:20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied
and grew very mighty.
:21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, that He provided
households for them.
Lesson
Fearing God not man
I have to confess I’ve known people over the years who actually felt that
the midwives were bad people because they didn’t do what the Pharaoh asked them
to do, or else they were bad because they had lied.
What I see is that the bottom line is that these gals feared God more than
they feared the Pharaoh.
When Peter was arrested for telling people about Jesus, he was warned by
the Jewish leaders not to speak anymore about Jesus.
(Acts 5:29 NKJV) But Peter and the other apostles
answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men.
Jesus said,
(Mat 10:28
NKJV) "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
In America
we don’t often face the threat of death for doing the right thing. But we face
another kind of threat – the threat that people won’t like us, that we might be
rejected, unless we do what everyone else does.
Cigarettes and drugs – how many people start because there are
friends that pressure them?
Sex – though there are plenty of people who get caught in immoral
sex because they just want to, there are some who are very aware they want to
wait, but are teased because they’re still a “virgin”.
Abortion – A Los Angeles Times poll (3-19-89) found that most women choosing
abortion—at least 70 percent—say they believe abortion is immoral. In David
Reardon's book Aborted Women: Silent No More, one woman shares why she
had an abortion even though she felt it was wrong:
My family would not support my decision to keep my baby.
My boyfriend said he would give me no emotional or financial help whatsoever.
All the people that mattered told me to abort. When I said I didn't want to,
they started listing reasons why I should. I started feeling like maybe I was
crazy to want to keep it…I finally told everyone I would have the abortion just
to get them off my back. But inside I still didn't want to have the abortion.
Unfortunately, when the abortion day came I shut off my feelings. I was scared
to not do it because of how my family and boyfriend felt. I'm so angry at
myself for giving in to the pressure of others. I just felt so alone in my
feelings to have my baby.
Following Jesus – you may be coming to church because you sense
something drawing you and you have heard about this God who loves you so much. But
your friends tease you about becoming a Jesus freak. Who are you going to
listen to?
Are you faced with a decision of whether or not to do something God’s way
or the world’s way? Choose God’s way.
:22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is
born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save
alive."
Pharaoh understands that the midwives aren’t helping him out, so he enlists
the Egyptians to help him kill all the baby boys.
Note: the baby boys are supposed
to be thrown into the river.
Exodus 2
:1-10 Moses is born
:1 And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi.
The man was named Amram (cf. 6:20),
a grandson of Levi. His wife was named Jochebed.
:2 So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a
beautiful child, she hid him three months.
beautiful – towb
– good, pleasant, agreeable
In the book of Acts, Stephen tells
us
(Acts 7:20 NKJV) "At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God…
The writer of Hebrews tells us
(Heb 11:23 NKJV) By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden
three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and
they were not afraid of the king's command.
What Amram and Jochebed did in
hiding Moses for the first three months was an act of faith.
:3 But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for
him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the
reeds by the river's bank.
ark – simply the idea of a container, here most likely a basket.
She’s doing just what the Pharaoh ordered, she’s putting her baby boy in
the river. Except he’s in a floating, waterproof basket.
:4 And his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him.
Miriam was Moses’ older sister. She watches over her baby brother.
:5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river. And her
maidens walked along the riverside; and when she saw the ark among the reeds,
she sent her maid to get it.
:6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby
wept. So she had compassion on him, and said, "This is one of the Hebrews'
children."
:7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a
nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for
you?"
:8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the maiden went
and called the child's mother.
:9 Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and
nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the
child and nursed him.
Because of Miriam, Moses’ mother ends up getting to nurse her baby boy and
gets paid to do it. She would most likely be nursing Moses until he was 3-5
years old.
:10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he
became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, "Because I drew him
out of the water."
he became her son – some have suggested that this might have
actually put Moses in line to become the next Pharoah.
Moses – Mosheh – “drawn”; Moses is given a Hebrew name. It’s Pharaoh’s daughter that names
him.
Moses was raised in the court of Pharaoh. He was educated in the schools of
the Egyptians. Stephen tells us:
(Acts 7:22 NKJV) "And Moses was learned in all
the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.
:11-15 Moses kills an Egyptian
:11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went
out to his brethren and looked at their burdens.
Stephen tells us (Acts 7:23)
that Moses was forty years old at this time.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that
Moses was in the mindset of identifying with his true heritage:
(Heb 11:24-26 NKJV) By faith Moses, when he became of age,
refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, {25} choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of
sin, {26} esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt; for he looked to the reward.
It’s kind of like the Christian who
gets caught up in the lifestyle of the world.
They get caught up in living to make money. They get caught up in buying new cars, having
lots of stuff. Some get caught up in the
darker things of the world – addictions to things like drugs, alcohol, or sex.
At some point you have to make a
choice. Are you going to live for God or
are you going to live for the world?
What’s happening at this point in
Moses’ life is that he’s realizing that he would rather be ridiculed for being
a Christian than have all the treasures of Egypt.
:11 And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.
:12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed
the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
:13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were
fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, "Why are you striking
your companion?"
:14 Then he said, "Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you
intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" So Moses feared and said,
"Surely this thing is known!"
:15 When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses
fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land
of Midian; and he sat down by a
well.
Stephen gives us more insight again here:
(Acts 7:24-25 NKJV) "And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he
defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. {25}
"For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would
deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.
In a way, you could say that Moses was the savior they didn’t recognize…
Illustration
Mistaken Identity
Moses had the impression that it would have
been obvious that he was supposed to be the one to rescue his people from
slavery and oppression. The problem was, the people didn’t see it that way.
Moses thought that killing an Egyptian was a start at delivering his
people. But it didn’t work out that way.
Lesson
How to do the right thing
Moses is the right guy. He’s the one God will use to free the Israelites.
Moses is in the right place. These are God’s people and they need to be
delivered.
But Moses is doing it the wrong way.
Moses is coming with the wisdom, the power, and the wealth of Egypt.
But God isn’t going to use him until he finds the humility and poverty of
living in the wilderness.
At forty years old, Moses is known as being “mighty in words” (Acts 7:22).
At eighty years old, Moses complained that he was no
longer “eloquent” (Ex. 4:10).
At forty years old, Moses wanted to do it all by himself, making sure that
no one was watching as he killed the Egyptian (Ex. 2:12).
At eighty years old, Moses cried out that he wouldn’t go
any further unless God was with him (Ex. 33:15).
At forty years old, Moses was known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. (Heb.
11:24)
At eighty years old, Moses was known by his humility.
(Num. 12:3)
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t do things with wisdom and intelligence.
I am wondering whether or not we ever stop to ask if we are depending on
our own strength or upon God’s.
God wouldn’t deliver Gideon (Judg. 6-7) from the Midianites until he cut
his army from 12,000 down to 300. God wanted to make it clear to the world that
He had done the work, not Gideon.
Who are you depending upon? Who are you counting on? Put your hope in God.