Started 6/30/90, Added to, 1/8/91 - 1/10/91, worked on, January
29, 1992
Started teaching, apl, 93
Egypt itself
Egypt's land
Joseph's marriage
Egypt's prosperity
I do not know why, but I have procrastinated starting at the beginning, doing a study in this book. This is wrong because Exodus is probably the most important foundation book of the Christian faith.
The modern church of our day considers themselves NT churches; therefore, they see no purpose in studying the OT. Especially anathema to them are the books of the law. The result of cutting themselves off from the OT is that they do not understand the basic premiss of the Christian faith as given in the law and acted out in the lives of the OT saints.
I am always amazed that people living in immorality are now accepted procedure by many professed Christians and is overlooked by most Churches. Something is desperately wrong when people who profess Christ can live, talk and look like the world, and the Spirit not deal with them. It is a sign of the evil age in which we live.
But more than that: it is a sign of God's judgment as well as a sign of the shallowness of the teaching of the word of God. When people can attend a preaching service and still feel comfortable in their worldliness, something desperately wrong with their heart and/or with the church.
I would like to start in Genesis, but we will not. It is a book of history, full of action and a great deal of practical application. It contains the beginning of all things: the world, all life, sin and death, as well as the beginning of the Christian religion. And all of this within the first 3 chapters. The entire Bible, as well as the history of the world, is based upon these three chapters.
These five books, of which Exodus is the second, are amazing in the fact that they are written by a man named Moses. As we see in Exodus 3, Moses' only qualification was an involuntary, reluctant surrender to the will of God.
The Exodus of Israel from Egypt into Canaan was from slavery into freedom; thus, Exodus speaks of victory even in the face of overwhelming odds. The word Exodus is carried over into the NT where it implies victory for the people of God, not defeat. Paul says it like this: Oh, death where is thy sting, oh grave where is thy victory?
Exodus is written as a continuation of the book of Gen after about a 350 - 400 year gap.
1 Cor. 10:1-12, gives us the reason for these historical records of the nation of Israel. The founding fathers of our faith passed through many trials and tribulations which are recorded for us for our instruction, so we will not fall into the same trap that they did.
Vs. 6-10, we see from this passage several reasons why their record is preserved for us:
1. That we should not lust after evil things as they did.
2. That we should not be idolaters as some of them were.
3. That we should not commit fornication as some of them did.
4. That we should not tempt Christ as some of them did.
5. That we should not murmur as some of them did.
The most obvious and complete record that we have of their trials and tribulations is the Book of Exodus. We find the reason for the complete record of these things which happened to our fathers in v. 11.
We cannot cut ourselves off from this record of God's dealing with His people without falling into the five things mentioned in vs. 6-10.
What things? to who?
The things that happened to the children of Israel. See also Romans 15:4.
It is significant who Paul is saying this to. He is telling this to the church at Corinth in his first letter to them.
This was the church that was accepting fornication and all other kinds of wickedness, with no remorse or even concern.
It was a church that was tolerating sin of the most wicked kind. The indication in chapter 10 is that they were tolerating sin because they were not studying the OT law and prophets, particularly the history of the children of Israel.
It was a church that had lost its zeal and had gone to sleep, 15:34. (See my message in 1 Cor. 13, and the a partial list of 30 evils mentioned in that Book.)
Paul tells them that the reason these things happened to the children of Israel and we now have a record of these things is to prevent us from falling into the same sin. Therefore, we cannot emphasize enough the importance of studying and knowing this record.
APPLICATION:
No doubt this is a major reason that there is so much worldliness in the church today: in spite of Paul's instruction to Timothy (2Ti 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness), the Books of Moses and what happened to the children of Israel are not studied as inspired Christian doctrine for our day. Rather, these books are seen as interesting historical facts to draw a few spiritual lessons from. Worldliness is a nice name for wickedness and sin, and it is the natural result of ignoring these OT instructions which were given to us.
In addition, we cannot count the number of times that Moses, the Exodus from Egypt, the giving of the law, the wilderness journey and the many other things, are mentioned by our Lord and the NT authors. Every book in the NT makes these references.
As we have said many times, it is impossible to understand the teaching of the NT, Christ's included, without understanding these basic books of the law. Everything Christ said and did, everything Paul preached, as well as every word uttered by the rest of the NT authors, is based on what is established in these books. When these books are not studied and developed, any doctrine which is pleasing to the ear can be taught from the NT because it loses its context.
Not only is the NT based in these books, but so is all the rest of the OT, from Joshua through Malachi. The prophets prophesied, and the psalmists wrote according to what the Lord established through Moses here in his 5 books.
All of the major Christian doctrines are presented there. As we saw when we went through the book of Hebrews, the Exodus, the wilderness journeys and the entrance into the promised land of Canaan, is a type of the Christian life. All of the NT doctrine must be understood in the light of Moses' books. A through knowledge Moses' books is required in order to understand the position we have in Christ.
Exodus covers the most important period of time in OT history, not only for Israel, but for the Church of all times. Exodus gives us the birth of the nation of Israel. Through the shedding of the blood of the lamb, God causes a new nation to come forth. He then leads them to the Holy Mount to be set aside as a holy nation unto Himself. They are set aside by ordinances, laws, and judgments. Exodus follows this nation which Jehovah God bought with the lives of the first-born of Egypt as He deals with them in judgment and mercy.
Edersheim, in his OT history, said:
In all this we see not only the history of the ancient people of God, but also a grand type of the redemption and the sanctification of the Church. There is yet another aspect of it, since this narrative exhibits the foundation of the Church in the Covenant of God, and also the principles of Jehovah's government for all time. For, however great the difference in the development, the essence and character of the covenant of grace are ever the same. The Old and New Testaments are essentially one--not two covenants but one, gradually unfolding into full perfectness, "Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone" of the foundation which is alike that of the apostles and prophets, Eph. 2. 20. (Vol II, p 3.)
Thus we see that Exodus is a key book of our faith. It records: 1) the birth of the people of God as a nation through the blood-sacrifice which speaks so clearly of Christ; 2) the law of the covenant and its applications, and 3) God's dealings with His people through His covenant, both is mercy and in judgment.
The NT only expanded and explained the position of the new believers in Christ, all with the assumption of a good understanding of the law, prophets and the Psalms.
Exodus is the first stage of the fulfillment of the covenant-promises of God given to Abraham and passed down to his descendants. We live in the latter stage of the fulfillment.
Exodus covers a period of 350-400 years, starting with the close of Genesis, death of Joseph, and continues to the building of the tabernacle a year after the departure from Egypt.
[Klassen, in his Chronology of the Bible (Regal Publishers, 961 Woodland Street, Nashville, TN 37206), pg. 19 gives this account:
Seeing as how this is one of the most important events of our faith, let's look a little at Egypt. This is my weakness; finding out of the circumstances around some situation in the Scriptures. And really, the more important the 'happening,' the more important the circumstances which surround it.
Edersheim points out that all history is servant to God.
The world was at its peak of power and wisdom when Moses was called, when Israel was brought out of Egypt, when Jerusalem was rebuilt under Babylon (God used the pagan king to finance Jerusalem's rebuilding), when the new Gospel of Christ came upon the scene and when the apostles took the gospel world-wide.
Greek Thought was the predominant thought in the days of the Lord, and the world of the NT believed that there was no wisdom outside of Greek. But God took 12 men from Galilee (see notes in Isaiah 9) who were considered ignorant in the eyes of man, and ground all Greek wisdom to powder. God overturned the wisdom of this world for His own glory. Egyptian thinking was the peak in Moses' time, yet God took Moses with all of Egypt's learning and destroyed Egypt.
Today: The wisdom of this world appears to be in total control as they seek to stamp out the covenant people (as did Egypt and Rome), yet in the fullness of time, God will bring it all down as though it were nothing but powder and chaff on the threshing floor, 1 Cor. 1:27-2:5, etc.
In both Exodus and in the NT, we see that the greatest triumph of God through His people is when the world's power is at its peak, and the oppression against His people is the greatest.
Can we expect any less today? While history appears to be perusing its independent course totally contrary to God, God is working to overturn it all and He will use all history for His Divine purpose and glory. Exodus illustrates this beautifully. Secular, anti-God, anti-Christ history is a servant of the Most High God. (And by anti, we mean at war against God no matter where that war is found, even in the pulpits.)
Moreover, with both the Gospel under pagan Rome and Exodus under pagan Egypt, God's deliverance took place in the most conspicuous manner possible. As Paul pointed out to king Festus, God did not work His marvelous deliverance in a corner where no one could see them, but in the open where the whole world could see the humiliation of the world's powers.
This deliverance from Egypt was very well known. Remember what Rahab told the spies 40 years latter in Joshua 2:10?
To better understand the significance of what took place in this Exodus, we need to understand a little about Egypt. When we think of Egypt today, we think of a poor backwards nation, actually a third-world power living on welfare (grants from the US and the from the Soviets as each seeks to purchase their loyalty), and struggling along to get into the stream of modern world events.
The connection of Israel with Egypt started with Abram's first visit (when he lied about his wife). A document currently in the British Museum, called THE TWO BROTHERS, shows us that Abram had just cause to fear for his wife. In this document (the oldest known document of fiction), there is a story of a Pharaoh who sent two armies to take a fair woman from her husband and then murdered him.
There are 30 dynasties, or rules, accounted for in Egyptian history, giving us a history down to 343 B.C. From the evidence on the monuments in Egypt, we learn that the country in the 12th dynasty (which lasted for 200 years) obtained to a very high state of prosperity and civilization. As for the culture and civilization of ancient Egypt, Edersheim says that it would "be difficult to form to high an estimate." Bro. Hannel pointed out in his Seminar that Egypt had the knowledge of batteries and battery powered lights.
At the start of the 12th. dynasty, it is believed Abraham visited Egypt. About 200 years latter at the close of the 12th, or the start of the 13th, Joseph came and ruled. From the 13th to the start of the 18th, another period of about 200-300 years, Egyptian history is almost blank.
This blank period of rule was covered by what was known as the HYKSOS or Shepherd Kings, although Keil denies their existence. These were a hated, opposed, foreign and barbarous race of invaders. These rulers were probably Semitic who brought with them the worship of Baal and the practice of human sacrifice.
(Joseph)
This brings up an interesting point, Joseph's marriage to the daughter of the Priest of On, Gen. 41:45. The priest was probably a near relative to Pharaoh. "How could Joseph, the most devout servant of the Most High God, marry a pagan princes?"
Adam received the gospel from God. From Adam it went down through the godly line of Seth, preserved in Noah (who preached the gospel of righteousness for the 120 years he was working on the Ark). Furthermore, Paul tells us that the gospel is presented clear enough in creation that the pagans are without excuse.
Egypt was settled by the son of Ham, Mizraim, Gen. 10.6. Noah lived after the flood 350 years. Thus Abraham and Noah were alive at the same time for 58 years. Shem lived 502 years after the flood, and was still living when Jacob deceives his father and fled to Laban. Jacob is about 50 when Shem dies.
All of that to say this. According to the secular historical records, the gospel which was preached by Noah and continued on through the line of Shem, appears to have remained the purest for the longest period of time in the land of Egypt. Egypt, before the invasion of the HYKSOS with their Baal worship, basically believed the same thing about their 'Unknown God' which they worshiped, as Joseph believed about the Lord God. Egypt worshiped an unknown god who was very similar to Jehovah God. Thus it would have taken very little instruction on Joseph's part to convert the daughter of the pagan priest. Furthermore, there is a good possibility that Joseph converted her father and Pharaoh himself.
But, as we pointed out, Egypt was invaded after Joseph was gone and for 200 years suffered under pagan Baal worshipers. By being shepherds, these pagan kings evidently had had a good relationship with Israel in the land of Canaan before Israel came into Egypt. Apparently they had also showed kindness to Israel's children after they conquered Egypt.
Exodus 1:8-10, indicates the Egyptians had overthrown these pagan kings and reinstalled a native king. Their new king knew Egyptian history and what Joseph had done, but the Egyptian's alarm over Israel's strength far outweighed any remaining respect for Joseph. 350 years after Joseph, the Hebrews in Goshen are viewed with alarm that they would unite with the disposed and despised 'Shepherd Kings,' the despised Shepherd Kings would retake the throne and Israel would return to Canaan.
Egypt's answer to the problem of Israel's might in numbers is arrived at in Ex. 1:10. Egypt decides to afflict the Hebrews, hoping to weaken them enough to prevent such a thing from taking place.
Pharaoh then used the Hebrews to fortify his land against the possible invasion, Ex. 1:11.
Note something of interest here:
God knew that His covenant-people would not be strengthened
under a religious system close to their's (the early Egyptian),
so He raised up a system that was in mortal combat against the
truth (the Baal worshiping Shepherd kings).
This was the same problem with the Judaism of Paul's day. The
closer the false religion is to the truth, the harder it is to
stand against. Therefore for the protection of the new church,
God had to destroy Judaism.
This is the same today. The closer that the false and destructive ideas of humanism are to the truth, the more deadly it is. Prosperity and toleration (religious freedom and support from the state) has destroyed Christianity.
Throughout history, God has changed humanistic Christianity to what it actually is: paganism to the core. Only by reducing paganized Christianity to what it actually is will the Child of God see it for what it is. It will take the fire of a pagan state's oppression of the covenant-people to mold them into a world-conquering fighting force.
Note: An army of physical numbers of God's people will not prevail with physical might of the pagan world any more than did these Hebrews over Egypt with their physical might. Righteousness will not be voted in; it will be brought in by the Spirit of God through the preaching of the total of God's word.
"But," the argument might be, "How about the physical war to take Canaan?" To which we must say that the Book of Hebrews points out that Canaan was a picture of our entering into the rest that is for us in Christ. Cf. ch. 4.
The history of Egypt as recorded on the monuments indicate that the Exodus takes place under THOTHMES II. His reign began very brilliantly, then suddenly all record of him stops. Then the monuments record a general revolt of the nations his father had conquered, including the ones in the land of Canaan. THOTHMES II is left with no son to take the throne, so from a prosperous reign there is a total collapse. Because THOTHMES II had no son, the throne is taken by his widow, a proud and bitterly superstitious woman. (Which fits in with the events recorded here in Exodus.)
Egypt had controlled and ruled Canaan for many years. Egypt's collapse as a result of the plagues upon it left Canaan in a very disoriented way. They had no organized armed might because Egypt had subdued all of that, and there was no need. Canaan had not yet fallen apart into small independent city-states the first time Israel sent the spies. But by the time 40 years went by, Canaan had dissolved into small independent city-states which allowed Israel to easily conquer them.
The River Nile and its regular overflowing, kept the area along the river extremely fertile.
The land was like a well-watered garden under the tropical sky and conditions couldn't be better for raising all kinds of produce. This meant that Egypt had plenty even in the time of famine of the rest of this area of the world. Egypt would have been the 'garden state' of the then known world. In fact, the fertility of Egypt's Nile valley is surpassed only by the fertile valleys of California.
This brought Abram, Isaac and Joseph down into Egypt from Canaan when the famine was bad in their home land.
But the water was not from rain but from the annual overflow of the Nile. It had to go out of its banks at least 24 ft. at Cairo for the harvest to be good. The Lord reminded Israel of this need of the Nile's water when He told them of the rain He would send upon Canaan in response to their faithful serving of Jehovah God. Israel was continually tempted to look back on Egypt with longing, Deut. 11:10.
Egypt was separated into Upper and Lower, and at times the two were combined under one Pharaoh through strength or intermarriage. One of the symbols for the land of Egypt (Upper) was a bent read, referred to in such passages as 2 Kgs. 18:21; Isa. 36:6; Ex. 29:6. Lower Egypt bore the title of 'bee' in Isa. 7:18. Some feel that the hornet is a reference to Egypt which destroyed Canaan for Israel. De 7:20 Moreover the LORD thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed. Jos 24:12 And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, [even] the two kings of the Amorites; [but] not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
Scriptural history has to do primarily with Lower Egypt, the southern part. The monuments are primarily in Upper Egypt.
The closing years of Israel's stay in Egypt would have found them peaceful, prosperous and probably well assimilated with the Egyptians around them.
To say the least, the covenant-people of God who had spent hundreds of years in this paradise of the ancient world would have had a tremendous amount of Egypt in them from which they had to be separated. It took 40 years of wilderness wanderings to make the separation, and then it was not complete. In fact, a new generation had to be raised up apart from all of the splendor of Egypt.
Will there have to be a new generation of Christians raised up apart from all the worldly splendor of modern culture to reclaim the promises of God? I am inclined to think this is true and that this is the reason the Lord will bring about a collapse of Western Culture.
THE PURPOSE
Edersheim says that Israel was in Egypt 350 years, which was, as we mentioned, a period almost totally blank of any record, either Sacred or secular.
God saw the sons of Jacob needing what could only be met in the fires of the furnace of Egypt. He saw that they could not live among the pagan Canaanites without becoming pagans themselves, so He brought about world events to force Israel into Egypt. Here in the fires of afflictions they would learn what was needed that they might inherit the promise made to Abram, the land of Canaan.
Note that this learning was over an extended period of time, not just one generation or so. We want to learn it all now so the Lord can use us in a mighty way now. Here it was at least 400 years from the promise to the fulfillment, and great trials between that made it look like the Lord had forgotten.
God tells Israel (Jacob) to fear not to go into Egypt because there he will become a great nation, Gen. 46:2. Then the Book of Exodus opens with an account of the greatness of this nation, Ex. 1:7. The Lord had also promised the oppression and servitude of Abram's descendants, Gen. 15:13-16. But just a sure as was this promise of oppression, was the promise of deliverance when God's time was right.
Oppression was necessary in Israel's life. Without it the nation of Israel would not have developed past the nomadic shepherd stage to a civilized cultured nation. (Now we are not even hinting that culture can develop apart from Christianity. It cannot.)
Egypt forced Israel to become highly civilized in that they had to learn to read, calculate, plan and organize, as well as to learn every trade imaginable in order to build as they were forced to do as slaves in Egypt. The very thing Israel was forced as slaves to do was the means of their deliverance and latter prosperity.
Over the centuries that Israel stayed in Egypt, he experienced a major change in life-style. A.E. points out that the patriarchs had possessed camels, but now there is no reference to them. The nomadic life was taken out of them, replaced by the domestic life needed for a nation to conquer a land. Later Biblical record states that Israel learned skills as carpenters, weavers of fine Egyptian linen and as potters. A nation needs these skills (and hundreds more) which a nomad as Abram and the 12 patriarchs would have no need for.
Here Israel was forced to learn and develop skills; he learned to work with his hands, build and to develop agriculture. Israel would never have been self-sufficient and able to build Canaan if he had not been oppressed Egypt.
According to Greek historians, Egypt boasted that in their great works only captives and slaves were used, never their own people. Therefore, a very large portion of the knowledge, skill and industry of Egypt when it was the world-power was transfused to Israel. Then when Israel left, the knowledge and wealth left with him. After the Exodus, Egypt was left an extremely poor country; it took many years for Egypt to regain its skill, industry and wealth.
According to Josephus, the Egyptians had grown lazy and delicate and they looked upon the Hebrews with ill favor because of Israel's natural love for hard work which caused them to prosper. He also says that this contributed to Egypt becoming very abusive toward Israel. The result is that Egypt "forced them to learn all sorts of mechanical arts, and to accustom themselves to hard labor."
Israel would probably never been more than a band of shepherds without this experience in Egypt. It is certain that he would have not learned the skill to build the beautiful Tabernacle, to rebuild Canaan, and latter to build Solomon's Temple without the skill and industry learned in Egypt under oppression. Nor would he have had the enormous wealth to dedicate to Jehovah God if it had not been for this terrible oppression.
(We will cover this more when we get to it, but how willing would we be to give to God what we earned as an oppressed slave?)
The oppression also forced Israel to call upon the Lord and claim His promised deliverance in the midst of the 'paradise' which he had become so secure and comfortable with, as well as intermingled in.
ALARM
During this period from the end of Gen. to the opening of Exodus, the children of Israel was blessed by God with a rapid increase.
The new rulers which took over after the overthrow of the Shepherd Kings looked on Israel's increase with great alarm and tried to take steps to stop it with slavery and suppression, Ex. 1:7-14. But rather that stopping Israel's increase, Egypt's king only compounded his problem. So much so that the Egyptians became alarmed at the increase, v.12. Therefore, plan B was placed into action: kill all of the male babies, v.17. When this did not work, Pharaoh commanded his people to cast all of the Hebrew's male children into the river. Evidently, this did not work either, as his own daughter disobeys this command.
How like us today. We learn very little apart from oppression. I know for myself, it is under the 'oppression' of a time deadline that I work best.
With Israel settled in Goshen, the Egyptians had him surrounded and intermingled. Only the passover (Paschal) blood could separate the ones with the true faith from the ones with the false faith.
(We must live and work in the world at what the Lord has called us to do. It is the blood of the Lamb that separates us.)
Notice that the 40 years in the wilderness had at least a three-fold
purpose.
1. Separate the false religion of Egypt from Israel.
2. develop the skills that Israel had acquired in Egypt, i.e.
build the Tabernacle.
3. Teach them self-sufficiency and dependance on the Lord. No
doubt as slaves in Egypt, they had everything provided for them.
Slavery gives security, provided by the master.
During the period of the centuries between the close of Genesis to Moses, God had been totally silent, yet His people grew and multiplied as promised to Abram. All of this is covered in ch. 1. All that His people had about the truth of their God was what had been passed down by their fathers. The hope of redemption was still deep in the hearts of the children, placed their by their fathers. In this we see that the primary training ground is in the home, under the fathers.
Although settled comfortably in Egypt, Israel kept its 12 divisions and their system of elders. These elders, heads of families or tribes, were called together when Moses came to deliver them. Thus, Israel remained a patriarchal system which was centered in the family and its head, the father.
Though there had been no direct revelation from Jehovah God, Israel had kept its religious observances which spoke of Jehovah God. One such is reflected in the Ten Commandments when the Lord said, "Remember the Sabbath day.." We also know that they had kept the rite of circumcision, Ex. 4:24-26. Also, the indication is that the idea of the sacrifice had been kept alive, Ex. 8:25-28. Also the names given to the children born during this time show that this hope in Jehovah God was still in them.
But while the hope and religion of Jehovah God was kept alive in the midst of the paganism of Egypt, which had a great hold of them, Israel absorbed a great amount. What they absorbed resurfaces regularly, starting right after the first Passover.
Even before they crossed the Red Sea they remembered the good part of their bondage. Then as soon as they crossed and got thirsty and hungry, they again wished for the good times. The tremendous hold of the false gods of Egypt shows up again at the foot of the mount while Moses is receiving the law. This law was to distinguish Israel from the rest of the nations of the world, as the people of God.
The hold of Egypt's pagan religion was evident even in the children of the ones who died in the wilderness, as Joshua had to tell them to put away their strange gods, Joshua 19:14. Stephen indicates that they served the gods of Egypt until their Babylonian captivity, Acts 7:37-45.
In chapter 2, we have the birth of God's planed deliver, Moses. Then in chapter 3 we have Moses' call to liberate the covenant people of God according to the promise of God to Abraham. As we mentioned at the start, his only qualification was that he very reluctantly agreed to obey the Lord's will for his life.
From the end of chapter 2 through the end of the Book, all 38 chapters are concerned with the one year before the deliverance and the one year after. It is a detailed account of the events of these two years, with very little mention of what took place during their wanderings.
The thing that stands out to me is the fact that even though during this 400 years it appeared that the God of Abraham had forsaken them, He had not. He was working in the background, preparing them and Egypt for the purpose that He had already worked out. The working out of this purpose included the exaltation of Pharaoh and Egypt to the place where they could oppress the millions of Hebrews who were living among them, Romans 9:17. In fact, God was using this time of servitude to prepare a mighty nation who He would work through to overthrow the power of this world, Egypt.
I am certain that these people who were the heirs to the covenant made to Abraham, felt that the God who made that covenant had forsaken them. Although, those who knew the Scriptures knew that they had to be in this forced servitude for 400 years, Gen. 15:13, 14.
Then upon this apparently hopeless scene, God suddenly breaks forth with a glorious redemption of His people like the world has never seen. In this redemption, He destroys the power of the world and overthrows all His enemies.
APPLICATION:
Three points here:
1. No matter how difficult the situation or circumstance, the Lord is working His preplanned purpose, maybe in the forefront where all can see Him working, or in the background where no one can see Him at work. And God's behind the scene working may be for centuries before things are ready for Him to show Himself strong.
2. I would like to think that Moses' parents knew the Scriptures and hid Moses by faith in the promises contained therein. There are several records of men praying according to the prophetic Scriptures. (Elijah is one as he prayers for the Lord to withhold rain from the sinful nation.)
We see in Daniel 9:2 that Daniel prayed according to the promises of God of deliverance from and victory over the pagans who had the Kingdom of God suppressed. God delivered His covenant people according to that prayer.
But even Moses' parents didn't know and understand the Scriptures in this area, it would mean that the Divine Providence of God was at work as they did what they could.
App: Things may appear hopeless, but as we do what we are able to do under the trying circumstances, the Divine Providence of God will direct and work it all out for His own glory and our good.
3. Even though the deliverance was promised by the Lord in His word at the precise time that they were delivered, in both cases (from Egypt 400 years after the promise, and Daniel 70 years after the promise), deliverance was conditioned on the prayers of God's people, Ex.2:23.
How can this be? When the Spirit of the Lord is ready to move, He lays it on the heart of His people to pray. He also lays on their heart what to pray for and about.
Yes, the word of God is full of promises, but those promises are claimed by prayer, even the promise of THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE. Our Lord would not have instructed His people to pray this if it was not a necessary ingredient for the coming of His kingdom and the doing of His will here on earth.
Exodus can be separated into two main parts and many subsections. First, the redemption of Israel ending with 'the song of Moses,' 15:22. Second, the consecration, or the adoption of Israel as the people of God, closing with the erection and consecration of the Tabernacle.
The book gets its name from the first half, and the word Exodus means departure or death. The word Exodus is found three times in the NT as decease, Lk. 9:30-31; Heb 11:22; 2 Pe.1:14-15. This word means more than death and refers to an accomplishment, complete or perfect.
We see echoes of Exodus in the gospel of Mat. All of the books
of Moses can be seen in Mat.
1.We have a genealogy in the beginning.
2. Then there is the exodus into Egypt by Joseph and Mary and
the Christ child.
3. Then there is the exodus out of Egypt.
4. Then the sermon on the mount parallels the giving of the law
to Moses.
5. Then the death, burial and resurrection gives us God's new
temple or tabernacle for His own chosen people. The testimony
against the Lord was that He said that if they would destroy the
temple, He would build it back in three days. This signified His
body as the true temple.
6. Mat also gives us the same exodus from slavery into freedom.
I. Exodus shows us the sovereignty of God in history over the nations. In spite of Pharaoh's hatred against God, he becomes God's instrument for the destruction of Egypt and the deliverance of Israel.
A. In the name of preserving Egypt, Pharaoh destroys it. We see this all around us today.
For us, even though the nations of the world move toward their time of triumph over God, God's judgments still prevail. He is at work in the most wicked of situations and men.
II. Those who set up themselves against the Lord and His Christ, will meet the same fate that this ruler of Egypt met.
III. Wicked men love what Egypt represented, a total state controlled order. We see this all around us, even on our dollar bill. Any Museum that you might go into will have Egyptian emblems.
The reason men love this kind of order is the security that it offers. But God will overthrow it in His good time.
My goal is to just go through and get the high points, not an in depth study as I am so prone to do. We want to get some insight into the world around us and some practical applications of the word of God for the situations.