We will start this week with a review of what we have learned in Exodus. Remember, how many years the Israelites were in Egypt, and what their identity is? (Do they really KNOW God?)
This will start our focus on the key players of Exodus for Chapters 1-12. We will not read through all those chapters but focus on Chapters 5 & 6 for this week. The key players of Exodus are God, Moses, and Pharaoh. Chapter 5 starts with Pharaoh. Who is Pharaoh? What is his opinion of the Hebrew's God? What is his response to Moses? Why? How do you define Pharaoh from Chapter 5 & 6? Then we get Moses's response. What is his response? Why? How does Pharaoh play a factor into Moses response? Finally in Chapter 6, we get God's response. How does God respond? Does this impact Pharaoh or Moses responses? If you look at God, Moses, and Pharaoh in Chapter 5 & 6 you get the same responses that we as humans do to God and his promises.
This leads to the Big Idea = How can I take the responses of the key players and TRUST God in my current situation? (Especially when I'm persecuted & not happy with God)
See you Tuesday!
Dusty
CHAPTER TWO — WAR IS DECLARED If Moses and Aaron had been privileged to listen to Jonathan Edwards preach his famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," they probably would have shouted "Amen!" when Edwards said: All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. Hearing those words, Moses and Aaron would have recalled the day they stood before the ruler of one of the greatest kingdoms of the ancient world. They were sent by God to inform Pharaoh that if he didn't release the Jewish people, Jehovah would declare war on him and his gods and wouldn't stop attacking Egypt until the people of Israel were set free. God's two ambassadors had one message from the Lord: "Let My people go —or else!" Pharaoh's responses to Moses and Aaron were predictable: he rejected God's command, disdained the miracles Moses and Aaron performed, and deliberately hardened his heart against the Lord. Pharaoh rejects God's Word (Ex. 5:1-6:27) Their request was a simple one: Moses and Aaron wanted permission to take the Jewish people three-days' journey into the desert to a place where they could worship the Lord. Six days of travel and one day of worship would add up to a week away from their work, but Moses said nothing about how long they would be gone or when they would return. This omission made Pharaoh suspicious, and he wondered if the purpose of their journey was escape rather than worship. Three questions are involved in this episode. Pharaoh: "Why should I obey the Lord?" () This was a reasonable question because the Egyptian people considered Pharaoh to be a god, and why should their king obey a strange god that neither Pharaoh nor the Egyptians knew? Furthermore, what right did this new god have to call the Israelites "My people" when the Jews were the slaves of Pharaoh? If Pharaoh obeyed the edict, he would be acknowledging a deity greater than himself, and he wasn't about to do that. In his pride and false security, Pharaoh wouldn't listen to the words of the living God. Moses mentioned that the Israelites might be in danger of being killed if they failed to obey the Lord. Why bring that up? Perhaps Moses was hinting that Pharaoh's stubbornness might cost him his slaves and that he'd be better off to give the Jews a week off and thereby protect his cheap labor. However, there's another factor involved: Moses was telling Pharaoh that the God of the Hebrews was a powerful God who could kill the Egyptians as well as the Jews. Pharaoh needed to understand that the demands Moses and Aaron were making were not to be taken lightly, for this was a matter of life and death. Pharaoh: "Why should the work stop?" () The enslavement of the Israelites was a great boost to the economy of Egypt, and Pharaoh wasn't about to give up a good thing. As dictators have done for centuries, Pharaoh exploited a captive people and was unconcerned about their welfare. Unknown to the king, God was working out His perfect plan to free His people and glorify His great name; and nothing Pharaoh could do would prevent God's plan from succeeding. 187 Instead of giving the Jews relief from their toil, Pharaoh made their labor even harder. He refused to give them the straw they needed for the manufacturing of the clay bricks, but he demanded that they still reach their assigned daily quotas. "If they have so much time on their hands that they can take a week off," he argued, "then let them find their own straw. The extra work will take their minds off such foolish ideas." God's message to Pharaoh through Moses and Aaron was only "vain words" as far as the king was concerned (; "lies," NIV). When their work became unbearable because of the new rules, the Hebrews sent their foremen to protest to Pharaoh. It's unusual that slaves would have access to the king, but Pharaoh knew what he was doing. He told them what Moses and Aaron had demanded of him, and this turned the Jewish foremen against the leaders God had given them. The foremen told Moses and Aaron what they thought of them and then slandered them among the Jews. This wouldn't be the last time Moses would be opposed by his own people who didn't understand what the Lord was doing. Instead of going to Pharaoh to complain, the foremen should have gone to Moses and Aaron and suggested that they summon the elders and have a prayer meeting. They should have reminded themselves of the promises God had given Israel and claimed them by faith. What a difference that would have made for them and for their leaders! Alas, during the next forty years, complaining about God's will and criticizing God's leaders would be characteristic of the people of Israel; but are God's people much different today? Moses: "Why have You sent me?" () Moses did what all spiritual leaders must do when the going is tough: he took his burden to the Lord and honestly talked to Him about the situation. It's easy to see that Moses was disappointed and distressed. He blamed God for the way Pharaoh was mistreating the Jews, and he accused Him of doing nothing. "Is this why You sent me?" he asked (, NIV). In other words, "Are You going to keep Your promises to me or not?" God's chosen servants must expect opposition and misunderstanding, because that's part of what it means to be a leader; and leaders must know how to get alone with God, pour out their hearts, and seek His strength and wisdom. Spiritual leaders must be bold before people but broken before God (see ) and must claim God's promises and do His will even when everything seems to be against them. How did the Lord encourage His struggling servant? To begin with, God spoke to him and gave him great promises (). Today we have the written Word of God, but it's likely that Moses heard God speak in an audible voice (; ). Four times in this speech, God reminded Moses, "I am the Lord" (, , ) and used His covenant name "Jehovah"; and seven times, God said, "I will." When we know that God is in control and we claim His promises, then we can experience peace and courage in the battles of life. God promised to bring Israel out of Egypt, free them from bondage, and take them into their Promised Land. At the heart of the seven "I will" promises is "And I will take you to Me for a people" (), which is the basis for all that God did for the Jews. God also reminded Moses of His covenant name "Jehovah" (). One way to get to know God better is to pay attention to His names. The patriarchs knew God as "God Almighty," which in the Hebrew is "El Shaddai —the all-sufficient and all-powerful God," and they knew that God's name was "Jehovah" (Yahweh); but they didn't understand the full implications of the name. God had explained the name "Jehovah" to Moses when He called him in Midian (), but now He associated His name with the covenant He would make with His people (). Jehovah is the special name of God that links Him with Israel and His covenants, and it is so sacred to Jews even today that they will not speak it when they read the Scriptures in the synagogue. Instead, they substitute "Adonai" (Master) or simply say "the Name." Third, the Lord assured Moses that He felt the burdens of His people and was working on their behalf (; see ). God wasn't ignorant of their need or unconcerned about their suffering, nor was He adding to their problems by delaying their deliverance. Everything was working according to His plan and nothing God had planned would fail. Whenever we feel the Lord has abandoned us and doesn't really care, we need to remember His assuring words, "Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (). Fourth, the lord commanded Moses to speak to Pharaoh again (). Moses reached the depths of discouragement when the Jewish elders wouldn't even listen to him. They had forgotten the signs and promises that Moses and Aaron had given them () and in their anguish were convinced that the situation was hopeless. Moses and the elders had given up, but God hadn't given up on Moses. Moses was still God's servant, and He commissioned him to return to the palace and confront Pharaoh again. In times of despair, it's best to ignore our feelings and simply do what God tells us to do, leaving the consequences with Him. 188 The genealogy () isn't there by accident, for it's the Lord's way of reminding us, the readers, that God had prepared Moses and Aaron for their ministry in Egypt. Their arrival in Jacob's family was part of His providential working. Reuben was Jacob's firstborn, then Simeon, and then Levi, the ancestor of Moses and Aaron. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nations" (, NKJV). God's calling means God's enabling, and what He begins He always completes (; ). Pharaoh belittles God's miracles (Ex. 6:28-8:7) Up to this point in their confrontation with Pharaoh, Moses and Aaron had simply delivered God's ultimatum. Now the time had come for them to reveal God's power and perform the miraculous signs that proved they were truly sent by God. Still somewhat discouraged, Moses maintained that he wasn't a competent speaker; so God reminded him that Aaron could be his spokesman (; ). However, the Lord advised Moses and Aaron that it would take more than one or two miracles to accomplish His purposes, for He would multiply His signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. Before we study this remarkable series of miracles, we must focus on the reasons why the Lord took this approach in dealing with Pharaoh and sent these sign judgments to the land of Egypt. The ultimate purpose, of course, was to bring Pharaoh and the Egyptians to their knees so they'd be willing for the Jews to leave the land. But at the same time, the Lord was revealing Himself to both the Israelites and the Egyptians and proving that He alone is God ().
Appendix / Bibliography
The Bible Exposition Old Testament Commentary, The Pentateuch, David C. Cook,
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