WEBVTT 00:00:05.599 --> 00:00:08.400 Make disciples for his glory. 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:12.560 You are listening to the Spring Valley Baptist Church podcast. 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:17.920 Spring Valley Baptist Church exists to make disciples for the glory of God. 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:24.000 For more information about Spring Valley, visit Spring ValleyBaptist.com. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:26.079 Thanks for listening. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:39.039 With my sons Thomas and Will, one of their favorite things to do is to look at old home videos and photos of our family. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:48.719 What we'll do is we'll take our iPhones and we will mirror our iPhone on the screen of our TV, and then we will go back through the camera roll. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:53.200 And so we'll look at videos or pictures of them when they were younger. 00:00:53.439 --> 00:01:16.000 And then here recently, what we did is we scrolled a little bit further up the camera roll, and we started to see pictures and videos of Becca and I early in our marriage before kids, us when we were engaged, us when we were dating, and that's when my iPhone camera roll stops, is because I got my iPhone pretty soon after we were dating. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:24.239 But one of the things that sparks in conversation afterwards is can you tell us the story of how y'all met? 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.640 Can you tell us some of the stories of y'all dating? 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:28.799 Tell me stories of when you were kids. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:41.200 And so for Becca and I to look at Thomas and to look at Will and be like, well, Mama and Dada met in the summer of 2010 working at a Christian summer camp together. 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:46.959 And if we had not met there at that camp, you would not have happened. 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:50.879 Well, praise God y'all met there, right? 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:56.560 But then you could go back and think of any particular story. 00:01:56.879 --> 00:01:58.640 How any of us are here. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:05.120 Had my mother and father not played music in church together, then I would not have happened. 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:15.039 And generation before generation, and then you hear these stories, and it's not just somebody else's story where they start talking and they sound like the teacher in the peanuts cartoon. 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:16.479 Right? 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:18.479 We're just like, that's nice for you, don't care. 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:19.120 All right. 00:02:19.439 --> 00:02:25.680 But you hear differently, you listen differently when it's a part of your story. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:42.639 What we have in the book of Exodus is God telling the nation of Israel, if this and this and this did not happen, you would not be here. 00:02:43.439 --> 00:02:50.879 And Israel, they listen differently, knowing that this is their story. 00:02:51.599 --> 00:03:20.639 And so too for us who are here today, those of us who call out to God out of a heart of faith, those who have placed our faith and trust in Him, that we now are a part of the people of God, his own treasured possession, that we now, in hearing the stories of the Bible, the accounts, the historical record of what God has done in and through history, we hear this differently because this is our story. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:24.560 This is our family heritage. 00:03:25.439 --> 00:03:32.879 And my prayer is that we all together would listen differently because this is our story. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:46.879 And if God had not acted as he did in Exodus, as he did all throughout the pages of the Old Testament, as he did through his son, our Savior at the cross in the empty tomb, then none of us would be here today. 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:50.719 But praise be to God that he did and we are. 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:55.840 And now we have a treasure trove to learn from. 00:03:56.240 --> 00:04:04.319 And so we're journeying now today, first Sunday in our fall series through the first part of the book of Exodus. 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:11.759 If you have been with us for any length of time, uh, this is now uh fall number four for me here as the pastor. 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:24.319 The first fall, we looked at the first part of Genesis, and then the second fall, the next part of Genesis, last fall, the third part of Genesis, finished Genesis, and now we're just gonna go straight on to Exodus, the second book of the Bible. 00:04:24.639 --> 00:04:28.800 Now, why are we gonna be looking at the book of Exodus together? 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:37.680 Why are we going to be studying this Old Testament book that was written thousands of years ago to a people in a far different geographic region than our own? 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:40.000 Why would we look at this together? 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:41.439 Why are we studying Exodus? 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:43.600 You can write it in first in your outline. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:47.439 It is inspired by God. 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:59.519 2 Timothy, the New Testament letter that Paul wrote to his apprentice, his protege in the ministry, Timothy. 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:03.600 This is what he said in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:25.519 All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work. 00:05:26.639 --> 00:05:34.879 So when Paul the Apostle is writing to Timothy and he says, all scripture is breathed out by God, including the Old Testament. 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:39.759 That is what he would have been specifically referring to, God's revelation. 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:47.600 And that God breathed nature, that should make us think about some echoes that we hear way back in Genesis. 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:59.439 When God took the dust of the ground and formed man from the dust, and it says there in Genesis that he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living creature. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:01.199 God breathed. 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:11.279 That there is that same breath that inspired what is written for us here in God's Word, and now through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, it makes it come alive in our hearts. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:15.199 All scripture is God breathed and is profitable. 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:17.600 There is great profit. 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:26.480 Some businessmen and women in here, you look at ROI, you have investments, you are doing different endeavors and entrepreneurial kind of efforts. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:30.639 There is no greater profit than studying the word of God. 00:06:31.680 --> 00:06:35.439 All scripture is breathed out by God and it's profitable. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:36.800 It is sufficient. 00:06:37.040 --> 00:06:41.439 And so as we're looking at Exodus, this is book number two in the Bible. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:45.199 So you go towards the beginning of your Bible, you have Genesis, Exodus right there. 00:06:45.360 --> 00:06:46.480 Not having to thumb through to look. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:48.240 You don't even have to go to the table of contents. 00:06:48.319 --> 00:06:51.199 You can go just straight over to Exodus. 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:56.319 The first five books of the Bible are known as the Pentateuch, Penta, right? 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:57.040 Five. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:03.680 The first five books of the Bible that were written down by Moses, inspired by the Holy Spirit, written down by Moses. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:10.240 And we are not going to be looking at this sectioned off from the rest of it, but it is a part of an integrated whole. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:16.399 And here we are able to see that this, what is written for us, is true. 00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:18.480 I just need to put my cards on the table. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:20.480 This is not a fairy tale. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:22.160 This is not a fable. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:24.639 This is not wishful thinking. 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:29.920 It's not ancient myth, but it is, it's epic, but it is a true epic. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:33.519 I believe, presupposition, God has spoken. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:35.040 These things happened. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:37.519 Historical fact. 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:43.040 God acted in history, and it is written for us in his inspired word. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:46.639 So we're studying Exodus because it is inspired by God. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:52.480 And second, while we're studying it, it is instructive for our lives. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:08:01.360 Again, the Apostle Paul in the New Testament book, 1 Corinthians. 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:03.600 There he's writing to Corinth. 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:08.879 And in that chapter, he is basically summarizing and talking about the whole book of Exodus. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:13.120 So you're going to hear 1 Corinthians 10 referred to a lot this fall, okay? 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:21.120 And this is what the Apostle Paul wrote in verse 11 of that chapter, in reflecting on the events of Exodus. 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:28.480 He said, Now these things, Exodus, happened to them, the people of Israel, as an example. 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:35.840 But they were written down, all of the events, all of the records, everything in Exodus was written down. 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:36.720 Why? 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:45.200 For our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 00:08:45.519 --> 00:08:47.200 These things happened to the nation of Israel. 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:50.399 They really happened, and they were an example for the people of Israel. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:54.159 But God is capable of doing multiple things at the same time. 00:08:54.320 --> 00:08:54.799 Alright? 00:08:54.960 --> 00:09:10.320 And he was doing things for the nation of Israel in time, in space, in history, but also, and at the same time, he was acting and recording these things down for us, instructive for the people of God so that we could live lives that are holy and pleasing to him and his son. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:15.039 And so for us, there is great profit in looking at this. 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:16.480 We can learn from Exodus. 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:17.759 We can learn about God. 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:19.200 We can learn about ourselves. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:20.639 We can learn about his story. 00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:23.919 We can learn how our story is caught up into his story. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:27.039 We can hear our family's story. 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:34.639 And we listen differently when we know that it is a part of our family's story. 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:36.799 It's inspired by God. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:39.039 It's instructive for our lives. 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:44.960 And third, it is illustrating the cosmic war. 00:09:45.360 --> 00:09:48.080 I've been waiting all week to say that line. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:53.120 It illustrates for us the cosmic war. 00:09:54.240 --> 00:09:56.799 Let's look back briefly at Genesis chapter 3. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:09:58.000 We're going to backtrack. 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:00.240 Fall of 2023. 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:04.799 You look at Genesis chapter 3, verses 15 and 16. 00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:14.720 And there, if you're a person who likes to underrine, highlight, star, exclamation point in the margins of your Bible, this is like primo real estate right here for you to be able to do that. 00:10:15.519 --> 00:10:24.320 Because what we see, Adam and Eve created in God's image to reflect his glory, to live lives of unhindered fellowship with God. 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:30.080 Rather listen to the voice of the serpent, the devil, the enemy, the dragon, the snake. 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:33.600 And instead of reflecting the glory of God, sought to replace them. 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:44.480 In an act of insurrection and rebellion, they took of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, ate and gave to one another, their eyes were opened, they realized that they were naked and they were ashamed. 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:55.840 And there in the aftermath, rather than God just smiting them on the spot, he comes down, he asks where they are, he draws them out of hiding, and he looks over them. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:10:58.320 He asks, What is it that you've done? 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:04.399 He pronounces a curse over the serpent and consequences over man and woman. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:07.759 And this is what he says in Genesis 3.15. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:14.559 What some scholars have called the proto-gospel in the Old Testament. 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:28.480 God looking at the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring, your seed, and her offspring, literally her seed. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:37.679 And he, that seed that comes from the woman, shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:49.279 We have here the proto-gospel unfolding in the pages of Scripture and all throughout history, the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. 00:11:49.519 --> 00:11:55.360 God's unfolding plan in the fullness of time to bring a deliverer, to liberate his people from the bondage of sin. 00:11:56.159 --> 00:12:03.279 And the serpent who is still writhing around and trying to cause as much destruction as he possibly can. 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:07.120 Threat against the promises of God. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:18.320 And so we look at Genesis and we are tracing from Adam and Eve the line, the heritage, the family tree, looking for the seed. 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:25.840 And God, He preserves a line, He preserves a people, and we see the devil attempting to destroy it. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:34.399 And so all throughout Genesis and here in Exodus, we're able to see, yes, that there are things playing out on the plains of the ancient Middle East. 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:38.879 But there again, God is capable of doing multiple things at the same time. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:46.720 And we see that it is not only playing out here on an earthly plane, but it is playing out on a cosmic plane as well. 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:50.960 I need you to look with me at Isaiah chapter 51 at some prophetic literature. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:52.879 Some of you really like prophecy. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:13:01.600 Well, let's look at this as Isaiah the prophet is reflecting on the events in the book of Exodus. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:11.919 Isaiah with some holy inspiration is looking back, and God reveals to him other things that were actually happening in the book of Exodus. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:12.799 Look at this. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:15.279 Isaiah 51, verses 9 and 10. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:22.000 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord, awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:25.679 Was it not you who cut Rahab into pieces? 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:29.279 Now, Rahab, this is not Rahab the harlot from the book of Joshua. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:33.919 Different Hebrew spelling, Rahab is a synonym for Egypt, right here. 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:42.080 Is it not you, O God, who cut Egypt into pieces and who pierced the dragon, the serpent? 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:44.080 Sounds like the devil. 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:46.960 Was it not you who dried up the sea? 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.600 Preview of coming attractions in the book of Exodus. 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:56.639 The waters of the great deep who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over. 00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:03.039 You see, there was a lot that was happening, playing out on the surface in the book of Exodus and on the plains of Egypt. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:07.759 But there is more than you could ever possibly imagine happening in the heavens. 00:14:08.159 --> 00:14:12.720 Cosmic war, God's purposes, Satan's devices. 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:19.519 But let's not think that this is some sort of cosmic balance of good and evil. 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:24.879 No yin and yang, no dark side and light side of the force. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:29.440 There is nothing that is in balance about this. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:36.799 God is the one who could just, with the whisper of his voice, melt the earth, the Psalms say. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:46.559 That God, it is no contest when you come up against Yahweh, the one true God that is recorded for us in the Bible. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:15:04.639 And we see right here what God is doing in the Exodus is he is exacting divine judgment and he is fulfilling his promises of Genesis 3.15, where a seed would come from the woman, a deliverer who would bruise his head, would deal a fatal blow. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:17.120 And he is going to do this in perpetuating the promise by delivering his people from bondage and the slavery of the land of Egypt and to bring them through wilderness wanderings and into the land of promise. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:25.120 So God, he has spoken through Exodus, and he wants to speak to your life today. 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:32.159 Because we don't look at these Old Testament books just so that we can get a good grade on whatever sort of Bible quiz that might come up in the future. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:38.960 We don't do it, we don't study it just to learn and accumulate some facts and become puffed up with knowledge, right, that the Bible would talk about. 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:53.200 But no, we come to this, and I pray for you as we sit under God's word together, that he would speak to your life, that your trust and your confidence would grow and grow in him to new heights in this study. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:59.600 We will see together that God is our deliverer. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:03.120 So that's why we're studying the book of Exodus today. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:04.559 This season. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:08.000 And we come now to Exodus chapter one. 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:11.519 And as we do so, would you join me as we pray? 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:19.200 And so, gracious Heavenly Father, as we come to your word this morning, I pray that you give us eyes to see. 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:21.600 God, that you would give us ears to hear. 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:24.000 God, I pray that you would speak. 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:26.559 For we, your servants, are listening. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:28.159 It's through Christ we pray. 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:29.279 Amen. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:38.799 The first point in Exodus chapter one that I want us to see together is this God keeps his promises. 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:42.960 He's the promise maker. 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:46.320 And he is the promise keeper. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:48.559 Look at verses one and two. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:51.919 This is how the book of Exodus begins. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:53.279 It's with a genealogy. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:55.519 Exciting stuff, right? 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:06.400 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:07.519 And we're going to stop right there. 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:09.599 The other 12 are there, I promise you. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:12.319 But we need to look at this. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:19.839 How did God's people, how did the nation of Israel come to be in the land of Egypt? 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:34.240 Well, we're able to see in the very first word of the book of Exodus, it doesn't come across in each of our English translations, but there is a conjunction, a connecting word, right, for my English folks. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:38.240 There is a conjunction at the very beginning of Exodus. 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:45.039 So it really literally, kind of wouldn't, but literally reads, and these are the names. 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:45.519 Why? 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:49.759 And because Exodus wasn't meant to be read in isolation. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:52.319 It is a sequel to the book of Genesis. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:57.599 It is a picking up, a continuing of the narrative unfolding of God's acts in history. 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:07.440 And so we see here, what was at the very end of Genesis that God, He was acting and preserving His people. 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:13.119 We saw back in Genesis 3, He promised a seed, He promised a deliverer. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:17.440 And then we're able to unfold and we're able to see through Cain and Abel. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:19.119 We're able to see through the Tower of Babel. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:20.880 Genesis 1 to 11. 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:22.480 Violent time. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:26.000 A place in time I would not want to live in. 00:18:26.799 --> 00:18:36.400 But then we get to Genesis chapter 12, and God chooses Abram that would then be named Abraham. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:41.519 This would be his line of blessing. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:56.160 He calls out this pagan worshiper to follow him, to put his faith in him, and he promises descendants and land and blessing. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:19:12.799 And then in Genesis chapter 15, verses 13 through 16, he's just gotten done showing Abraham all of the descendants, except Abraham and Sarah, his wife, you know, they're uh they they have their A R P cards. 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:18.559 They're a little bit on the north end of the age spectrum, okay? 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:22.480 They are beyond normal child rearing years. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:26.880 And so when God says that he's going to bless them with children, they're like, what? 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:30.079 That doesn't make sense. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:31.359 It's supposed to make us laugh. 00:19:31.440 --> 00:19:32.400 It made them laugh. 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:36.559 So much so that when they eventually had their son Isaac, it means laughter. 00:19:37.759 --> 00:19:40.000 Look at what God has done. 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:45.359 And every time that they try to take it into their own hands, they mess it up. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:52.559 But when they yield to God's promises and follow his word and his leading, then they're able to flourish in the way of blessing. 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:59.599 But look, after God takes Abraham out in Genesis 15 and says, look up at the stars. 00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:00.640 Can you count them? 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:01.759 No, you can't. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:04.480 So will your descendants be so numerous. 00:20:04.640 --> 00:20:07.759 And right after that, he says this in verses 13 through 16. 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:26.960 Then the Lord said to Abram, Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs, Egypt, and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:33.279 Sometimes we can just read over things and it just kind of glosses like, oh, 400 years. 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:34.720 Okay, I'll file that away. 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:40.400 Yo, uh, we we just celebrated 250 as a nation, did we not? 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:48.640 Take 150 and add to that, that is how long God's people were enslaved in the land of Egypt. 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:52.559 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:55.279 And afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:56.160 Verse 15. 00:20:56.319 --> 00:21:00.000 As for you, Abram, you shall go to your fathers in peace, Abraham. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:05.839 You shall be buried in a good old age, and they shall come back here in the fourth generation. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:11.920 For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:19.599 We're able to see from this, looking back at Genesis, God is not concerned with being quick. 00:21:22.319 --> 00:21:28.960 Sometimes we pray for things, and because of Amazon, we expect it in two days or less, right? 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:37.119 Expedited, free shipping for these kind of requests. 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:41.759 We don't always get it that fast. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:44.640 And even then, it's not always an answer that we would like. 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:50.559 But praise God that he has not always answered in the affirmative every prayer request I've ever prayed. 00:21:50.880 --> 00:21:53.920 I don't want to know what my life would look like if he had done that. 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:59.440 But we yield to his wisdom, we follow in his ways. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:06.079 And we trust this God, He is not concerned with being quick, and this God is not unjust. 00:22:07.279 --> 00:22:07.759 Why? 00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:12.319 Because over the course of that 400 years, He says at the very end, the purpose. 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:13.440 We wonder why. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:14.480 Why this long? 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:17.119 Well, they're going to go into Egypt, they're going to come back in the promised land. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:22.880 The only thing is there are a lot of other people in that land, and God is not just going to wipe them off the face of the earth without cause. 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:33.839 And he's already seeing the trajectory that it's going on, that sin is taking up resonance in the heart of every human, that we are perpetuating violence against one another, against ourselves. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:37.359 And he is saying that his justice will come. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:40.799 The wickedness of the Amorites is not yet complete. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:48.799 And so he is going to give time for there to be some repentance, for some to seek a way out in salvation from the judgment. 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:52.480 But God, he's not quick, and he is not unjust. 00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:56.880 And then we're able to see unfolding in Genesis. 00:22:57.119 --> 00:23:00.319 Okay, well, his Abraham's descendants are going to be sojourners in a land. 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:01.359 Well, what about the descendants? 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:03.359 At this point, there is no baby. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:05.440 There are no children. 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:10.319 And so God, in time, gives Abraham and Sarah Isaac. 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:19.119 And then Isaac and his wife have Jacob, Jacob, who is then later renamed Israel, one who wrestles with God. 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:30.480 And then Jacob, Israel, has twelve sons who would then be the leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:38.960 And then one of those sons, Joseph, he's the one who gets a lot of the focus of the end of the book of Genesis. 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:41.839 Joseph, Joseph and the coat of many colors, right? 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:51.680 It wasn't technical or anything like that, you know, but like he had this coat of many colors, or Hebrew, it could be translated also, coat of long sleeves. 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:56.559 It was the supervisors that wore the long-sleeved coats. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:01.519 And in this, Joseph was elevated above his brothers. 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:04.079 His brothers didn't like this too much. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:07.200 Joseph was a little bratty, let's be honest. 00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:14.720 And his brothers sold him into slavery in the land of Egypt. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:20.559 And so Joseph, who had been elevated in his family, was thrown into the pit and sold into slavery. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:32.000 Well, then he was put into Potiphar's house and quickly rose, second in command of this powerful man, falsely accused of rape, and then thrown into prison. 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:50.480 And while in prison, rose up in the ranks, forgotten but still elevated in power, and then he interprets a dream, brought into Pharaoh's house, essentially made the prime minister of the land of Egypt, and helps to preserve the Egyptians from a severe famine. 00:24:50.640 --> 00:25:01.200 And then in time, those brothers, those brothers who sold them into slavery, they come knocking on Egypt's door. 00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:04.079 We ain't got no food. 00:25:04.400 --> 00:25:05.359 You have some food. 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:06.640 Can we have some food? 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:10.319 They don't recognize Joseph, and in time he is revealed. 00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:14.480 He gives them blessing, he gives them food, he forgives them. 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:17.359 His father Jacob is brought back. 00:25:17.759 --> 00:25:21.759 He sees the son that he thought he lost decades earlier, alive. 00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:36.640 Then Joseph has, through his connection with Pharaoh, the land of Goshen and the land of Egypt, this section of the land where they can grow and flourish and where they're preserved. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:41.200 Their father Jacob dies, the brothers are like, okay, we were only alive because dad was alive. 00:25:41.279 --> 00:25:42.640 Now he's going to give it to us. 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:45.680 But then Joseph's like, how wrong you are. 00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:52.880 Because, and then in Genesis 50, 20, again, if you're an underlining person in your Bible, Genesis 50, 20. 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:55.119 He's looking at his brothers. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:57.119 And this is what Joseph said. 00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:02.799 As for you, you meant evil against me. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:06.960 But God meant it for good. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:14.000 To bring it about that many people should be kept alive even as they are today. 00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:18.960 Again, God is able to do multiple things at the same time. 00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:32.160 And in his sovereign rule, he is able even to use the evil devices and plans of those who would enslave and sell their own brother as a part of his plan to save and preserve life. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:40.400 So God, he's not concerned with quick, God is not unjust, and God is not concerned with comfortable. 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:44.240 And then God is not without a purpose. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:48.480 So now look at verse 5 of Exodus chapter 1. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:56.640 So all of the descendants of Jacob, so that's the 12 tribes, the nation of Israel, they were 70 persons. 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:00.160 70 people, big family, but not quite a nation, right? 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:01.599 Maybe a clan. 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:05.119 But they were 70, and Joseph was already in Egypt. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:09.759 And then in verse 6, then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:18.160 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and they multiplied and grew increasingly strong, so that the land was filled with them. 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:28.480 Do you hear some of the creation mandate from Genesis chapter 1 and 2, where God looks at Adam and Eve and says, Be fruitful and multiply. 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:32.559 And here, Israel is helping to fulfill that mandate. 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:35.759 They are increasing and multiplying greatly. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:47.759 The last generation is gone, but God continues to fulfill his promise from Genesis 15 that the nation would grow and would increase and be more numerous than the stars. 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:54.000 So Israel, they are faithful to the creation mandate, and God is faithful to preserve his promises. 00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:57.039 And so, how is this instructive for us? 00:27:57.200 --> 00:27:59.279 There are a few things that I need you to know. 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:00.960 God has a plan. 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:03.759 God has a plan. 00:28:04.799 --> 00:28:07.920 But God's plan might not be on your timetable. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:12.640 And God's plan might not be the most comfortable for you. 00:28:13.279 --> 00:28:18.000 But we can trust that God's plan is not without purpose. 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:20.799 You're not always going to be able to see it. 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:23.200 You might still have a lot of questions. 00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:29.839 And there will still be some things that you can only gain clarity on when you come into his glorious presence someday. 00:28:30.160 --> 00:28:40.880 But I hope that we all together could remember the words attributed to Charles Spurgeon where he says, When you can't trace God's hand, trust his heart. 00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:43.839 Trust that he has a plan. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:51.759 So the nation of Israel, they are growing, they are exceedingly strong, filling the land, but things are about to turn south. 00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:53.599 Look at the next part. 00:28:54.079 --> 00:28:58.240 Pharaoh oppresses God's people. 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:01.279 Verse 8. 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:11.440 Now there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph, and he said to his people, Behold, the Israel, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:20.720 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land. 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:26.160 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:31.599 And they built store cities for Pitham and Ramses for Pharaoh. 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:34.640 So there's a new king. 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:37.440 There's a new leader, there's a new Pharaoh. 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:42.000 He comes to power and he doesn't know Joseph. 00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:52.400 He doesn't remember this man from a foreign land who's come in and helped to preserve his people through famine and cause them to flourish and prosper. 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:55.680 He doesn't remember, and Pharaoh, he doesn't care. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:03.359 But there's two things that Pharaoh does care about: minimizing the growing military threat and growing his economy. 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:05.680 And so they're getting larger. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:06.799 They could turn on us. 00:30:06.960 --> 00:30:08.480 And also they're getting larger. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:10.160 They could build for us. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:21.440 And what this shows is that when you have no knowledge of God, the one true God, the God of Israel, Yahweh, you will be controlled by fear and greed that will lead you to oppress other people. 00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:28.319 But the plans of the wicked will not ultimately prosper. 00:30:33.200 --> 00:30:36.400 Look at the next verses, verses 12 through 14. 00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:43.839 But the more that they were oppressed, the more they multiplied, and the more they spread abroad. 00:30:44.640 --> 00:30:47.680 The opposite of the intended effect. 00:30:48.480 --> 00:30:59.839 And the Egyptians, they were in dread of the people of Israel, and so they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in all kinds of work in the field. 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:03.599 And all their work, they ruthlessly made them work as slaves. 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:07.920 Did you hear the word work, work, work come up again and again? 00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:13.839 That they are seeking to oppress God's people. 00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:20.240 You see, Pharaoh, his problem is only getting bigger as he is set in opposition to God. 00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:24.559 And so they ramp up the oppression while God's people push further out. 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:37.039 They're ruthless, hard service, enslavement, and then at the peak of the oppression, murder of the infant boys of Israel. 00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:40.559 Look at chapter 1, verses 15 and 16. 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:48.799 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shrah and the other Pua. 00:31:49.119 --> 00:31:52.720 Again, if you're an underlining person, I like underlining both of their names. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:54.640 You'll see why in just a minute. 00:31:55.279 --> 00:32:08.400 Pharaoh said to these two women, When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birth stool in the delivery room, if it is a son, you shall kill him. 00:32:09.039 --> 00:32:12.559 But if it is a daughter, she shall live. 00:32:15.359 --> 00:32:19.759 This is the height of oppression and the depths of depravity. 00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:22.559 And then killing these babies. 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:30.079 And in verse 22, Pharaoh instructing anybody that sees a baby boy to throw the baby into the Nile River. 00:32:32.720 --> 00:32:33.519 Pharaoh. 00:32:34.319 --> 00:32:41.039 He calls in these two Hebrew midwives that were in charge and tells them, if you see any baby boys being born, I need you to kill them. 00:32:41.839 --> 00:32:42.480 Why? 00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:44.400 They were a threat. 00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:46.160 Growing fear. 00:32:47.200 --> 00:32:51.759 And just imagine the position that these two women were put in. 00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:54.880 The pressure that they must have felt. 00:32:55.119 --> 00:33:00.480 In that culture, Egypt was the top world superpower. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:04.640 Pharaoh, the top leader of the top superpower. 00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:07.759 His people thought he was a god. 00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:17.839 They are called in front of this man who tells them to kill the Hebrew baby boys, and they are probably feeling some turmoil and tension. 00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:26.799 And we we see the oppression, we see the enslavement, and now this call to kill these Hebrew baby boys. 00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:30.319 And we need to see this, we need to understand this. 00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:36.240 There is an enemy that is seeking to wage war against God's people in every age. 00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:47.440 And those who are anti-God, fueled by fear and greed, enslaving and murdering, creating a culture of death. 00:33:48.319 --> 00:33:52.559 And so, church, we don't need to be surprised when this happens. 00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:59.839 But know that we will not stay there and we don't have to settle for that. 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:08.960 The call for all of us is to fear God and not any mortal man. 00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:12.639 We see this next in verse 17 through 21. 00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:19.119 God fearers obey him rather than man. 00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:22.800 We see that in verse 17 explicitly. 00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:23.840 Look at this. 00:34:24.559 --> 00:34:38.960 But the midwives, Shifrah and Puah, but the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:44.079 And so the king of Egypt, he called the midwives and said to them, Why have you done this? 00:34:44.400 --> 00:34:45.840 And let the male children live. 00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:54.159 And the midwives said to Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them. 00:34:56.000 --> 00:34:57.599 It's funny, yeah. 00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:08.239 They are engaging in a little civil disobedience, fearing God rather than fearing man. 00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:13.119 Maybe a little uh a little deception going on here. 00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:17.039 Maybe a little underhanded kind of backslap compliment. 00:35:17.599 --> 00:35:22.159 Oh, well, the Hebrew women are just built tougher than the Egyptian women. 00:35:23.679 --> 00:35:28.559 But then we're able to see how God responds to what these women do. 00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:34.400 Verse 20, so God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and grew very strong. 00:35:34.559 --> 00:35:40.000 Verse 21, and because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:53.280 And so these two women, these two Hebrew midwives, Shifra and Pu'ah, feared God rather than the most powerful man on earth at the time. 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:55.440 They feared God. 00:35:55.679 --> 00:35:57.679 What does it mean to fear God? 00:35:58.320 --> 00:36:07.280 It would not be right for us to look up the English definition of the word fear and slap that up against the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and we're like a horror movie, like. 00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:15.039 But rather, the fear of the Lord is a compound word in the book of like in the language of Hebrew. 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:21.760 It is an awe, a respect, a reverence for God. 00:36:23.440 --> 00:36:31.119 A way that we could get close to it is uh so a few years ago, my wife and I celebrating our anniversary, uh, we went the farthest away from home we've ever been. 00:36:31.199 --> 00:36:35.119 We went to Mexico and I got to go to the Pacific Ocean for the first time. 00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:36.320 Never seen the Pacific? 00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:40.159 I've seen the Gulf, I've seen the Atlantic, I'd never seen the Pacific before. 00:36:40.400 --> 00:36:51.360 And so we traveled by plane, we finally get there, we're taken by shuttle to the hotel, and we're checking in, and the man behind the counter is telling us all the amenities of the place we're staying, all of the things that we do. 00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:53.360 And at the very end, you know what he says? 00:36:53.599 --> 00:36:55.440 You can't get in the water. 00:36:57.599 --> 00:36:58.880 And I was like, what? 00:37:00.239 --> 00:37:03.360 Now I don't want to swim in the ocean anyway, but I don't like being told that I can't. 00:37:03.599 --> 00:37:05.920 What do you mean I can't get in the ocean? 00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:15.599 It didn't take long before we're walking to our room and we go by the water and we see, and it's not like the gentle lapping of the water against the sand and serene. 00:37:16.559 --> 00:37:24.079 No, but it is the crashing of gargantuan waves upon the rock, sending a spray of ocean water 15 feet in the air. 00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:27.519