Exodus 7:8 - Exodus 13Last week we started reading the Exodus journey for Lent, the 40 days before Easter which mirror Jesus’s 40 days spent in the Wilderness tempted by Satan and the 40 years it took the Israelites to travel from Egypt to the Promised Land. There are 40 chapters in the Exodus Map to guide us !
Timeline of the Journey
17/3 - Slavery - Exodus 1-7:7
24/3 - Deliverance - Exodus 7:8 - 13
31/3 - Baptism - Exodus 14 - 15:21
7/4 - Holiness - Exodus 19-32
14/4 - Trials and Perseverance - Exodus 15:21 - 18, 33-40
21/4 - Promised Land / Resurrection Sunday
We looked at root cause of the Israelite slavery and we learned how we also can be trapped into slavery by Sin or by the World. We learned the 3 things that can deceive us as we remembered the 3 temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness.
- Heart (Jeremiah 17:9)
- Sin (Hebrews 3:12-13)
- Riches (Matthew 13:22)
This week we will look at the way the Lord sets a slave free as we remember the deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt.
Week 2 - Deliverance
The Pharaoh took away all human rights and made the Israelite his slaves under brutal taskmasters to wear them down. Egypt had treated the immigrants as citizens in good times but now the very army that had protected them turned on them and there was no escape. It was a lot like what the Nazis did to the Jews.
It was finally when the Israelites hit rock bottom that they cried out to the Lord for deliverance. Nothing can change until we turn to the One who can really save us.
Sometimes a person has gone so far off track that they are lost and all they can do is to cry out like a lost sheep bleating for help. There is absolutely nothing they can do on their own. That is like the person who is slave to sin. They need to be rescued as in the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15:3-7).
In the darkness it is impossible to see. You need someone to turn the lights on and here it is !
then if my people will humble themselves and pray, and search for me, and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear them from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
There is the Lord’s prescription for deliverance -
- Humility
- Prayer
- Seeking after the Lord
- Repentance (change in thinking followed by action)
- Forgiveness of sin
- Healing
The first 4 steps are our part. The last 2 steps are the Lord’s part - only he has the power to forgive sins and heal.
The journey out of slavery begins with a humble recognition that you need help as in the Parable of the Lost Son.
“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired men have food enough and to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.”’
Luke 15:17-19
Something shifted when the Israelites really sort after God. Then the Lord heard them and sent them a Deliverer.
But there is often a roadblock in the way of our deliverance and that is pride
Jehovah told him, “When you arrive back in Egypt you are to go to Pharaoh and do the miracles I have shown you, but I will make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go.
Exodus 4:21
The main thing that blocked Pharaoh was his pride. He refused to accept that the God of the Slaves was greater than all of the Egyptian gods put together.
Pride disgusts the Lord. Take my word for it —proud men shall be punished.
Proverbs 16:5
Some people are so hard, so proud. We shouldn’t have to hear the Gospel more than once to respond positively. But many do not respond even when God does a miracle as proof. Some mission fields God has to send a heavy plough to break up the earth, and remove the rocks and overgrown weeds that have grown into bushes and trees.
The Pharaoh won’t give up his slaves without a fight. Jesus has given the Church his authority as he did to Moses. We speak the words but it is The Lord’s command we are speaking.
Then you are to tell him, ‘Jehovah says, “Israel is my eldest son, and I have commanded you to let him go away and worship me, but you have refused: and now see, I will slay your eldest son.”’” Exodus 4:22-23
God’s command to Pharaoh was 2 part - “let my people go (1) and worship me (2)”. We usually only hear the 1st part. In fact in the entire Prince of Egypt transcript you don’t even hear the word “worship”. But the 2nd part is equally important. The message is you can be set free (e.g. from addiction) but the reason is so that you may worship God. With an addiction, it is often the thing we turn to when circumstances turn bad. But we should turn to God instead and worship him. He is in control of our situation, he is good, he is working everything for the good of those who love the Lord.
Remember Satan wants to be worshipped. That is what he wanted from Jesus in the desert but Jesus refused. We are to worship God alone. If we succumb to fear or addiction in moments of crisis in some dark perverted way we are accepting Satan’s power is greater than God’s.
Satan is a counterfeit, unworthy of any worship. That is why Paul said, in everything give thanks. We worship God no matter our circumstances. This is what Job did.
Our enemy will do everything to prevent us worshipping God. He will put doubts in our head. He will send someone to distract or entrap us.
But notice once the Lord has decided something and gives the order, it is futile to resist. That is why the demons flee in Jesus’ name.
And I have given you authority over all the power of the Enemy, and to walk among serpents and scorpions and to crush them. Nothing shall injure you!
Luke 10:19
Israel’s deliverance from Slavery it has been said demonstrated God’s power over the false Egyptian gods, one miracle for each of 10 gods.
- Over Hapi, god of the Nile = River turned to blood
- Over Heket, goddess with the frog head = plague of frogs
- Over Geb, god of the Earth = plague of lice from the dust
- Over Khepri, god with the head of a fly = plague of flies
- Over Hathor, goddess of love and protection = death of cattle
- Over Isis, goddess of medicine and peace = plague of boils/sores
- Over Nut, goddess of the sky = plague of hail
- Over Seth, god of storms and disorder = plague of locusts
- Over Ra, the sun god = plague of darkness
- Over Pharaoh, the god of Egypt = death of first born
Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, was worshipped by the Egyptians because he was considered to be the greatest Egyptian God of all. It was believed that he was actually the son of Ra himself, manifest in the flesh. Pharaoh had a false identity.
God had been quiet for 400 years and was the God of the Hebrew slaves. Pharaoh concluded Jehovah wasn’t a very powerful god. The gods of the sun and the river and the cattle seemed much more powerful because they gave life. Pharaoh had no idea that it was the God of the slaves who made the sun ! Pharaoh thought “Who is Jehovah to say ‘let my people go and worship me’, I’m god they will obey and worship ME! “ But Pharaoh didn’t know God.
There is only one true God. If you want to be tough with the Lord, he’s tougher, get ready for some pain. By the time the 9th plague was over, the poor guy holding up “The End is Nigh” sign is looking the sanest man in the land. But Pharaoh still doesn’t get the message !
So you still think you are so great, do you, and defy my power, and refuse to let my people go? Exodus 9:17
Turn from False gods, they are the ones that tug us away from the Lord. I remember when I was young, one year Arsenal got to the Cup Final but it was timed with the Boys Brigade Camp. I decided to miss the Camp and watch the Final. Naturally Arsenal lost and I lived with a double regret so I decided not to let that happen again. Do you have a false god that you turn to for comfort instead of the Lord ? What if the Lord calls you to Ministry and suddenly you are offered a big promotion at work ? There is only one true God. You will waste your life in slavery unless you renounce your false god(s) and leave them behind. Who do you want to identify with - Egypt (the World) or the Israel (the Lord) ?
Up to the 10th plague, the Israelites were untouched by every plague but for the last one they had to do something to be saved from the Angel of Death. In the end, the only difference between the Egyptians and the Israelites was the blood of the lamb painted on the doorposts. We have reached the moment of deliverance.
The Passover
“On the evening of the fourteenth day of this month, all these lambs shall be killed, and their blood shall be placed on the two side-frames of the door of every home and on the panel above the door. Use the blood of the lamb eaten in that home. Everyone shall eat roast lamb that night, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The meat must not be eaten raw or boiled, but roasted, including the head, legs, heart, and liver. Don’t eat any of it the next day; if all is not eaten that night, burn what is left. “Eat it with your traveling clothes on, prepared for a long journey, wearing your walking shoes and carrying your walking sticks in your hands; eat it hurriedly. This observance shall be called the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt tonight and kill all the oldest sons and firstborn male animals in all the land of Egypt, and execute judgment upon all the gods of Egypt—for I am Jehovah. The blood you have placed on the doorposts will be proof that you obey me, and when I see the blood I will pass over you and I will not destroy your firstborn children when I smite the land of Egypt.”
Exodus 12:6-13
As we know now, the Passover is an exact picture of Jesus. His death happened on the Passover Day at the moment the High Priest was cutting the lambs throat.
In fact we can say that under the old agreement almost everything was cleansed by sprinkling it with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Hebrews 9:22
You see, faith must always result in action ! It would have done no good for the Israelites to merely believe that the blood on the doorposts was a good idea. They had to actually kill the family pet lamb. So if the preacher asked you to come forward, if you know God is speaking to you, you must come forward. Staying in your chair won’t cut it.
You must put the blood on the doorposts. You must accept Jesus death on the Cross for yourself. Only his blood can cover your sins and keep the Angel of Death from taking you. These are Gods terms and conditions. Do not mess around, this is very serious.
The Passover was judgement over all the gods of Egypt. The Cross at Calvary was judgment over all the powers of Hell. The Cross, the blood on the doorposts, is what delivers us out of Egypt. This is why a Cross is used during an exorcism along with the Sword of the Spirit - the Bible.
Jesus is our Deliverer from every power of Hell through his triumph at the Cross !
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:13-15
Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
1 Corinthians 2:8
You must have the flesh cut away. You have to leave your old life behind, cut off the addictions and sin. You must be born again to live by the Spirit and receive the salvation of God.
The Passover is a celebration of deliverance. In the same way we can celebrate our deliverance through the victory at the Cross.
Next week we continue our escape from Egypt and find ourselves at the edge of the Red Sea with Pharaohs army in hot pursuit ! What does it all mean ?
On Friday, the Nation heard the call to prayer but today I’d like to finish by us all saying the Lord's Prayer out loud which includes a cry for deliverance. I've used the old version because this is the one I remember best.
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Matthew 6:9-13
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