This is an exposition of Exodus 2:1-25. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday morning, April 15, 2018.
Intro:
A change in status is hard. It’s hard when it comes even though it’s no ones’ fault. To go from happily married to widowed is excruciating. To go from the only child and thus the center of the family universe to older brother is a bitter pill to swallow.
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But such is the natural course of life. Spouses die. Families grow. More difficult to manage is the change that comes by the force of someone else’s will being imposed on you. Image what it was like for the Hebrews to go from a favored people to an enslaved people. The change was signaled by an innocent sound bite, “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.” Jacob and his family had come down to Egypt centuries before. They totaled 70 in all. They came because there was a famine in the land and God had providential provided for them in placing Joseph in a position of power in Egypt. Joseph was God’s instrument for preserving His people along with the Egyptians. The descendants of Jacob had grown into a great people. They filled the land of Egypt but now a man came to power for refused to recognize Joseph, his contributions to Egyptian society, and who had grown to despise the Hebrew people. This ruler called on the people to deal “shrewdly” with the Hebrews lest they become too powerful. The shrewdness grew to suspicion which turned to fear which produced hostility which eventual erupted into hatred. First they were enslaved and afflicted. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied. Next, Pharaoh sought to secretly eliminate all the male children at birth. His instruction to the 2 midwives, “Every son born is to be killed, every daughter allowed to live.” But the midwives feared God more than they feared the king of Egypt so they refused. Next Pharaoh declared to all the people, “Every son born to the Hebrews is to be cast into the Nile.” Enslavement, infanticide, genocide. What was the response of the Hebrew people? “God where are you? Why don’t you do something? Save us!” Yet, nothing changed.
It seemed the heavens were brass. Their prayers got not higher than the ceiling. Meanwhile, everyday was just as bitter as the day before. The burden grew with each passing day. Their children were dying. Why doesn’t God do something? Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever wondered why God was silent, why He was unresponsive? Our text this morning is found in the second chapter of Exodus.
Text: Exodus 2:1-25
Remember the big picture of Exodus that came from pastor Mark Dever. God works sovereignly. God works sovereignly to save a special people. God works sovereignly to save a special people for His own glory.
God was at work. God is always working. Our God is not the watchmaker god who sets things in motion then sets back to see how it all plays out. Our God sovereignly, providentially works in all things. Further, He is always working for our good and His glory. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like He is. There are times when we see no good in anything going on around us but that does not change things. This is why we live by faith and not by sight. We live according to what He says, not how we feel or how we see things.
Pharaoh has called for the death of all male children born to the Hebrew slaves.
Each son born is to be cast into the Nile, a sacrifice to the gods.
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Thesis: Exodus 2 underscores the fact that the gracious, providential hand of God alone can deliver His enslaved people.
Remember the book of Exodus opens in away that points our attention back to Genesis 46. When God told Jacob not to be afraid to go down into Egypt. That He would be with them, that He would keep them and that He would bring them out of Egypt. Exodus is the story of redemption and deliverance. The tile “Exodus” means “to depart” or “to come out from.” The message from the book is that God delivers. Salvation is the work of God.
There are three (3) things I want you to note from this chapter.
- God sovereignly orchestrates history to provide and providentially preserve a deliverer. (2:1-10)
- God patiently guides a sincere yet impetuous would-be deliverer . (2:11-15)
- God graciously prepares an appropriate instrument of deliverance. (2:15-22)
Conclusion:
Meanwhile back in Egypt things had not changed…
2:23-25.
Note: God heard their groaning, God remembered his covenant, God saw and God knew.
Friend, you are not alone, you are not forgotten. God knows you. He knows your circumstance and He is working for your good.
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