1 / 17

Studies in Exodus

Studies in Exodus. Presentation 01. The Table of Contents. Chapter 1v1-22 Introduction Chapter 2v1-25 Preparing a Deliverer Chapter 3v1-22 The Call of Moses [1] Chapter 4v1-17 The Call of Moses [2]

glora
Download Presentation

Studies in Exodus

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Studies in Exodus Presentation 01

  2. The Table of Contents Chapter 1v1-22 Introduction Chapter 2v1-25 Preparing a Deliverer Chapter 3v1-22 The Call of Moses [1] Chapter 4v1-17 The Call of Moses [2] Chapter 4v18-5v21 Final Preparations Chapter 5v22-6v27 Discouragement and Comfort Chapter 6v28-7v24 The Exposure of Evil Chapter 8-v1-10v29 Idolatry: A Dangerous Refuge Chapter 11v1-10 Corrective to Final Judgment Chapter 12v1-30 Blood on the Doorposts Chapter 12v31-42 God’s Faithfulness Chap.13v1-16 Consecration of The Redeemed Chap.13v17-14v18 God’s Dead Ends Chap.14v19-31 Power to Deliver Chap.15v1-21 The Exultation of God Presentation 01

  3. Introduction Chapter 1v1-22 Presentation 01

  4. Introduction Students of music will know that many composers place at the beginning of their symphonies, an overture. The overture provides a taster to the themes that will be developed in greater depth and detail as the work unfolds. There is a sense in which the book of Exodus is an overture to the symphony of redemption that finds its fulfilment is Christ. Exodus records the great deliverance of God’s people from their bondage in Egypt and their adoption by God [Hos 11.1]. The purpose of this redeemed people was to be his showcase to an unbelieving world. Presentation 01

  5. The Evil of Oppression 430 years previously Jacob and his household of 70 persons had, at the invitation of Joseph, travelled from Canaan into Egypt in order to escape a world famine. Since then their number had grown to approximately 2 million. But days of prosperity gave way to adversity. Life in Egypt was becoming unbearable. Why? Canaan Shechem Mediterranean Sea Hebron Goshen Egypt Presentation 01

  6. The Evil of Oppression 1. A new king came to power in Egypt. In reality a new dynastic family, thought to be the Hyksos from Southern Egypt, had taken control. As a result Joseph's significant contribution to Egypt’s preservation was forgotten. How quickly we can forget those who do us good. A friend of the famous British Prime Minister, William Pitt, commented on the fact that the greatest statesman of the age was forgotten ten days after his death! Presentation 01

  7. The Evil of Oppression 2. The new ruling family felt very insecure. This was because of the large numbers of Hebrew people living within their borders. They were oppressed not because of what they had done but because of what they might do. Does that sound familiar? When rulers seize power, they are always looking over their shoulders. They fear a coup, a takeover cf. Saddam Hussein’s fear of the Kurds and Shi’ites, or Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s fear of reformists in Iran. Presentation 01

  8. The Evil of Oppression 3. Because of Pharaoh’s ‘wisdom’ cf. v10 This wisdom was nothing less than cold-blooded, calculating, heartless statecraft. Worldly wisdom argues that whatever measures promote one’s own interests and hinder one’s opponents are to be revered. ‘Crush people, bring them low, weaken them physically, psychologically and emotionally and they will not dare to rebel’. But such enslavement is really the policy of hell. Pharaoh's wisdom was foolish because he failed to take God into his calculations. Presentation 01

  9. The Evil of Oppression Like some chess grand master, Pharaoh saw all sorts of potential dangers as he thought several moves ahead - the increase of the Hebrew people, the possibility of invasion from the North, Israel joining sides with the invading force and then escaping from the land, depriving Egypt of its cheap labour market. Never once did it occur to him that God might have something to say about the moves he made to oppress his people. Worldly wisdom is foolishness! [1Cor.1.18-2.16] Presentation 01

  10. The Plan of God Was God oblivious to all that was going on? In the midst of tyranny and inhumanity people often ask, ‘Where is God? Why does he not respond immediately?’ The Hebrew people had experienced many years of oppression! How baffled they must have felt? God seemed to be standing idly by as they were being crushed. But God was at work! Previously they had been a loose collection of tribal families but persecution was drawing them together , giving them a shared vision of freedom. Persecution does that! The nation that God had promised Abraham [Gen 12.2] was in the process of being born. Presentation 01

  11. The Plan of God Secondly , the peoples currently living in the promised land were experiencing God’s patience. Their iniquity grew worse and worse over a 400 year period. Instead of reforming they became increasingly intransigent in their opposition to the law of God written in their hearts. God waited and waited and waited giving the Canaanites the opportunity to repent. [Gen 15v16] Meanwhile the Hebrews suffered in Egypt. Presentation 01

  12. The Plan of God Thirdly , we are able to see that the increasing oppression of the Hebrews gave momentum to their readiness to leave Egypt. Previously life had been good, the riches of Egypt so attractive. Indeed, Egypt had a spiritually dulling effect on the lives of God’s people . Prosperity can do that! The Hebrews had begun to put down roots into Egypt and lose sight of their God given mission. Some had even been drawn to worship the idols of Egypt! But then life became bitter. Their severe treatment in Egypt was the surgical knife God used to separate them from it. It weaned them from the attractions of a godless society. Presentation 01

  13. The Plan of God Persecution made their inheritance in Canaan appear all the more attractive. Steel that has known the affliction of the furnace is stronger as a result. Spices smell sweetest when they have been crushed. So too affliction makes the believer, durable, resilient and determined. Can we think in these terms, when we face the afflictions that God allows to enter our own lives? Or think on a larger scale, might the persecution of the church become the necessary instrument designed to separate us to God? Presentation 01

  14. The Instrumentality of the Plan Now God is ready for every emergency. The situation in Egypt did not take him by surprise. Before we are introduced to Moses [God's deliverer] we are introduced to two Hebrew midwives. They were commanded by Pharaoh to carry out his policy of infanticide. Tyrants are often cowards who want others to do their dirty work! If these women had agreed to Pharaoh’s plan what riches might have been theirs! Pharaoh did not reckon upon them being women of faith cf v17"the midwives feared God". They feared God more than the king and that is why they did not obey him. Presentation 01

  15. The Instrumentality of the Plan When we examine history we find that those who have truly feared God have brought the greatest benefit to their people. Think of the impact that Wesley's and Whitefield made on Britain in the C18th. Historians tell us that the UK was ripe for revolution – like the one that took place in France! But it was averted by the spiritual revival that swept the nation. A hidden work is often going on in society by unsung and unknown heroes of the faith. The names of such ordinary people do not appear emblazoned on the front pages of our daily newspapers but they are carefully recorded in heaven. Presentation 01

  16. The Instrumentality of the Plan How might you contribute to the eternal purposes of God? In Westminster Abbey ,in London among its many plaques there is one that simply bears the name, Lord Lawrence, the date of his death and the words: "He feared man so little because he feared God so much". What an epitaph! What might our epitaph read? The brave stand of the midwives was rewarded by God cf v20... Their own personal heartache and domestic tragedies are reversed. They were not impoverished by putting God first, nor will we be. God’s word makes it abundantly clear, “Those who honour me I will honour”. 1Sam 2v30. Presentation 01

  17. Conclusion As we listen to this overture of the great redemptive purposes of God, it is obvious that although those purposes were not immediately clear, nevertheless nothing was allowed to frustrate them. God will often use the simplest of means to overthrow those who seek to frustrate him. What might God do through ordinary men and women in days of trial if they are prepared to take a stand for him? The Pharaoh’s of this world may frown and rage but what is that compared with the smile of God. Presentation 01

More Related