Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 6 Lesson 51
This week in Sunday school we begin a unit of lessons all about the Exodus, starting with an investigation into how God protected Moses before sending Moses to deliver Israel. What were the different ways that Moses’ life was put into danger even before Moses grew up? Were the midwives right to lie and protect babies? Was Moses wrong to kill an Egyptian and rescue a Hebrew? And what are we to learn about God through all of this?
Our main text for this lesson is Exodus 1:1-2:15.
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well it is time for us to begin so let me officially say good morning welcome back to Sunday school we begin a new unit today unit six and unit six is going to be all about the Exodus literally we’re gonna be in the book of Exodus from for all the next ten lessons and we’re going to start with the birth of Moses and we end at the end of the book of Exodus with the inauguration of the tabernacle on Mount Sinai now the book of Exodus is a extremely key book in the Bible so many times as we move to the rest the Old Testament and even the New Testament they’re going to be references made back to the events that took place during the exodus or in the book of Exodus so this is definitely one that you want to of course this is always true but definitely you want to pay attention as we move and steady through the book of Exodus as we make our way through the scriptures but of course the other thing to note is that Exodus is an exodus and it’s events are often portrayed in film many of you have probably seen the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston or maybe the Prince of Egypt that cartoon or maybe other other movies based on the events of the Exodus there’s nothing necessarily wrong with the movie being made out of biblical events but just remember they’re they’re just movies they’re not inspired records they sometimes take liberties are they according to their medium they need to make decisions that mean they’re adding things or changing things that aren’t actually in the Bible so you want to make sure we want to make sure that we actually know what the Bible says and that our children actually know what the Bible says and there’s not simply relying on cartoons so be ready for what we encounter in the book of Exodus to maybe clash a little bit with what you see in films at today’s lesson as I said we’re at the beginning of the book of Exodus we’re looking at how God uniquely raises up and protects Moses as a deliverer for God’s people now this protection strangely it involves things like child abandonment wise even murder so what is God doing enough of this and what are we to learn from it from our lives today that’s what we’re going about – gate let’s pray before we go our gracious God we we thank you for your great and sovereign provision at all times you are the king nothing is beyond your control and you are doing things all things well even if they involve terrible sufferings sometimes you know what you’re doing you have no right to question you but lord help us to continue to look to you during those times for you will bring old Smit deliverance and the right time in the right way pray God you help me to be able to explain your word now and Jesus name Amen all right please open your Bibles to Exodus chapter 1 I want to say a quick word about the timing of these events I don’t want to get into the whole big discussion of why there are different views even among conservative evangelical teachers as to exact timing of the events that patriarchs and the events of Exodus but you can see from the slide before you Answers in Genesis takes a slightly different view than say other people like if you have the MacArthur Study Bible it has its own timeline again I’m not going to go through the different details there but just know that generally we’re talking about the patriarchs the events that we’ve seen at Genesis probably taking place around 2100 to 1800 BC and the events of Exodus and leading up to Exodus taking place more around 1500 to 1450 BC I’m I lean more towards a 1445 date for the Exodus and of course this intersects a little bit with what we saw last week and the movie patterns of evidence Exodus but if you if you took Answers in Genesis timeline I don’t think that’s I don’t think that’s wrong I don’t think that’s a bad thing but just know that there’s gonna be a little bit of tentativeness with this but certainly these things did happen in history but moving on from the time of the patriarchs what took place in between the time of Joseph and the time of Moses that’s the first thing we look at by looking at Exodus 1 verses 1 to 14 now we’ve got about four paths just look at today but we’re not gonna spend a great deal of time on this one well let’s start just by reading Exodus 1 1 2 14 it says now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob they came each one with his household Reuben Simeon Levi Judah Issachar Zebulun and Benjamin Dan Naphtali GAD and Asher all the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were seventy in number but Joseph was already in Egypt Joseph died and all his brothers all that generation but the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly and multiplied and became exceedingly mighty so that the land was filled with them now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph he said to his people behold the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we are come let us deal wisely with them or else they will multiply and in the event of war they will join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and apart from the land so they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor and they built for pharaoh sward cities be Thome and Rameses but the more they afflicted them the more they multiplied and the more they spread out so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel the Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously and they made their lives bitter with hard labor and mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labour in the field all their Labor’s which they rigorously imposed on them let’s just notice a few details of this section as background but we’ll see later notice first of all that in the years after Joseph the people of Israel are multiplying greatly and verse 7 is extremely effective this notice five different descriptions all saying the same idea Israel is growing you think Moses tried to make a point then verse 8 we have a turn in the narrative a new king a new Pharaoh arises over Egypt who does not know Joseph maybe that this is not just a new thing a new king or a new Pharaoh but actually a new dynasty a new house of rulers in Egypt and this one’s not connected with Joseph at all this Pharaoh looks at the situation of Egypt and he becomes afraid he thinks verse 10 Israel will unite with an enemy during war and destroy Egypt this is a big deal because verse 9 the Pharaoh says they’re actually more numerous than we are that might be a little bit of hyperbole but certainly there’s a great amount of Israelites to the amount of Egyptians so what is Pharaoh’s strategic solution well let’s enslave the Israelites let’s afflict them with hard labor take away their wealth take away their independence keep strict controls on them force them to work hard so they don’t have time to think about rebellion and so they don’t multiply so much meanwhile Pharaoh will have a large a strong if not very well motivated workforce and he puts them to work but notice in verse 12 what is the unexpected result of Israel’s enslavement it doesn’t stop their multiplication they continue to multiply they multiplied even more and so it fills the Egyptians with dread but there is another result and that is this incessant heart labor makes the lives of the Hebrews the Israelites bitter and this is a little bit hard for us to imagine right we enjoy so many liberties in America but Israel was put into brutal slavery can you imagine living in that situation especially if you were one of those who who made the transition from being just one of those Weller’s of goshen enjoying your time in Egypt and suddenly you’re enslaved you and your children and certainly there are probably some people asking among the people of Israel where is God where is the God of Abraham the god of Isaac the God of Jacob how could he let this happen to us why isn’t he keeping his covenant with us but we know perhaps some of them also knew and trusted that God was indeed keeping covenant because as we already saw even last week what had God promised in Genesis 15 and elsewhere what did God promise he said that they would multiply what else he said that they’d be enslaved and he even said how long it would take place about four hundred years they would be dwellers in a foreign land they’d be enslaved but God also prophesied at the end at that time he would bring them out he would judge their oppressors and they would even be enriched as they leave so everything is happening just as God told God was keeping covenant with it but the blessed purpose for which all these things were happening was not yet manifest and isn’t this similar to what we kept seeing throughout the book of Genesis why was Sarah barren why was Esau so wrathful against his brother Jacob why was Joseph enslaved and imprisoned these were hard things and yet God was being a great and wondrous planned through it all though there was suffering in the meantime they had every reason to trust God and of course so do we so Pharaoh’s stratagem of nullifying the danger of Israel limiting Israel’s growth is to enslave everyone and cruel enslavement but it doesn’t work so he’s gonna try something else let’s look at our next passage now let’s look at exes 115 22 and this one will investigate in a little bit more detail so beat long with me starting University of team then the King you think Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives one of whom was named Chiffre and the other was impure he said we’re helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birth stool if it is a son you shall put him to death but if it is a daughter and you should then she shall live but the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them but let the boys live so the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them why have you done this thing and let them always live in midwives said to Pharaoh because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women are they a vigorous and give birth before the Midwife can get to them so God was good to the midwives and the people multiplied and became very mighty because the midwives feared God he established households for them then Pharaoh ended all his people saying every son who was born you ought to cast into the Nile every daughter got to keep alive to make some observations on this burrows new approach is to act brew to be heat from midwives Shiphrah and puah it directs the to mid-ice never there helping a hebrew a woman to give birth kill the boys let the girls live but the midwives do not obey fair oats can end notice verse 17 it says because they feared God they did not obey they let the boys the pharaoh confronts them over disobedience and the women defend themselves by responding that the hebrew women are simply more vigorous than the egyptian women they’re always giving birth so fast that midwife hasn’t even got there the midwife can’t do anything to the child notice in verses 20 to 21 it says that God blesses the midwives because of this it even gives them household to her families of their own she been considered a great blessing have children have family as a woman and meanwhile the Israelites continued no multiply Pharaoh seeing that the second plan has failed he moves to plan 3 his third solution for dealing with Israelites is verse 22 let’s just have all the Hebrew boys killed anytime you see them whether they survive birth or not kill the boys allow the daughters to live and who’s responsible for carrying out this command this third plan of Pharaoh what would you say SOTA success man of all these people saying so these brought all Egyptians on board with its decree throughout the kingdom Egyptians if you see a Hebrew boy grab him and throw him in the Nile that’s your obligation from Pharaoh kill the boys let’s ask some questions of interpretation based on this passage first why does Pharaoh want to kill just to keep boys future soldiers okay that’s a good point the boys are the ones who would be future soldiers they would greatest ancient Egypt that’s good Myles couldn’t you know though the girls could marry into Egyptian but the Eternity would determine their essentially their nationality their allegiance that is your like culture descendants would be passed down through the mail if there were only female slaves well they would intermarry with the Egyptians they would become concubine Egyptians and eventually the Hebrew people would just disappear but if we can just gradually get rid of the the male influence then we can force the Israelites to become fictions so I think both what consent and Kate said they’re both they’re both at play here it’s a strategic to get rid of the boys and keep the girls now another question who exactly are these midwives we’re told that only to meet with Pharaoh but such a burgeoning Ebru population surely needs more than two midwives so why does trio meet with only two it may be that these are kind of like head midwives there are other midwives besides them but they’re kind of the ones who set the tone they set the agenda for the rest of the Midwife oh it may be that they were a test pair Pharaoh had this plan he’s like I’m gonna try it with you to see how it goes and if it works well I’ll get the other midwives I think is probably more the first but certainly they weren’t the only two midwives notice that they’re called Hebrew midwives some have suggested that these women are not actually Hebrews they’re just the midwives of the Hebrews they’re actually Egyptians this was the rabbinic tradition even for a long time because it would be odd for Pharaoh to expect ethnic Hebrew midwives to betray their own people and murder boy infants though Egyptian midwives they might be loyal and trusting enough to do Pharaoh’s will moreover it appears that furrow likely intended for these murders at birth to be secret to be passed off as accidents oh you know just a miscarriage and this would lessen the chance of provoking the Hebrew to rebellion native Egyptians are more likely to follow through on this and keep these murders a secret however as a counter-argument some people argue that the Shiphrah and puah names they are Semitic in origin they’re not Egyptian and so these women are indeed ethnic Hebrews but even that’s contended so we’re not entirely sure in either case God uses these two obedient women to sovereignly protect and preserve these people including Moses now when confronted by Pharoah the midwives present an excuse but are they lying to pharaoh and if they are are they justified in that line that’s worth noting the passage does not actually say that they lie just records their excuse some interpreters contend that the midwives are not actually lying here they’re telling the truth and God could have asked God could have caused the Hebrew women to bear so easily and quickly that god-fearing midwives ever even face the choice of murdering or not murdering an infant this would be consistent with God providing this astounding population growth may be easy Ebru births were part of that but while the passage does not directly mention lying it does indicate at least some level of deception toward Pharaoh because we noted verse 17 says the midwives did not do as the king commanded them they chose to disobey because they feared God this means that the midwives had some opportunity to obey they could have done what Pharaoh said but they did not choose to do so and that’s why God blesses them so whatever this excuses that they tell Pharaoh it does not tell the whole truth if it is truthful at all the reason for the disobedience to Pharaoh is not simply quick births but because the king’s command was evil and because the women feared God more than him now some have suggested some interprets have suggested that the midwives they purposefully delay going to these Hebrew women in labor and they had the people pray for quick deliveries and so what they would be telling Pharaoh is actually true oh you know those Hebrew women they just give birth before we get there and they just leave out the part about saying oh yeah we delayed getting there so we made sure that they always gave birth before we got there maybe they’re not saying everything so what they’re saying is true from a certain point of view but it might also be that they just simply lied just simply lied to Pharaoh and there are plenty of interpreters who say this as well but what we make of all this did they lie would they have been wrong to lie and would it have been wrong if they simply decided not to give the whole truth and we’re not talking about a non important line this isn’t like lying about someone’s surprise birthday party talking about the lives of thousands of Hebrew boys what about this lie if it is a lie now these questions that bring appear they’re not very different from that old ethical quandary would you lie to Nazis about hiding Jews in your house and we can take a long time to discuss all the ins and outs of that question we’re not going to do that we don’t have time to really fully exploit that but I do want to set before you two principle two principles that I think will help you if think through that question a little bit the first is withholding part of the truth from someone is not necessarily sinful withholding part of the truth from someone is not necessarily sinful this may surprise you because sometimes you hear people say a half-truth is a whole lie we’ve got a nuance that saying a little bit by the way it doesn’t come from the Bible it’s just something people say because take your Bibles and turn to first samuel chapter 16 First Samuel 16 keep your think our next but in 1st Samuel 16 just keeping the context King Saul has disobeyed God twice in some pretty serious ways God has announced to Saul that Saul is not gonna be king it more God’s gonna take away his kingdom and the King to someone else now look what happens in 1st Samuel 16 1 to 4 it says now the Lord and that’s Yahweh now you always said to Samuel how long will you grieve over Saul since I’ve rejected him from being king over Israel fill your horn with oil and go I will send you to Jesse that Jesse the Bethlehem I where I have selected a king for myself among his sons but Samuel said how can I go when Saul years of it he will kill me and Yahweh said take a heifer with you and say I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh you shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice I will show you what you showed you and you shall anoint for me the one who might designate to you and you see what’s happened in just a few verses samuel is afraid Saul will kill Samuel 2 Samuel goes to Bethlehem why would he fear this else all he wants to hold on to his kingship he doesn’t want any rival kings if he knows Samuel was going to anoint a new king he might kill Samuel Oh what does God what does our holy God command Samuel to say to Saul tell him going to Bethlehem to offer a sacrifice now is that true yes Samuel going to him to offer a sacrifice apparently it is and that’s why Samuels taking an effort that’s why he’s gonna invite Jesse to the sacrifice there’s gonna be a sacrifice in Bethlehem but is that the only reason ASIMO is going to Bethlehem is that even the main reason why same was going to bet him no it’s not Samuel doesn’t give the whole reason and he’s directed by God not to do so now if we try to apply that máxima because a whole lie here the problem if we say Samuel you essentially are lying what’s the problem I would make God because he directs Samuel to sickness a liar go go tell this life thank you so clearly it is not wrong to withhold part of the truth sometimes and this is not the only place of Scripture happen but sometimes it is and there needs to be a caveat to this if with wanting the truth would be truly unloving to someone or it would be dishonouring to parents or it would result in some other sin you can’t do it and verse along these lines proverbs 3:27 says do not withhold good those to whom it is due when it is in your power to do it so when you have good information that withholding we’ve done loving to somebody you can’t hold it back a good example this is when Abraham neglected to share that tiny insignificant detail besides his Sarab his half-sister she is also his wife and this got him into trouble and got other people into trouble Pharaoh and King Abimelech who both Sarah was three and they took her as their own wife they would have appreciated that little bit of extra information that by the way she’s already married to me so this isn’t it has to be some nuance this if it’s unloving to withhold that information you can’t do it but bringing this back to Exodus maybe this is what the Hebrew midwives did they told pair of the truth but they left out some details they didn’t have to give so it wasn’t wrong now in my opinion it’s more likely that they just slide the way they phrase this oh you know they’re just so vigorous they’re so quick the way they say that I don’t know how you can get around that not being a lie so we still have to ask is is lying ever justified if we go back to the samuel example okay maybe God did tell him to lie and maybe lying is okay especially if it’s for a good purpose well here’s the second principle I’m gonna bring before you God’s own character is the standard of what is right God’s own characters of Santa delight it’s not simply what he commands me commands is based on who he is might it ever be rut tool I could saving a life or saving many lives justify lying let’s just ask can God lie and Titus 1:2 is explicit in it in response says in the hope of eternal life which God who cannot lie promised long ages ago that’s pretty clear God cannot lie yet we also know from Scripture that God is all good all just all love and all truth so can lying ever be right if God cannot do I think the answer has to be no because otherwise there’d be something lacking in God maybe something lacking in His goodness is justice or is love its truth so but it’s never good for God to lie why should is ever good to LA doesn’t the bible city doesn’t about emphasizing again that God has the standard of what is right but go to the Book of Leviticus God keeps saying be holy for I am holy be like me I have a standard Matthew 5:48 Jesus says you ought to be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect i fusions 5:1 Paul says be imitators of God to tell the truth is to fundamentally imitate God thus it is right but telling a lie imitates whom Satan right just like Jesus says in John 8:44 never he that is Satan speaks a lie he speaks from his own nature for he is a liar and the father of lies lies come from Satan truth comes from God now I know there’s a lot more we can say but I think brothers and sisters you can save yourself enrolling in a philosophy course or ethics course when it comes to this issue of lying it doesn’t matter I would say lying is never justified because lying is fundamentally unlike God now you say well what about hiding the Jews what would I say in that situation I don’t know you can get creative you can be strategic with your words it’s not like I had to tell them the whole truth or I have to tell them a lot think about how Jesus responded to tough questions in the New Testament they’d be like hey dude we got to pay taxes to Caesar or don’t wait and then he gets some response that’s unexpected he says give to Caesar what Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s he was our Lord showed great wisdom and how he responded to difficult questions and we can do the same but if Jesus were hiding Jews do you think he would lie if you want to say yes you got to check your Christology because Jesus is God and God cannot lie Wow hey lying is never justified though bringing us back to Exodus if he tree wise midwives actually lied and I think they did they send they send in doing so doesn’t matter their intentions doesn’t matter a good result lying is always a defamation of God’s character because through lying you say there’s something good that’s lacking in God yeah I’m gonna do this good thing here that God can’t do because there’s something lacking in you the question actually arises well if what they did was wrong then why does God approve them why does he bless them well in response I would say it’s like what God does what they have at Jericho later he also lies but she also is commended in the scriptures even for her faith the key is God does not commend midwives for their luck but for their faith demonstrated in their fundamental action of disobeying Pharaoh and letting poisonous same with Rahab her fundamental righteous action was welcoming the spies and sending them out another way but the Bible commencer doesn’t commend her for her lie but a commencer for welcoming the spies lying wasn’t the righteous part God commended these ladies for the more fundamentally righteous action that they did in each situation so I don’t think we have to say oh because they were blessed God no Civic their lie Oh doesn’t follow a fact I think the scriptures are clear that lying is never justified because it’s opposite that’s character now of course this is quite a bit of a rap trail the point of this passage is not to teach us about the rightness of telling the truth and the wrongness of lie what is the point of what we just read what’s Moses really emphasized what would you say God is being faithful to his covenant I have seen the sovereign faithfulness of God and especially how he is protecting his people whether these midwives were Egyptian or Hebrew truthful or false justified or unjustified God arranges that the very people that Pharoah Commission’s with this undercover murder scheme they refuse to carry it out and why because just as what said God was going to remain faithful to his covenant with Abraham and Israel he permits a certain amount of evil to happen to his people he allows them to be enslaved but he says I’m not gonna let you get away with this one here I’m stopping you this is like BAE lakhs attempt member bheyl aqui hires Balaam to curse Israel just like that situation all of Pharoah schemes to weaken and destroy Israel they proved to be useless even counterproductive and God was reminding Israel as Moses records this God is reminding Israel that he is always in control he will always keep his promises even when people directly oppose what God has said brothers and sister this is still true God is still God whether people disobey they partly obey and compromise or they simply do what’s right God’s good purposes will come to pass on behalf of his people that’s good news because that means that you can trust God you may have noticed Pharaoh’s not done trying to oppose God in fact I mean the Pharaohs are just getting started nits the end of chapter 1 verax shifts from covert ops skiing to a public decree their murder of the Hebrew boys and by the way I should say I’m doing some a matter of fact and discussing things like slavery and infanticide let’s not miss that these are atrocious these are abominable acts that pharaoh was attempting to enact in egypt these were terrible sins against god’s people and against God and this was part of why God judges Egypt later yes let’s not miss this even these terrible decrees these wicked decrees or something God was using for God’s own good purposes these purposes involved a certain man named Moses speaking of Moses let’s meet the lad look at Exodus chapter 2 X is 2 verses 1 to 10 see the account of Moses birth let’s read it it says now a man from the house of Levi went and made a daughter of Levi a woman conceived and bore a son when she saw that he was beautiful she hid three months but when she could hide him no longer she got him a wicker basket it covered it over with tar and pitch then she put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the know his sister stood at a distance to find out what would happened to him the darling Pharaoh came down to bathe at the knot with her maidens walking alongside the Nile and she saw the basket among their feets center made and she brought it to her when she opened it she saw the child and behold oh it was crying and she had pity on it and said this is one of the Hebrews children then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you Pharaoh’s daughter said to her go ahead so the girl went and called the child’s mother and Pharaoh’s daughter said to her take this child away and nurse him for me and I will give him I will give you your wages so the woman took the child and nursed him a child grew and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son and she named him Moses and said because I drew him out of the water all right let’s make some observations on this somewhat famous passage remember at this time we’re in phase 3 of Pharaoh’s plan to deal with Israel it’s China weakened the people of Israel by commanding his people to throw the infant Ebru boys in the Nile River kill them by drowning but it so happens I’m certain man and a certain woman from the house of Levi they marry have a son now it’s interesting we don’t get the names of his parents here what we do later x26 what are the names of moses as parents if you don’t know it already you don’t have to turn there it’s a MM and chauka been M Ramesses father Djokovic his mother but Moses doesn’t want to focus on the names just yet just kind of wants to just see see them as a regular man and wife from house key by now these parents they do not obey the command to destroy their baby boy and why don’t they interesting it says because they saw that he was beautiful that’s an interesting response what is Moses a particularly beautiful baby maybe what may just be that this is the way any parent would feel Ward his or her own child as an image bearer of God and as their own image bearer he’s beautiful though it’s not mentioned here Hebrews 11 23 gives us a little bit of extra information writer Peru says in Hebrews 11 23 by faith Moses when he was born was hidden for three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king’s edict so they say her right of Hebrew says this was an act of faith the parents were believing Yahweh and their decision not to kill or to abandon their son so the high baby Moses or whatever he was called for those that beginning part of his life they hide him for three months but as the baby grows they can no longer hide him and so they decide to make an ark for him that’s the term actually behind the word basket in our passage it’s the word they ball thank you it’s the same one used for Noah’s Ark they make an ark cover it with pitch and they put Moses into the Nile then Moses’s sister who we later learn is named Miriam she stands at a distance to see what would happen to her brother and what obstacles does the text say that Moses encounters as he floats down the Nile Oh none as far as we know there are no crocodiles no raging Rapids though movies made to pick something different in fact basket of said three to be set among the reeds and that’s probably meeting that this basket is not moving very much at all I mean this is a slow part of the river but it just so happens what do you know Pharaoh’s daughter comes to bathe in the Nile at this moment at this place and her attendant maids are walking along the Nile and fros daughter notices this little arc she calls one of her maids to bring it to what does Pharaoh’s daughter notice when she opens the arc it’s a boy inside he’s crying how does she respond she has pity on him yes compassionate now noticing this response Moses his sister offers to find the Hebrew nurse for Pharaoh’s daughter Pharaoh’s daughter accepts and Miriam probably goes and gets Moses his real mother Pharaoh’s daughter agrees to pay jakka bed to nurse and raise Moses Moses grows a little more Giacobbe it brings him to the princess and then the boy is named Moses which means drawn out front and explanation of her passage by the way Moses is an Egyptian name which makes sense these name by Pharaoh’s daughter and you actually see the name Moses as part of the other as part of names of some pharaohs and other Egyptians so this great man of Israel is actually as an Egyptian name let’s move to our interpretation again why does Moses mother decide to put Moses in this Ark in the Nile we don’t really know it’s not a kind of an odd choice as a parent right I mean they’re they can’t fight him anymore perhaps it was done in hope that God would provide something miraculous after all they’re hiding in for three months was by faith so this decision likely also was born out of faith additionally perhaps Moses if mother knew that Pharaoh’s daughter was coming down to a certain section of the Nile to bathe so Jacque plants was this intentionally in the princess’s path in hope that Pharaoh’s daughter will have pity on this Hebrew baby and let him live whatever the reason God again uses this choice and uses his Moses his parents faith not only let Moses survive but to plant Moses in Pharaoh’s own household which leads us to a second question why does Pharaoh his daughter decide to take Moses as her own son again we can’t say for sure but we can have a little bit of an educated guess it may be that this daughter was Sobek neferu or one of the other childless princesses of Egyptian history so she having no child and needing perhaps an heir to the throne saw Moses as a gift from the gods Moses might be a gift from the god of fertility the god of the Nile his name was happy that’s probably why pharaoh’s daughter was bathing in the first place it wasn’t just that she was trying to get clean this was probably an act of worship to a god of the Nile this was a fertility ritual and so she’s doing this ritual a baby appears maybe this is a gift from happy the text does say whoever that Pharaoh’s daughter recognizes this is what the Hebrew children so maybe it was difficult for her to interpret this circumstance that’s in her finely wrought by an Egyptian god but then again maybe not she said this is what the God gave a Hebrew kid so I’ll just with that but notice the text does say God or notice the Texas she had pity where did this pity come from ultimately is from God God caused her to have compassion on this boy perhaps drawing on her natural maternal instinct so she takes him as her own son ultimately we have to say what happens is no coincidence this is God guiding Pharaoh’s daughter to do the unexpected who adopt a Hebrew boy as her own child and really as a potential heir or at the heir to the throne of Pharaoh and talk about irony Pharaoh has commanded the Egyptians to kill Hebrew boys when they find them and his own daughter saves a Hebrew boy and makes him a Prince of Egypt I think God is fine emphasize something about his control God is moving people and circumstances to accomplish his good plans and fulfill his promises Israel this is a great arrangement for Moses his family not only does Moses live but the parents they get more time raising their kid you can get paid for it jakka been made even sense that her son would one day being the perfect position deliver the Hebrews out of their cruel bondage now before we look at an S pact next passage do you note that Moses is saved but not necessarily all the Hebrew boys it may be that many Egyptians did take boots when they found them and they did throw them into the knot did kill them and this is just another one of the great injustice is mad Pharaoh and by extension the people who obeyed a pharaoh committed against the people of jewell we don’t know how widespread that was we know that God is still protecting his people but it’s likely that some Hebrew boys were killed but God protected Moses he had a plan he was gonna do with Moses but first things go a little bit differently than maybe what we are talked about would have expected look at verses 11 to 15 in chapter 2 starting in verse 11 it says now came about in those days when Moses had grown up and it went out to his brethren looked on their hard Labor’s and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew one of his brethren so he looked this way and that when he saw that there was no one around he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand it went out the next day and behold two Hebrews were fighting with each other and it said to the offender why are you striking your companion but he said who made you a prince or a judge over us are you attending to kill me as you killed the Egyptian and Moses was afraid and said surely the matters become known and Pharaoh heard of this matter he tried to kill Moses but Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh settled in the land of Midian let me sat down by oh well all right just a few more observations this passage there we go so Moses grows up grows up to be about forty years old details not given here but Stephen comments on Moses his birth in acts 7 any notes that boasts just about 40 when these things take place Moses has been raised in royalty he’s enjoyed all the pleasures and education of the people of Egypt Moses decides whoever then he wants to get more acquainted with the hard lives of the Hebrews while doing so Moses encounters and Egyptian beating a Hebrew now you may notice a certain word is repeated between verses 11 and 12 goes out to look on his brethren and he sees one of his are actually all of this is in verse 11 he sees one of his brethren being beaten that’s a key term raised as an Egyptian so waist eating just takes the book around sees it’s no one there so he strikes down the Egyptian that means he kills him Oasis kills this Egyptian and he hides the Egyptians body in this and that very next day Moses goes to break up a fight between two Hebrews notice one of them’s responds in verse 14 he says who made you a prince or a judge over us what does this response communicate the idea of Moses being a leader and deliverer they accept that now they reject him at least this man duds who made you Harley and this Hebrew also mentioned Moses’s day old murder now apparently this man spoke responding to Moses he avoided being killed at birth so apparently a lot of Hebrew boys did survive sure a lot of Egyptians refused to carry out Pharaoh’s command this man responds to Moses this way and this is a big realization to Moses because he realizes that the word on what he did to that Egyptian is out he knows he needs to flee she’s avoid punishment from pharaoh and pharaoh indeed tries to kill Moses but Moses is able to escape Moses successfully leaves Egypt goes to the land of Midian you’re wondering where Midian is think of the Middle East the southwest coast across from the coast of Egypt that’s probably where Midian was and that’s where Moses goes now we’ll pick up more with Moses next time but that’s where we leave him today now let’s ask a few more questions and interpretation first why does Moses kill the Egyptian you say isn’t it obvious well let’s just fully tease it out why did he do it he took matters into his own hands we thought he would be the executor of justice that’s right so he is as you say mark taking matters into his own hands trying to execute justice it’s not entirely clear whether he kills the Egyptian after the beating had finished or a while it was taking place it does say he saw no one around so maybe the Israelite who had been beaten was no longer there so then this would be a matter of vengeance or you could even say or what Moses probably thought justice and he kills this Egyptian right so acts 7 Acts chapter 7 Stephens speech he’s making a parallel between Moses and Christ Moses is a deliverer trying to execute vengeance and defend the oppressed and just in a similar way he Moses was rejected so the Sanhedrin and the people of Israel reject Christ that’s part of Stephens point there which is a very positive take on what Moses does here and we’ll say more about that in just a second anyway is notice that he’s he’s trying to defend and avenge the people of Israel which tells you something about Moses’s attitude toward the Hebrews he does not see them as a people but his people they are his brethren and he wants to protect and deliver them now this is a righteous attitude this is a this is a fundamental turn that is very important in Moses but it leads to what is essentially murder what the Egyptian was doing was wrong to beat to oppress this Israelite and Pharaoh was wrong for allowing this to happen and not reading this kind of system in Egypt this does not give Moses the right to murder this Egyptian surely as a Prince of Egypt Moses could have done something in this situation besides kill and does not God seriously deal with murderers and those who kill Genesis chapter 9 those who shed blood God says their blood will be shed and I don’t think we can say Oh Moses was just acting as an agent of government and inaugurating justice in Egypt according to the laws of each of this this was allowable of course it was wrong before God but that did not beating someone does not justify murder still this moment of killing was very significant in the life of Moses because on what is Moses turning his back is or go ahead yeah yeah his home in where that’s right his home in Pharaoh’s household it says I’m not going to identify with verus household any more identify with my ethnic heritage but the people of the Hebrews he’s turning his back on Egypt and this is why in Hebrews Moses is were marked about in this way Hebrews 11 verses 24 to 26 it says by faith Moses when he had grown up refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter choosing rather to endure Hill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin considering the reproach of Christ greater riches and the treasures of Egypt for he was looking to the reward so despite this murder there’s something very righteous and worthy to be imitated in Moses you he’s turning his back on that sinful life and culture that is in Egypt and he’s saying I’m going with the people of God even if it means suffering I’m going with God because I know that is the right place and I know that there’s an ultimate reward there with God I think that’s part of why Stephen cites Moses it positively when he refers to this killing now again I don’t think Stephen is saying that Moses was justified necessarily but there was something fundamentally about what Moses was doing now let’s consider all the passages we look at today those four different passages what do you notice has been a theme or what are some themes consistent between these different passages we’ve looked at what’s one of them yeah go ahead sorry that’s not handy I think God using very faulty actions for his purposes right yeah that’s a good good theme murder condemned by God but being used by God that’s right even among righteous we have some people who are not necessarily doing everything they should have and yet God was using and I think we can even pretend that further God was using the clearly unrighteous actions of Pharaoh and the people of Egypt and was using those as well in fact here’s like another point there’s a there’s a clear frustration of Pharaohs purposes and evils purposes like Pharaoh’s like alright we’re gonna do this it’s gonna have this result no God’s not gonna let that happen alright we’re gonna do this and have this result no God checks you again and this is gonna be a pattern throughout the book of Exodus Pharaoh’s good Pharaoh’s gonna keep on getting frustrated not just this Pharaoh but other pharaohs I’m gonna keep on being frustrated by Darwin and this is significant because remember the people of Egypt they saw Pharaoh as a god king he’s one of the gods of Egypt but God’s gonna show again and again Pharaoh doesn’t have power I have power Pharaoh tries to do things I’m gonna frustrate those because I’m the king let me see that each one of these passages we see God is sovereign see God is keeping his promises or see God is protecting his people even while he allows evil to go to a certain extent I know there’s a passage of scripture that talks about God putting a check on the oceans he says you can come this far and no further it’s the same way with evil God says alright Egypt Pharaoh I’m gonna let you to a certain amount of evil to my people but there’s a limit this far and no further it’s the same thing with that God even does Satan right the book of Job it says you can do this to job but you’re not allowed to kill or you’re not allowed to touch his body until I say so so because God is king Yahweh is sovereign and I think this is one of the main points that we want to take away from today’s class Yahweh is the true king and if you honor and obey King Yahweh and remember Jesus is also Yahweh he identifies himself as that in a New Testament if you honor and obey King Yahweh you may suffer fact you will suffer but you will also be blessed in the end when you see God’s good purposes and promises come to pass that’s gonna be true for the people of Israel and it’s true for you as well if you will follow King Yahweh but if you oppose and repudiate King Yahweh like Pharoah attempts to do you may get away with evil in the short term or what appears to be you getting a week getting away with evil in the short term you can be proud you can be stubborn for a time but God will not allow you to do any more than what he has determined will ultimately accomplish his good purpose and in the end God will call you to account he will bring you to judgment that’s why you can’t say well God’s good purposes then I’ll just sin do whatever I want and God will make something good out of it well God will make something good out of it but he’s gonna call you to account he say you did evil and I’m going to punish you for it because God is a just God so how do you respond do you honor King Yahweh or do you try to stay your own king well as we’re running out of our time here today let me just suggest to you a few other applications few more ways of application hopefully you’re seeing a number of applications already based on what we’ve looked at but here’s just three more that I would like you to focus on number one if you’re suffering I know that many of you are in different ways or you will be this is a cursed world where we counter suffering people who oppose God oppose us or just the fallenness of the world if you’re suffering wait on God God brought the people of Israel into this time of suffering and Egypt but he had a good purpose in it and this is what we’ve been seeing isn’t it God will get to something good he will provide for you during that time of suffering keep entrusting yourself the Lord do not grow weary in doing what is right has the New Testament says God is the rewarder of those who seek Him wait on the Lord the righteous one will live by faith the back exists wait for God’s deliverance it will come right time the right way if you’re pressured by man to sin like the midwives were in this passage obey God instead now again we have that whole discussion about lying but let’s not forget the good thing that they did is they fundamentally disobeyed their the ruler of their land and this was right this is the same thing the Apostles do when they’re commanded by their ruling body the Sanhedrin don’t preach any more about Jesus they say we got obey God rather than man we as Christians do submit to government but when our governments or other governments say things that contradict their scriptures we do not go along with them we are not to do so we obey God rather than man and that’s probably gonna become an increasing issue in our country kind of weird legislation that characterizes our age I mean every time I read the news I’m just saying it’s just really reality you know the things about homosexuality and transgenderism and other kinds of laws it’s wacky and they’re gonna try to enforce this on Christians more and more but they’re calling us to disobey God we got to say no would he obey God rather than man and we see that God rewarded the midwives for doing so and he will ultimately reward us it may bring suffering but ultimately we will be rewarded because because our God is good then finally if you’re opposing God this passage calls you to repent if you’re being stubborn and sin in your life if you’re saying no I want to do what I want and you need to repent now because look at how God frustrates Pharaoh and it’s gonna keep on doing that and you know what they’ll do the same thing in your life he may let you get away with it for a little while but ultimately God’s gonna that’s gonna frustrate you God is opposed to proud the Bible says but he gives grace to the humble so turn now give up that way of thinking give up that way of acting humble yourself before the Lord and what does he say he will exalt you don’t remain insane it was attitude you are you say I want things my way give that up the Lord knows how to take care of you and trust yourself to God kiss the son now study does not become angry and you perish in the way as Psalm 2 says don’t try to oppose King Yahweh submit to King Yahweh and he will lift you up well that’s it for today’s lesson we’ve seen that God protects his people he’s raising up a chosen deliverer but salvation is not yet come to Israel people are still crying out to God due to their suffering in Egypt Moses now as far away from Egypt when’s God’s deliverance gonna come when is he gonna show that prophecy to Abraham to be fulfilled that people will be delivered out of Egypt well it is coming and next week we’ll see how God appears to Moses in the wilderness and he Commission’s Moses to go back confront Pharaoh and lead Israel out from the land for talking about that with you next time it’s those prayer Lord it is true what the scriptures say you are the only Savior you’re in total control no one will be saved out of any situation or saved from any kind of evil unless you ordained it and you do ordain it for your people at the proper time so God we can entrust ourselves to you Lord I pray for the people at Calvary for your people who listen to this lesson today that their minds would be transformed they they’d be set change in their thinking so that they do not rely on sin or the wisdom of the world but they rely on you say I can trust my god even when things are hard even when it looks like no deliverance is coming I know my God is good and he is working this out evil may get its time in the Sun but you will ultimately God are a good and just God you will not allow evil to get away with itself we are not to take sinful vengeance but God you will bring vengeance at the proper time so we can entrust ourselves to you I pray that the people of Calvary would do that I pray God that they would glory and you as the Savior as the covenant-keeping god today as they continue to worship at Calvary in Jesus name Amen alright thank you everyone up see you again soon