Sundays at Home
This page has the notes for the sermon and links for songs used during children’s music time each week. Scroll down to the bottom for the children’s info.
When It Rains, It Pours
Sunday, January 10, 2021
Pastor Jojo Ma
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Exodus 1:8-21
I. An enslaved people [vv8-14]
II. A wicked command [vv15-16]
III. A godly response [vv17-21]
I. An enslaved people [vv8-14]
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 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." 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
This statement would change Israel’s status in Egypt from one of prosperity to one of persecution, from flourishing to futility, from success to slavery. Verse 8 is when it all starts to crumble. The new Pharaoh didn’t know Joseph.
9 And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 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."
11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses.
This slavery was cruel and oppressive. It was everything you picture how bad slavery can be. vv13-14 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. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
Will Israel still fear and trust God and remain faithful to Him? We know God would remain faithful and work His sovereign plan.
Ps 105:25 He turned their hearts to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants.
Gen 50:20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.
Israel’s suffering was not outside of God’s purposes; our suffering is never outside of God’s purp either. He is always working the good for those who love Him.
This Pharaoh, in a very real sense, is the epitome of man rebelling against God, of man setting himself up as a ruler over God.
Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
As Christians we must believe that God brings about our trials with a truly loving heart and with good plans and purposes.
12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.
We see the world caving in on us and Satan’s ways seemingly prospering today in society, but how does God’s presence and plans for us encourage you personally?
Nothing wakes us up from self-absorbed pleasure and sin and worldliness than suffering. C.S. Lewis: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
II. A wicked command [vv15-16]
15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 "When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live."
This decree is unimaginable evil. It is abhorrent and wicked. It is pure murder and rooted in the heart of Satan himself, the prince of darkness and destruction. In this sense, Pharaoh is a type of anti-Christ.
Anytime you have a culture or country or civilization or king that calls for the wanton destruction of human life you have a kind of anti-Christ and a hatred for the living God.
III. A godly response [vv17-21]
17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and let the male children live?" 19 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." 20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.
18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, "Why have you done this, and let the male children live?" 19 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."
What is most important, no matter one’s ethical conclusion about what they did, and what Scripture highlights of them, is that they feared God and were faithful to God.
20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
How is God calling you to act in courageous faith and obedience today? What is God calling you to do for His Kingdom and His glory today, this week, this new year?