Exodus – God’s Way Out
There are some people that might be blaming God and accuse Him of sending a virus among us to stop our whining. But that isn’t how God works. We live in a fallen world, with fallen people who make unwise decisions that affect all of us. We have a God who listens, hears and comes to help us when we cry out to Him. Many do not know God so they do not listen. Will our testimony of who God is be enough to help people understand who He is and that He deserves our attention? Will what we say, led by His Holy Spirit, help people in this time of distress, fear and anxiety turn to God? We have hope and we need to share the Hope of God who delivered us through Jesus, our redeemer.
Like Pharaoh, many today are asking, “Who is God that I should listen to Him..?
When bad times get worse, before they get better, will we still be tenacious in our faith in our Father who knows what we are going through?
Exodus 5, The Message
Moses and Aaron and Pharaoh
After that Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh. They said, “God, the God of Israel, says, ‘Free my people so that they can hold a festival for me in the wilderness.’”
2 Pharaoh said, “And who is God that I should listen to him and send Israel off? I know nothing of this so-called ‘God’ and I’m certainly not going to send Israel off.”3 They said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness so we can worship our God lest he strike us with either disease or death.”
4-5 But the king of Egypt said, “Why on earth, Moses and Aaron, would you suggest the people be given a holiday? Back to work!” Pharaoh went on, “Look, I’ve got all these people bumming around, and now you want to reward them with time off?”
6-9 Pharaoh took immediate action. He sent down orders to the slave-drivers and their underlings: “Don’t provide straw for the people for making bricks as you have been doing. Make them get their own straw. And make them produce the same number of bricks—no reduction in their daily quotas! They’re getting lazy. They’re going around saying, ‘Give us time off so we can worship our God.’ Crack down on them. That’ll cure them of their whining, their god-fantasies.”
10-12 The slave-drivers and their underlings went out to the people with their new instructions. “Pharaoh’s orders: No more straw provided. Get your own straw wherever you can find it. And not one brick less in your daily work quota!” The people scattered all over Egypt scrabbling for straw.
13 The slave-drivers were merciless, saying, “Complete your daily quota of bricks—the same number as when you were given straw.”14 The Israelite foremen whom the slave-drivers had appointed were beaten and badgered. “Why didn’t you finish your quota of bricks yesterday or the day before—and now again today?”
15-16 The Israelite foremen came to Pharaoh and cried out for relief: “Why are you treating your servants like this? Nobody gives us any straw and they tell us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look at us—we’re being beaten. And it’s not our fault.”
17-18 But Pharaoh said, “Lazy! That’s what you are! Lazy! That’s why you whine, ‘Let us go so we can worship God.’ Well then, go—go back to work. Nobody’s going to give you straw, and at the end of the day you better bring in your full quota of bricks.”
19 The Israelite foremen saw that they were in a bad way, having to go back and tell their workers, “Not one brick short in your daily quota.”
20-21 As they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them. The foremen said to them, “May God see what you’ve done and judge you—you’ve made us stink before Pharaoh and his servants! You’ve put a weapon in his hand that’s going to kill us!”
22-23 Moses went back to God and said, “My Master, why are you treating this people so badly? And why did you ever send me? From the moment I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, things have only gotten worse for this people. And rescue? Does this look like rescue to you?”CONSIDER THIS…
Moses and Aaron’s initial announcement (4:29-31) met with a good deal of acceptance from the Hebrews. The prospect of a magical release without cost or difficulty always meets with such approval. What if someone announced “I have a way out of this virus situation”? Wouldn’t we readily accept it?
However, God’s activity is never without cost and difficulty, as it was not here. It is in the context of this difficulty that the underlying issue of the book of Exodus emerges:
Who is Yahweh? (5:2)
What is his power?
Can he be trusted?
The real problem of the people was their ignorance of God. Until they came to know him, mere physical deliverance could only lead to a different kind of bondage.
Since Pharaoh was considered God incarnate by the Egyptians, there was no reason why he should obey some unknown god of the Semites. Since he could not accept the reality of Yahweh’s (God’s) revelation, he had to imagine some other reason for the Hebrews’ request. Surely they had too much time on their hands (5:8). Let them spend that time gathering the straw used to bind the mud bricks together while drying.
God’s offer of deliverance made the situation worse, not better. This is often true in life: to begin to follow God is to attract the attention and the wrath of God’s enemies. Verse 23 brings to a sharp focus the questions that emerged about God’s nature and character.
HOLY PAUSE
In the midst of our own world crisis are we asking why, why, why?Why God am I losing my job?
Why can’t life go on as normal?
Why are people hoarding the supplies?
Why do I have to stay inside my house for weeks?
Why is this happening?
Better questions might be:
What are you teaching me?How can I help others through this?
How will this strengthen our faith in you?
How will you turn this bad situation to good? (He will.)
Will your glory and power be seen in this? (Certainly, He will!)
God answers these prayers immediately with holy revelation of WHO He is and how He works!
Latest example: During a new online Bible study we began last night with some young ladies, one was distressed over finishing her coursework from a local college. The virus has cause her to quarantined in her home with six children while trying to finish her schoolwork. Another woman in the group immediately spoke up to offer help. This woman who popped in was an instructor, in the student’s field of study, at her college and offered to help her through it!!! People, this is GOD!!
AND WHO IS GOD THAT I SHOULD LISTEN?Allow God to reveal Himself to you today by looking up, listening and watching where He is already at work!
Father,
We will be looking for you, watching for you, listening and obeying you when you invite us to come along and join you in your work. You are amazing! Thank you for all you have done, are doing and will do in our lives.
In Jesus Name, Amen
When God asks us to be His representative, joining Him in His work of salvation, do we jump up and run to Him without question? Is “YES” our first thought? It probably is yes because we are being as by God! But, then the “how in the world are we going to do that” cascades our thoughts with fear and trembling. We are human, it happens. It happened to Moses.
Moses objected, “They won’t trust me. They won’t listen to a word I say. They’re going to say, ‘God? Appear to him? Hardly!’”
4-5 God said to Moses, “Reach out and grab it by the tail.” He reached out and grabbed it—and he was holding his staff again. “That’s so they will trust that God appeared to you, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
10 Moses raised another objection to God: “Master, please, I don’t talk well. I’ve never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer.”
14-17 God got angry with Moses: “Don’t you have a brother, Aaron the Levite? He’s good with words, I know he is. He speaks very well. In fact, at this very moment he’s on his way to meet you. When he sees you he’s going to be glad. You’ll speak to him and tell him what to say. I’ll be right there with you as you speak and with him as he speaks, teaching you step by step. He will speak to the people for you. He’ll act as your mouth, but you’ll decide what comes out of it. Now take this staff in your hand; you’ll use it to do the signs.”
Yesterday we learned who God is with many I AM statements. Today we learn about what God does with I WILL declarations.
However, the fact that the book does not end there but continues with the giving of the law and the building of the tabernacle provides a clue that the author does not consider the physical bondage in Egypt to be the Israelites’ most critical problem. 
Had their sole need been for deliverance, one climactic act would have sufficed. Instead, there were ten plagues, which in fact constituted a demonstration of God’s absolute superiority over all other powers. Their physical deliverance is not an end but a means to an end.
Have we experienced God’s delivering power in our lives through Jesus saving act of love?
God reintroduces Himself to His people who have been working hard to just survive. They have multiplied in numbers only to be used as slaves to ungodly leaders in a land they do not belong.
1-2 Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the west end of the wilderness and came to the mountain of God, Horeb. The angel of God appeared to him in flames of fire blazing out of the middle of a bush. He looked. The bush was blazing away but it didn’t burn up.
4 God saw that he had stopped to look. God called to him from out of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
7-8 God said, “I’ve taken a good, long look at the affliction of my people in Egypt. I’ve heard their cries for deliverance from their slave masters; I know all about their pain. And now I have come down to help them, pry them loose from the grip of Egypt, get them out of that country and bring them to a good land with wide-open spaces, a land lush with milk and honey, the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
11 Moses answered God, “But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
16-17 “Now be on your way. Gather the leaders of Israel. Tell them, ‘God, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, appeared to me, saying, “I’ve looked into what’s being done to you in Egypt, and I’ve determined to get you out of the affliction of Egypt and take you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, a land brimming over with milk and honey.”’
Who is God in your thinking and understanding? Who does God say He is?
Friends, it has only been two weeks since we first heard we cannot gather in groups for church, go to work with more than ten people or go about our days like we did before the threat. Is this inconvenient? Yes, even more so with wage earners with families. Parents are now teachers as well as wage earners. The elderly, already fearful because of all the bombarding ads and phone calls about their health, are now at greater risk with this new virus. The unhealthy have been secluded from the world. 
Fear and anxiety seems to be the new norm for many. We are acting as if our whole world has fallen apart, panic is leading to hoarding, temporary lost wages are sending many into a tailspin.
TEMPORARY is the key term. This IS a first for our nation and for most of the world. But it is only temporary. If we stop to pray asking God for his resourcefulness and creativity to be in us instead of panic, we might surprise ourselves in what HE will do in and through us. Yes, we might ask God what He will teach us as we pass through these waters with Him. Some of the greatest inventions in the world were birthed in times of chaos! 
4-6 The baby’s older sister found herself a vantage point a little way off and watched to see what would happen to him. Pharaoh’s daughter came down to the Nile to bathe; her maidens strolled on the bank. She saw the basket-boat floating in the reeds and sent her maid to get it. She opened it and saw the child—a baby crying! Her heart went out to him. She said, “This must be one of the Hebrew babies.”
10 After the child was weaned, she presented him to Pharaoh’s daughter who adopted him as her son. She named him Moses (Pulled-Out), saying, “I pulled him out of the water.”
16-17 The priest of Midian had seven daughters. They came and drew water, filling the troughs and watering their father’s sheep. When some shepherds came and chased the girls off, Moses came to their rescue and helped them water their sheep.
God’s means of preparation of His deliverer are beautifully ironic: the very person who had decreed the destruction of the people of God would become the grandfather of their deliverer; the resources of the oppressing power would be used to raise and train the one who would break that power. 
We have completed Genesis, the beginning of creation of all of life and how God worked in and through his imperfect humans. We ended the book of Genesis with the death of Joseph. He is buried in Egypt, but remember that he requested that his bones be carried with the family back to the Promised Land when the family made the move to go back.
HOLY PAUSE
“At the center and core of this work is God. The most comprehensive term for what God is doing to get us out of the mess we are in is SALVATION. Salvation is God doing for us what we can’t do for ourselves. Salvation is the biggest word in the vocabulary of the people of God. The Exodus is a powerful and dramatic and true story of God working salvation. The story has generated an extraordinary progeny through the centuries as it has reproduced itself in song and poem, drama and novel, politics and social justice, repentance and conversion, worship and holy living. It continues to capture the imagination of men and women, especially men and women in trouble.”
1-5 These are the names of the Israelites who went to Egypt with Jacob, each bringing his family members:
8-10 A new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph. He spoke to his people in alarm, “There are way too many of these Israelites for us to handle. We’ve got to do something: Let’s devise a plan to contain them, lest if there’s a war they should join our enemies, or just walk off and leave us.”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; they’re vigorous. Before the midwife can get there, they’ve already had the baby.”
*What God blessed, Egypt cursed. Why?
The Good News is that God made a way for us to do just that. He sent His Son, Jesus who paid for our sin. All of it. When we repent of our sin to the One who paid it all, the sin, “not in part but the whole” is gone, “as far as the east is from the west”. AND our sin is removed AND forgotten by the Forgiver, “to be remembered no more”. (See Psalm 103:12 and Hebrews 8:12. See also “It Is Well With My Soul” written by a songwriter in pain but took it to God)
14-15 After burying his father, Joseph went back to Egypt. All his brothers who had come with him to bury his father returned with him. After the funeral, Joseph’s brothers talked among themselves: “What if Joseph is carrying a grudge and decides to pay us back for all the wrong we did him?”
19-21 Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid. Do I act for God? Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people. Easy now, you have nothing to fear; I’ll take care of you and your children.” He reassured them, speaking with them heart-to-heart.
Can you imagine what is going on in Joseph’s mind when his brothers remind him of their painful past and ask for forgiveness…AGAIN? Joseph proves he wants to forget that past. He named his first born, Manasseh, which means “Forget, saying, God made me forget all my hardships and my parental home.” (Genesis 41)
HOLY PAUSE
Forget the sin and the pain of that sin. If you need to, ask for God’s help like Joseph did! I know from personal experience He will give it to you as he did to me. I carried the guilt of confessed sin around for about ten years in my life, trying to repay others for how I had hurt them. What did I learn? I learned that those years tainted my spiritual growth. It also made it harder for me to forgive others completely because I had not fully accepted forgiveness from God for myself. When I did accept His forgiveness for myself, realizing that I was indeed completely forgiven by Jesus, I was set free. 
Joseph reminded his brothers, “Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now—life for many people. Easy now, you have nothing to fear; I’ll take care of you and your children.” He reassured them, speaking with them heart-to-heart.”
Dear Heavenly Father,
We know our children better than we know ourselves. Why? Because we see glimpses of our rebellious selves in their behavior. We also see the good that God is honed in us. We love them with all that is in us for we gave them life. So imagine how much more God loves us who sent His Son to save us! As believers we hope that the love we have for Jesus is also passed on to them and to their children. We praise God for our children. We praise God for his relationships with our children. 
Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around. I want to tell you what you can expect in the days to come.”
7 A curse on their uncontrolled anger,
The scepter shall not leave Judah;
Joseph is a wild donkey,
28 All these are the tribes of Israel, the twelve tribes. And this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each one with his own special farewell blessing.
Jacob’s prophetic words must have given great encouragement to his descendants during their difficult time of suffering in Egypt, as well as during their unhappy years wandering in the wilderness. Jacob assured each tribe of a future place in the Promised Land, and that meant a great deal to them.
The exclamation, “I have waited for your salvation, O Lord!” (Gen. 49:18) suggests that Jacob was in communion with the Lord while he was speaking to his sons. Was he asking God for special strength to finish what he had to say? Or was he announcing that the Lord would soon call him into eternity? The word translated “salvation” is yeshua, which gives us the name Joshua, “Jehovah is salvation.” The Greek form is “Jesus.”
Jesus, with God at the Genesis of creation, is with us now. 
As we get older, we begin making arrangements for our final days. Many think of finances first and how the remains of our lives will be divided. We are the most important things that we will want to leave our children and their children? As I read of the last days of Jacob/Israel, his words of blessing to his son and his two sons touch my heart. We are often asking the wrong questions, centering our thoughts on things will fade and diminish in this world. In other words, we live our lives to leave something behind that has no meaning and just doesn’t matter in the bigger picture.
The better question, the most important question of all, is WHO will be echoed from our lives to our children and future generations who come after us?
3-7 Jacob said to Joseph, “The Strong God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said, ‘I’m going to make you prosperous and numerous, turn you into a congregation of tribes; and I’ll turn this land over to your children coming after you as a permanent inheritance.’ I’m adopting your two sons who were born to you here in Egypt before I joined you; they have equal status with Reuben and Simeon. But any children born after them are yours; they will come after their brothers in matters of inheritance. I want it this way because, as I was returning from Paddan, your mother Rachel, to my deep sorrow, died as we were on our way through Canaan when we were only a short distance from Ephrath, now called Bethlehem.”
The God before whom walked
Jacob had enjoyed Joseph for seventeen years in Hebron (37:2), and now he would enjoy Joseph and his sons for seventeen years in Egypt (47:28). It was tragic that the sins of his sons had robbed their father of twenty-two years of Joseph’s life, but even in this sacrifice, God had beautifully worked out His plan and cared lovingly for His people.
Who or what will be echoed in your family for generations to come?
God’s Word always brings light to our souls. His words to us, through the lives of those who lived before us long ago, reminds us that bad times come and go, but God is still sovereign and will bring peace in the chaos with wisdom to get through challenging times such as wars, famine and even a plague called corona virus.
Are we close enough to God, to hear what HE has to say to us and to the rest of the panicked world today? 
Evil is having a heyday with our emotions during this unprecedented season of challenging world circumstances. He is planting questionable thoughts…”Did God really say He would take care of us?”
Joseph went to Pharaoh and told him, “My father and brothers with their flocks and herds and everything they own have come from Canaan. Right now they are in Goshen.”
5-6 Pharaoh looked at Joseph. “So, your father and brothers have arrived—a reunion! Egypt welcomes them. Settle your father and brothers on the choicest land—yes, give them Goshen. And if you know any among them that are especially good at their work, put them in charge of my own livestock.”
26 Joseph decreed a land law in Egypt that is still in effect, A Fifth Goes to Pharaoh. Only the priests’ lands were not owned by Pharaoh.
When we stop to think that our funeral and burial are the last public testimonies we will ever give, it makes us want to plan carefully. Making our last will and testament is important, but don’t neglect our last witness and testimony. That is more important than flowers and weeping, expensive caskets and “arrangements”. Live life for God to the full. When we leave earth for heaven, I pray we hear, “Well Done” from God along with, “You never forgot Me. I never forgot you.”
“I am the God of your father. Don’t be afraid of going down to Egypt. I’m going to make you a great nation there. I’ll go with you down to Egypt; I’ll also bring you back here.”
3-4 God said, “I am the God of your father. Don’t be afraid of going down to Egypt. I’m going to make you a great nation there. I’ll go with you down to Egypt; I’ll also bring you back here. And when you die, Joseph will be with you; with his own hand he’ll close your eyes.”
Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn.
28-29 Jacob sent Judah on ahead to get directions to Goshen from Joseph. When they got to Goshen, Joseph gave orders for his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. The moment Joseph saw him, he threw himself on his neck and wept. He wept a long time.
When our son returns from deployment in lands far away, it is such a sweet reunion when he comes back home safe and sound from his Air Force assignment. This is only a glimpse of what Jacob is feeling for Joseph, his beloved son when he sees and touches him once more after many long years of grieving for him. 
Now imagine the reunion of the entire family of Israel/Jacob! This reunion was made possible by the love, mercy and grace of God, the Father! This family reunion was brought about by repentance, reconciliation and restoration of the brothers. Changed hearts reunited Father to Son.
AND what about us? (Now it get’s personal.) What will it be like after we admit, repent, accept, believe and follow Jesus here on earth to be united with him forever in heaven? We will be together with Father and Son! Wow! He also promises us we will be reunited with our families who have gone on before us…Not to mention basking in His glory and praising him in Person forever!
I see the work of Your Hands
God, I run into Your arms
