God Prepares His Deliverer

Transcript

GRS 2-14
04/10/2005
God Prepares His Deliverer
Exodus 1-2
Gil Rugh

We are going to begin the study of the book of Exodus together and so you may turn in the Book of Exodus, the second book in your Bible, Genesis then Exodus. First five books of our Bibles are referred to as the Law because the bulk of them really are contained within the framework of God giving the law to Moses for his people Israel. Beginning in Genesis chapter 12, the focus of scripture zeroes in on the descendants of the Abraham, the physical line of Abraham; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the patriarchs, and then the twelve sons of Jacob, which become the heads of the twelve tribes of the nation Israel. The Bible is not concerned to develop a history of the times, the Bible is not concerned of filling a lot of what we might think would be interesting details rather it focuses on the key elements so that we can understand God's purpose in working with the nation Israel and bringing redemption through them to the nation itself and through them to the world, through the messiah of Israel. I mentioned that because as we begin the Book of Exodus. Basically, after some introductory comments into Exodus, we have passed 400 years with the close of the book of Genesis and the material that really gets focused on beginning in the book of Exodus. So “Wow 400 years” as we will see Israel will have gone from being a family of some 70 people to being a nation of about 2 million people and all of that is left in silence because those are the details that are necessary for us to understand the work of God in developing his people so we can skip 400 years and not miss anything essential and what we need to know about the working of God. We wonder what happened to Israel. How did it go? What it was like when the family come down there and how did they relate and what did Joseph do with them and the interaction and how did it develop and what were some other problems facing and all of that. When you start in the book of Exodus and some 400 years after Joseph brought his family to Egypt, we are ready for the Exodus from Egypt.

The name Exodus gives us the basic theme of the book, which focuses on the deliverance of God’s people from the land of Egypt. Deliverance or redemption then becomes the theme of the book and even the deliverance of Israel by God from Egypt becomes the picture of his deliverance of them as a nation and the redemption that he would bring about in an even fuller way in their salvation. Exodus, one of the most important books in the Old Testament and listed some of the things that are found in the book of Exodus.

Historically, it shows the beginning of the nation Israel. Now I understand we have the beginning as I referred to with Abraham in the foundation of the nation, but when the book of Genesis closed all the descendants of Abraham were was one large family of about 70 people. Some of you have had family get-togethers that approach that number. Now when we start Exodus we have Israel no longer as a family in that sense, but as a true nation and though historically you have the nation presented to us for the first time.

Religiously, the religion of Israel starts here. Now again, Abraham worshipped God. Abraham believed God, so on that sense the relationship with God and the worshipping of God and giving of sacrifices wrought the institution of the Law and the former religious system with the Tabernacle and all the details that are laid out begin in the book of Exodus. Dispensationally, the dispensation of the Law of course begins in the book of Exodus and that is a very foundational dispensation, the time when Gods governing principle for his people Israel is the Mosaic Law, that will begin in the book of Exodus and that will be in force really until we get through the four Gospels, Mathew, Mark, Luke and John, all composes all the rest of the Old Testament along with the first four books of what we call our New Testament. In types there are some excellent types of Christ found here, where one of them, the Passover will be instituted in connection with the deliverance from Egypt and in the New Testament we are told Christ our Passover has been sacrificed so that Passover instituted in the book of Exodus becomes a type or picture of the ultimate Passover Lamb that God would provide so that we might escape the wrath of God. Scripturally, almost every book after the book of Exodus refers back to Exodus so it is a very important book.

Now most of us have read the opening chapters of Exodus for sure. You know you get up through about the first nineteen chapters, you know you are going to start, I am just going to read the Bible through and Genesis goes well I mean the stories unfold the account, the history moves along. Here at Exodus and there’s the miracles in Egypt and then the Exodus and the destruction of the armies of Pharaoh and then you hit the giving of the Law and then you get into all those details construct it this way, do it this way and it seemed like you are grinding into a halt and if you keep on going and you do make it through Exodus alone behold you hit Leviticus and it just seems like you know you starting to have tried to run in the mud or wet sand it seems like I am going slower and slower, maybe I will go and read the New Testament, but much of the material here is foundational for us.

An outline, I have taken this from New Scofield Reference Bible, can’t even take it for sure, but I think that is correct. First twelve chapters talk about Israel and Egypt, chapters 13 to 18 are Israel’s journey to Mount Sinai and then chapters 19 to 40 are Israel at Mount Sinai and the bulk of that is taken up with the details of giving of the Law of the Moses at Mount Sinai. The author is Moses and that is repeatedly referred to in the Old Testament and the New Testament alike, so there is no doubt about that, if you believe the Bible and you accept the authority of the Scripture and the inspiration of the Scriptures without the # study this morning. There is no doubt, Moses was the author and the arguments that debate that all have to come out of a lack of conviction that the Bible is the inspired word of God and Moses was a very highly educated man as we will see so there is not in any way inconsistent with what we know of Moses that he would expect he would the write the first five books of the Bible under the direction of the Spirit of God.

Say something about the date of the Exodus so that we get some connection to the timeline where we are as we start the book. There are basically two positions, the early date and the late date or we could say the right view and the wrong view. The early date 1445, 1446, remember that there whether you include a year, you don’t include the year you are talking, so I mentioned 1445, 1446. I may end up referring to both dates and you know the reason for the discrepancy there is not a significant issue. The reason for the early date, you can turn to First Kings chapter 6 verse 1 and if we allow the scripture to speak for itself some of these things were resolved and we don’t have to help God out of the limits although we do want to answer and try to come to grips with matters that seem to be contradictory and I say that seemed to be contradictory, there are no real contradictions in scripture, but there are portions in scripture that I don’t understand quite how they do reconcile in every detail, but that doesn’t mean that they are not true.

First Kings, chapter 6 verse 1, “Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel.” Now this helps us because we have gotten further down in time to the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, which is possible for us today, this would have been 966 BC, so we just backup 480 years and we have the Exodus in 1445, 1446 BC. So that’s one of the reasons why we date the Exodus where we do.

Judges chapter 11 verse 26, “While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, three hundred years and we are in the time of the Judge Jephthah and we have three hundred years plus the 40 years of wilderness wanderings and Jephthah was a Judge around a 1100 BC. So, you go back about 340 years, you can see we are back to the mid fourteen hundreds.

The late date, it is 1290 BC, in other words, those that think that you have to move the Exodus much closer to the time of Christ to 1296 BC and one foundational reason for this comes back in the Book of Exodus. In Exodus chapter 1 verse 11 as Israel is laboring in bondage in verse 11, we are told that they built for Pharaoh storage cities; Pithom and Raamses. Raamses was a very prominent Pharaoh in 1304 to 1236 BC Raamases II. The people say that they were building this city that is named after this great Pharaoh and if you go to Egypt you still see statues of this Pharaoh, Raamases. He was a dominant figure. So they say they were building a city named Raamases and must have been in the reign of Raamses. One problem with that is in verse 11 of Exodus 1, we are at least probably 80 years prior to the Exodus. So, you can’t put the Exodus itself in chapter 1 verse 11, you are probably 80 years away from the Exodus, so it doesn’t help anything, to try to resolve that contradiction that way. Probably this was a name of a prior Pharaoh, I mean the dominant Raamases is the Raamases II. So you know he wasn’t the first and there may well have been an earlier Raamses back around the time of the Exodus that name anyway given to that city, so we just don’t have information on that, but the fact is the other passages I shared with you made clear that the Exodus has to go back to the middle fourteen hundreds and that is consistent with the scripture. We will be assuming that date and may be referred with as we progress in the studies.

Alright, let us look into chapter 1 of Exodus and begin to move through the book and again in these Old Testament books we are doing more of a survey, so we won’t be going into all the details, otherwise it will take us a lot longer time to work through the book. We just want to get our hands around the basic material presented here, we have a picture of what God is doing.

Chapter 1, first seven verses will talks about the growth of Israel, its development from a family to a nation, then in verses 8 to 14, it talks about the slavery of Israel, their bondage and then chapter 15 to 22 talk about what is happening to the sons of Israel as Pharaoh attempts to destroy the little physical sons of Israel, the male children. First seven verses, really review material that was given in portions of the book of Genesis; Genesis 35 verses 22 to 26, chapters 46 verse 26 and 27, chapter 50 verse 26, they connect the families, " These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt, Jacob another name for Jacob remember being Israel. The sons of Israel of Jacob who came to Egypt with Jacob, they came each one with his household so you name his sons verse 5 "All the persons who came from the loins of Jacob were 70 in number, Joseph was already in Egypt.” So you connect the book of Genesis with the book of Exodus, the books are connected. There is a large block of time left as I mentioned and not talked about, but book of Exodus is picking up the flow from the book of Genesis. You know verse 5 "All the people came from the loins of Jacob were 70 in number in Genesis chapter 46 verse 26 you want to back up there sometimes people see contradictions in some of the numbers yes 46:26 "All the persons belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt his direct descendants not including the wives of Jacob’s sons were 66 persons and then you have to add Jacob himself, Joseph who is already in Egypt and Joseph’s two sons are counted in the 70 number, so you have 70. Let me know something, the Septuagint a Greek translation of the Old Testament. Old Testament written largely in Hebrew, few portions in Aramic was translated into Greek roughly couple of hundred years before Christ and the Septuagint includes the five children of Joseph’s two sons - Ephraim and Manasseh and so says 75 children or 75 people went down into Egypt. Oh it is not really a contradiction, I mentioned that because in Acts chapter 7 verse 14 when Stephen gives his defense before the Sanhedrin, he refers to the fact that 75 people went down into Egypt, he is using the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament and it is accurate, because there were 75, if you count the five children of Ephraim and Manasseh or the five grandchildren of Joseph which the Septuagint does include. So some of these numbers at first they seem was a contradiction, one place says 66, one place says 70, one place says 75, which is it? Well, as you examine them and understand what is included in each of these counts, I say all are correct. If you don’t count Jacob, Joseph and his two sons were only 66. If you count Jacob, Joseph and his two sons they were 70 and if you include the five sons of Manasseh and Ephraim they were 75. So it’s not really a contradiction, it was just that in different passage we are including different people.

Verse 7, back in Exodus chapter 1. Verse 6 says "Joseph died and all his brethren, and all that generation, but the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly and multiplied, became exceedingly mighty so that the land was filled with them”. This emphasis the great growth that has taken place in Israel in this time and you see how much history is summarized. Joseph died, all the generation from Joseph’s time dies, but God’s purposes in dealing with Israel haven’t ended. The nation continues to flourish and prosper and grow and multiply. I mentioned the number about 2 million. By the time of the Exodus and let me just tell how we get that number, so you know about the number of people we are dealing with here. Turn over to Exodus chapter 12, verse 37; we have the Exodus occurring here. We are told “Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Raamses to Succoth about 600,000 men on foot besides from children and wouldn’t include the women. We have numbered here the men and particularly the men who are of age to be the warriors and so we figure from that number if 600,000 men are of fighting age, that would probably be about one fourth of the total number, you add in the women and then you add in the children that's how we come to a figure where you hear the estimate of about 2 million from these kinds of numbers and Number chapter 1 verse 46 gives the same kind of numerical evaluation; Numbers chapter 1 verse 46 says "All the numbered men were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty and these are the men from 20 years old and upwards who were able to go out to war. So anyone under 20 years is not included, anyone too old is not included here, no women are included here, no children are included here, so 600,000. We saw in Exodus was around number, if we want more exact figures Numbers tells you, it was six hundred three thousand five hundred and fifty, so that’s one quarter of the population roughly, we are talking about 2 million people thereabouts little more not a little less. That the nation is grown from a family of seventy that went down into Egypt in the book of Genesis.

Alright, back to Exodus chapter 1 and verse 7, when it says the "The sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly and multiplied and the land was filled with them", that’s not an exaggeration, it’s a significant number of people, foreign people in the land of Israel. Now a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. Now we are in a realm here we don’t know exactly the timeline here. We know when the Exodus occurs, we know when Joseph dies, we look to some of those numbers, but when the persecution begins of Israel, we don’t know for sure. Certain things happened in Egypt that we know from secular history that can help us appreciate what was going on and perhaps give some insight into when the oppression might have taken place. Around 1900 years BC. a foreign people known as the Hyksos, nomadic people, but non-Egyptians began to filter into Egypt and over time they became very dominant, in fact they came to the place they took control of Egypt and from 1730 BC to 1570 BC the Hyksos dominated Egypt. There 1730 to 1570, you have foreign people non-Egyptians who had filtered into Egypt and over time got numerically strong enough and they are militarily powerful enough that they took over Egypt and became the rulers of Egypt and subjugated the Egyptians.

A Pharaoh arose, Ahmose I and he ruled from 1570 to 1548 and he drove out the Hyksos. So you have a foreign people that were ruling Egypt, defeated and driven out. Now, I mention that because some believe that would probably have marked the beginning about the time when the real oppression of the Jews would have started and they may have experienced some oppression under the Hyksos along with the Egyptians, but now the Egyptians have added reason to fear this large group of foreign people in their number, they have already experienced domination by another people who had come into their land over a period of time and grown numerically until they were strong enough to overthrow the Egyptians. Now they drive out the Hyksos, but we have got a couple of million different people that are a similar threat. So that is one possibility that the Egyptians after driving out the Hyksos view the Israelites as an added threat and would have begun the oppression. That’s why verse 9, this new king who arose over Egypt and he doesn’t know anything about Joseph I mean a long time is gone by, how long we don’t know, 200 years, 300 years, a long time. He said to his people "Behold the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. You see the threat that at least that he sees in all of this and so he thinks the oppression, they need to subjugate and enslave the Israelites, keep them from becoming any stronger and use them as slaves so their freedom will be removed and they would become an asset to the Egyptians. The Egyptian don’t want to just drive them out because at this point while they could see a potential danger they are not the military threat to Egypt and so you don’t want to give away this great pool of forced labor, remember the Egyptians built the pyramids, built the canals off of the Nile and so on with this kind of labor. So, here we have a got a couple of million people who can do all the dirty work and so they are not a military threat. I will see that they don’t become a military threat but they can become our slaves. Verse 10,"Come let us deal wisely with them or else they will multiply, and in the event of war they will also join themselves to those who hate us and fight against us and depart from the land. So there is two aspects to his concern. He doesn’t want them to become strong enough to become a power within to join with perhaps enemies from the outside, perhaps to revive Hyksos return or something like that, nor does he want them to leave because they become a great resource for the Egyptians I mean free labor is what they get. We can rebuild our nation, we can strengthen our selves because you know won’t take tax money, that we don’t have to pay these people, they will be our slaves.

Verses 11 to 14,"So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor, they built the storage cities. The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied, the more they spread out, they were in dread of the sons of Israel. You know God had told Abraham centuries before, Genesis 15:13. In fact, turn back to Genesis 15:13, because I want you to note a word. Genesis 15:13,"God said to Abraham know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.” That word oppressed is the same word translated afflicted in Exodus chapter 1 verse 12, the more they afflicted them, the more they oppressed them, so God had told Abraham at the very beginning before Abraham even has the son in whom the promises can be fulfilled. He tells that “Your descendants are going to be enslaved and oppressed in a land that is not theirs for 400 years and here we are reading verse 12, the more they afflicted them, Exodus 1:12, the more they multiplied, the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel. You know you cannot frustrate the purposes of God. Maybe sometimes ago “What’s going to happen to our country? What’s going to happen to our world if the right people don’t get into leadership?, well it may get very bad, but it will not hinder or limit the plans of God in any way. I mean the Pharaoh and the Egyptians can try to suppress the people of Israel, but they can’t frustrate God’s plans and the result is there is a fear in their hearts of the Israelites, a dread of them. There is not an arrogance that we can rule them although that arrogance will be there, but in their heart the Bible tells us there was a dread, there is a fear and this is an uncomfortable situation. So, verses 15 to 22, you have the plan of the Pharaoh and his leadership what we have to do to stop this continued growth and the continued development of Israel and the potential is we will kill all the male children because let’s face it that’s where the threat would come from anyway from those who could become part of a military force or a military presence. So, we kill all the sons and that will begin to limit the growth and also restrain any future military potential.

So, verses 15 to 16, “The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives one was named Shiphrah, the other was named Puah, now these aren’t the only two you say we got two million people and only two midwives and they must have been busy. Well, they are probably the two women in charge of the Hebrew midwives, doesn’t mean they have to do all the work of midwifing for all the births that would occur in this nation, but they are probably the two that are in-charge if you will of the midwives. They are told to kill any male babies that are born, verse 16,”When you are helping the Hebrew woman to get birth stool if it’s a son then you shall put him to death, if it’s a daughter she shall live. Verse 17,”The midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.” This is an example of Acts 4:19, Acts 5:29; we must obey God rather than men because the command of Pharaoh would be in direct conflict with the revealed will of God. It is to oppose what they knew of God’s purposes and plans.

So, when the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them “why have you done this and let the boys live, “The midwives said to the Pharaoh “You know the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women.” Basically, the Egyptian women don’t do anything, they are lazy, and they get no physical activity. They don’t need to, they have got slaves. “The Hebrew women, they are vigorous. They are in such good condition, those kids come out faster than we can get there,” that’s a rude paraphrase, that’s why we have to study the verbal portion and that’s the point there “They are vigorous, they are healthy and they don’t have a long drawn-out birth.” So, they call for the midwife, when they think the birth bangs upon, but by the time we get there, the child is already been born and it is too late for us to do anything. I will say oh boy we are not getting into the whole idea, was that a lie? Because God was good to the midwives. The people multiplied and became very mighty because the midwives feared God. He established households for them. God honored them for their faithfulness to him. They feared the Lord, more than they feared Pharaoh and God blessed them and honored them and built them households if you will and prospered their families.

Then Pharaoh commanded all his people saying “Every son who was born, you have to cast into the Nile, every daughter you are to keep alive.” His intent continues. Now, even in that awful plan of Pharaoh, you know the Bible does not digress here, we make a laugh and say “How many Hebrew male children did die? We don’t know, Did any? We don’t know, because with chapter two we are going to focus in on one single baby because he is the key to God’s plan and God’s work and so all the work of Pharaoh in opposing the plan of God and you know all the ends are going is being an instrument to carry out the plan of God because the very instructions of Pharaoh to kill the Hebrew children will result in the future leader of Israel being raised in the very house of Pharaoh, I mean who bid God to bring this all about. I mean if you were a Hebrew in Egypt in that time, you will probably think that this edict of Pharaoh was the worst thing that could have ever happened and the greatest tragedy to be for the families of Israel and it indeed is a sinful plan, but you and I as God’s people take great comfort in our knowledge. The God even uses the sinful plans of man to accomplish His purposes for the good of His people, good for us to be reminded of that continually. I don’t understand, you think the Hebrews could have any idea that even this horrible, wicked, vile plan of Pharaoh would be used of God to provide in a special way to deliverer for His people from their bondage in Egypt. We read it back and see the whole overall picture as it is developed in History of Israel, great plan. We understand they have to live it up, they didn’t know. Does it mean I won’t have any sons, no grandsons, this mean our nation will be destroyed and we would be left with women who have no future, but slavery. No, because we have chapter 2.

Let’s go to chapter 2. The preparation of Moses and you see the summary where the Bible deals with these matters, the first 10 verses deal with Moses first 40 years and then verses 11 to 25 deal with Moses second 40 years. So, in 25 verses, we can encompass 80 years of Moses life. Verse 1 of chapter 2, Moses first 40 years talk about his birth in the five verses, “Now man from a house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi, remember the Levi is the priestly family as it will develop. The woman conceived and bore a son. When she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months and when she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket and covered it over with thorn pitch and put the child into it and set it among the reeds by the bank of Nile and his sister Miriam, later identified by name stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him. What a terrible position to be put in. You have this precious healthy, beautiful baby boy and he is born and you keep him secret, but the older he gets the harder it is to keep secret. So after 3 months, she is afraid, she won’t be able to keep him secret any longer. Now again, the Bible doesn’t say anything else. What about in a nation of this size, all the other baby boys that have been born. Well it is not relevant to the revelation God has given regarding His plan. So, we don’t know, but here she is faced with an awful dilemma, “I will put him in a basket, made to flow, I will put him in the Nile, not just out to go down the river, but I will put him in the weeds, bulrushes along the side of the Nile and I will put his sister there, let’s see what happens.” I mean we will just see what happens, perhaps she did it with the knowledge this was area where Pharaoh’s daughter would come down to bath. Maybe I don’t know was there any instruction from God here so much that the Bible doesn’t include. It would be interesting to know, but is not necessary for understanding of God’s work here. So, here you have baby Moses in a basket and his sister watching in a distance.

We know from later scripture, turn over to Exodus chapter 6, verse 20, we know the names of Moses Parents, they are not told earlier, but they are told in Exodus chapter 6, verse 20, “Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed. So, Moses parents, his father married his aunt. So, Moses mother was the aunt to her husband as well as the wife to her husband, married his father’s sister Jochebed. She bore him Aaron and Moses. Later, in chapter 15 and verse 20, we will be told that they had a daughter named Miriam, but that will be mentioned later and also Numbers chapter 26, verse 59 tells us the name of these parents and their children. Little more of a timing here. Moses was 80 years old when the Exodus occurred in 1445-1446. So, he was born around 1525-1526. Aaron was 3 years older than Moses, but we were not told anything about Aaron’s birth. How did Aaron get through all this? Did the edict not come until after Aaron was born? Looking chapter 7 of Exodus, verse 7, we know Moses was 80 years old when he led the Exodus, because Exodus chapter 7 verse 7 tells us Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 when they spoke to Pharaoh. So, Aaron is three years older than Moses. Evidently this edict didn’t come until after the birth of Aaron, but soon that probably was the case. So, Moses will be 80 years old, the first 40 years of his life were unfolded as I mentioned in the first 10 verses.

Verse 5, back in chapter 2, the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bath at the Nile, her maidens were walking alongside the Nile, here they come down to walk along the Nile and she would bath at the Nile, be there with the maidens who attended her. She looks in the reed and sees the basket and she sends her maid to wait out and get the basket. She sees the little baby in there and he is crying and she says “This is one of the Hebrew children.” She knows what happened, they put this baby here because of the edict that he should be killed and she had pity on him and Moses sister is there and she comes and says the Pharaoh’s daughter “Would you like me to and get someone to act as the nurse for this child to nurse the child” and Pharaoh’s daughter said “Yes.” So, Pharaoh’s sister goes and gets Moses mother because here is a Hebrew woman who could nurse this child for you and so verse 9, Pharaoh’s daughter said to her “Take this child away and nurse him for me and I will give you wages” It isn’t the plan of God marvels. I read that here and Pharaoh’s daughter decides she likes this little boy and she is going to keep him, who is going to tell her no. Besides now, this brings this little baby, this little Hebrew boy who is destined for death according to the decree of Pharaoh, now he is going to be raised in Pharaoh’s family by Pharaoh’s daughter and further than that during the early years of his life and when he needs to be nursed and provided for, Pharaoh’s daughter will pay Moses mother to do it; remarkable, I will pay you to be the mother of your child. Can man ever frustrate God’s purposes? Now we read this, I will have to remind myself God I don’t understand, I don’t see all your purposes in this, I don’t understand why this is happening, but I do know nothing frustrates your purposes and plans from happening and I am secured in that. Here we can take courage by this account as we see God working.

Verse 10, the child grew and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses and said “Because I drew him out of the water,” remarkable, here the Hebrew child who according to the decree of Pharaoh should have been drowned. Little bit of history, Patmos the first was Pharaoh from 1526 to 1512, now remember Moses was born in 1525-1526. So, it is interesting we can go to secular history and find out who would have been Pharaoh at this time, Patmos I, that he ruled from 1526 to 1512. He died without a surviving male heir. His daughter queen Hatshepsut seizes the throne and ruled Egypt for about 21 years from 1503 to 1482 and some believe that Hatshepsut would have been the daughter of Pharaoh who would have taken Moses as her son that would fit what we know of the history of the time. This prominent women in fact you see even on some of the television programs where they do history and they go back into the times of Egypt and that they have excavated. I believe one of the palaces, it was of Hatshepsut and this is interesting to consider. This will be Moses mother if you will in Egypt because she is raising him as her son.

Alright that’s the first 40 years. I say wait a minute, I would like to have some detail what it was like being raised here, what did it entail, how was Moses accepted in this as a Hebrew, but his raised as Pharaoh’s daughter son. Well we know Joseph as a Hebrew, hundreds of years earlier had come to be the second most powerful man in Egypt, so it happens and here he is raised in the palace, will all goes on did he have any contact with his family, how did this go, I don’t know, just would have been interesting, wouldn’t it? No because if we had 400 volumes this thick to way through we would never get through or would we have our hands filled don’t we. So, I am thankful that Lord gave us the edited version, here is what you need to know, but Moses for the first 40 years of his life we know that he is raised in the palace. So, it was not just you know up until his mid-teens and things go haywire and he has to leave for the first 40 years of his life. He is raised in Pharaoh’s household. I mean that’s you know here some of you are around 40. That’s the significant period of time. Well no more details about that. We are going on to the second 40 years.

Now came about in those days when Moses had grown up and we know he is about 40 years of age. He went out to his brethren, looked on their labors, he saw an Egyptian beating an Hebrew one of his brethren you know he hasn’t lost his identity here. So, he looked this way and that way, no one is around, he kills the Egyptian and buries the body in the sand. Next day, he goes out, two Hebrews who are fighting. He said to the offender why you striking your companion and they don’t appreciate his intervention, they said “What you are going to do, kill me like you killed the Egyptian? Who are you to judge? Who made you the prince over us?” Now Moses is concerned and probably for good reason we will say wouldn’t he have to be concerned about. He is raised in Pharaoh’s household, but things aren’t good in Pharaoh’s household. We do know that Moses had been trained in all the ways the Egyptians.

We have to go to the New Testament, turn over to Acts Chapter 7, little did Stephen know that when he is trial his life and giving his final sermon, he was not just speaking to the leaders of Israel, but he was speaking to all believers, all people, but particularly believers down for the next 2000 years. So, in Acts chapter 7, the spirit of God is using him as a spokesman and know what he says as he recounts the history of Israel, verse 20, “It was this time, Moses was born, he was lovely in the sight of God, he was nurtured three months in his father’s home, after he had been set aside Pharaoh’s daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son. Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians. He was a man of power, in words and deeds,” and as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter he was a man with authority, he was a man of power, but when he was approaching the age of 40, it entered his mind to visit his brother and the sons of Israel, so we know how old he was when he went out and killed the Egyptian it was about 40, coming up on 40 years of age. If we divide the time whereas we did in the Exodus chapter 2, the first 40 years and the second 40 years. When it had been going on, he had been thoroughly training in the best training that the Egyptians could give, we know something of the brilliance of the Egyptians even as we study secular history and still do excavations there and marvel at the abilities there. He was a brilliantly educated man, the best education you could receive and one of the most educated places in Egypt. Marvelous what God had done.

Why you are here? Turn over to in the New Testament, turn over to Hebrews chapter 11, we see why Moses killed this man. Moses is acting already as God’s representative in defending God’s people and this was a deliberate act of Moses and he knew the potential cause. It was not a rash act of losing his temper or letting his emotions control him. Chapter 11, verse 23 by faith Moses and you know between verses 22 and 23, we have jumped 400 and some years, because verse 22 talked about by faith Joseph when he is dying says “Take my bones with you,” now we jumped to Moses, you see the gaps carried out, “By faith Moses when he was born was hidden for 3 months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child, they were not afraid,” so Moses parents were acting by faith trusting that God would care for this child, “By faith Moses when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than enjoying the passing pleasures of sin considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured seeing Him who is unseen. We jump to the events of the Exodus itself and the Passover. You see men who were walking by faith. He had already determined that his identify was with the Jews, the nation Israel. Now think of this, all the reasons you could give, how much more help I can be in the house of Pharaoh being considered an Egyptian and using my prestige and using my power and my influence to perhaps help or looking at it and say what can I do, but he is determined to be identified with his people and that’s more important than all the riches of Egypt and that’s not something to be taken lightly. We know something of the splendor of the Pharaoh’s and their household from history. Moses, as the Bible says turned his back on all of that willingly, by faith he did it.

So, we come back to Exodus, talk about his killing the Egyptian. When I look at this, this is a rash act and unwise act, his emotions getting the best of him, good intentions, but wrong time, would you understand that earns him place as one of the things, but he is credited with as a man of faith in the book of Hebrews because here is not a personal act of vengeance. He is acting on behalf of God’s people here and becoming the defender of the people that belong to God. Hatshepsut had died in 1428. After that Patmos the third ruled alone. During her life’s time she had kept him from having the power as Pharaoh that he wanted to have. After her death, he destroyed the entire royal court. You know something about the evil side, so one that goes on in those kind of situations, you have to destroy, you have to kill all potential opponents. He attempted to do destroy or erase memory of Hatshepsut because she had opposed him and kept him from the position that he thought was rightfully his. So, this had been a very tense time for Moses anyway. So, you can see how now the Pharaoh has reason, legitimate reason if you will human speaking to destroy Moses and further solidify his power. So, Moses have to flee Egypt and he is going to go Midian. Now, the next 40 years of Moses life aren’t going near as luxurious as the first 40. First 40 years are spent in the palace, member of the royal household, people waiting on your hand and foot, your every desire, the wealth of Egypt is at your disposal, you lack for nothing, the best of everything is yours, that’s what Hebrews 11 refer to.

Now for the next 40 years he is going to be shepherd. Oh boy, it takes a long time for God to move things along. He is going to be an 80-year-old man before he embarks upon the work that God has prepared for him. I don’t know if you will ever get rid of me. The next 40 years are just as much of part of God’s plan as the first 40 were. So, Moses flees from the presence of Pharaoh, settled in the land of Midian, which was over by the Gulf of Aqaba outside the realm of Egyptian control. He sits down by a well, the priest of Midian has seven daughters, they came to draw water filled the troughs to water their father’s flock. The shepherds came and drove them away. Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock. You understand Moses would have been a man of great military ability raised in the house of Pharaoh, whatever the Pharaoh did is demonstrate their military prowess, their ability to use the weapons, they are well trained. So Pharaoh is not this effeminate man who just has a pampered life. The Pharaohs pride themselves in being able to, you know, we have the pictures of the Pharaohs and their chariots and shooting their bows or throwing their spears and Moses would have raised and has trained in this. So, here you have these seven women, but when the male shepherds come in they drive these women off. This is where Moses stands up and you see something here of the courage of Moses. He just becomes champion of the women and defends them and they get to water their flock first. So, they go back to their father and he says “How did you get back so soon?” Well there was an Egyptian, now you see Moses would have been dressed and had the appearance of an Egyptian. His hair cut, his clothes Egyptian. So they said an Egyptian helped us and what’s more he drew the water for us and watered the flock. He said to his daughter “Where is he then? Why is that you have the man behind? Invite him to have something to eat. Moses was willing to dwell with the man. He gave him his daughter Zipporah as a wife. She gave birth to a son Gershom, he said I have been a sojourner in the foreign land and it came about in the course of many days that the king of Egypt died. You know the purpose and plans of God go on. The rulers of this world come and go, God’s purposes continue.

The sons of Israel sighed under the burden of their bondage. Their cry rose up to God, God heard their groaning, remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saw the sons of Israel and took notice of them. We are ready for the call of Moses, 80 years old and now he is prepared, been trained and equipped in the house of Pharaoh for 40 years and trained and equipped in the fields as a shepherd for 40 years, now he is ready for the call of God and his appointment to become the leader of the nation Israel and bring deliverance to God’s people. God’s work is always right, God’s time is always right. We know that’s true for when the pressure comes sometimes we think “I wonder, I doubt.” Moses is in the will of God in Pharaoh’s house. He is in the will of God as a shepherd in Midian and all the difficulties all the trials and his life starts at difficulty with his life threatened even as a little baby to have part of God’s plan to move him to where he wants him, his exile from Pharaoh’s household part of God’s work and God’s plan and it will continue on. God’s work will be done and that’s true for what yet has to be accomplished. God’s plans cannot be frustrated by sinful man. In fact, we will see as we come to Pharaoh God even raises up the rulers that will oppose His plan so that he can use their opposition to His plan to accomplish His plan. There is no successful opposition to the living God and that’s the God that we serve, “He is my father, He is working all things for my good and His glory.” The most heart ranching tragedies that may come into my life, they are ultimately for my good. The greatest blessings that come into my life, they are for my good and we haven’t experienced the last chapter of our lives yet, but we have read the life chapter. “Haven’t we? So we know where we were going, we know what God’s going to do and so we are rest secure in what He is doing.

Let’s pray together, “Thank you Lord for Moses. Thank you for the records you have given of this life. Thank you Lord for how you have given your truth for our encouragement and enrichment. Increase our understanding and knowledge of you. Lord we marvel at your sovereignty and we are reminded that you are just as sovereign today as you were 3500 years ago in the life of Moses in the events of the nation of Egypt and the events effecting your people the nation Israel. We are in # that we should be your children that we should call you father then we should know that your hand is upon us for the accomplishing of all the good things you have promised to those who love your son. We praise you in His Name. Amen.