Temporarily Afflicted, but not Long-Term Affected: God Keeps His Promises. Mid-week Bible Study Reid Temple AME Church Rev.

Transcription

1 Temporarily Afflicted, but not Long-Term Affected: God Keeps His Promises Mid-week Bible Study Reid Temple AME Church Rev. Tish Thomas

2 Jacob s 12 Sons in Egypt Vs. 1-6 These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy [a] in all; Joseph was already in Egypt. Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died. Exodus begins with the story of Jacob s 12 sons who had come to Egypt Previously, Joseph saved Egypt from a terrible famine b/c of his interpretation of Pharaoh's dream (Genesis 41) Subsequently, he was elevated and placed over all of Egypt at 30 years of age However, Exodus begins the death of Joseph and his brothers and the death of his family s status and the luxuries they enjoyed

3 Multiply, Not Divide Vs. 7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. (KJV) God here is beginning to fulfill his promise that he gave to Abraham in Genesis 17 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly. 3 Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4 As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.

4 Multiply, Not Divide The Lord would deliver Israel, but only after 400 years Often we grow weary waiting for the Promise. This is often a test of our faith. We need to remain faithful where we are, trusting that God is faithful to His Promises! We will be edified and God will be glorified! Habakuk 2:2 & 3 The Message version says And then GOD answered: Write this. Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what s coming. It aches for the coming it can hardly wait! And it doesn t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It s on its way. It will come right on time. What promises have you been waiting on?

5 Legacy? What Legacy? There s A New Sheriff in Town Vs. 8 Eventually a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. Joseph had been HUGE in Egypt He had been THE MAN! And the bible says the new king knew nothing about him! Point for us: Be clear that your service is unto God and is pleasing to Him because then you are guaranteed a reward in heaven. Earthly things will pass away, only what we do for Christ will last. We often times will fight or jockey for position, but trust there is always another person coming behind you

6 Legacy? What Legacy? There s A New Sheriff in Town Vs Look, he said to his people, the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country. The new king noticed the astounding growth of the children of Israel and realized the need to devise a plan to keep them bound and stunt their growth Egypt was the majority and Israel the minority, but just as we ve seen happen in modern-day times, the minority is rapidly becoming the majority. Egypt thought of themselves as the racial superiority wanted to keep their foot on the necks of the Israelites. Egypt feared invasion of the northern kingdom of the Hittites and if the children of Israel joined the Hittites in a battle, this would threaten national security.

7 The New Sheriff in Town Vs. 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses. The King ordered the people of Israel to build great cities in Egypt Slave Labor When the enemy wants to defeat the promises of God in our lives, how does he do that? Enslavement in our minds! The Battlefield of your Mind! Distant Distracted Distorted Depressed Distressed

8 Who are our taskmasters? Careers chasing that paper! Work yourself to death! So-called friends that love to remind us of our past! Family that tries to break our spirit and rob us of our joy! Relationships - They tried to keep the children of Israel so tired and busy that they wouldn t have time for relationships, getting married, or procreation. The enemy today will keep us busy looking at the wrong things such that we marry the wrong person not God s best for us! We look on the outer, but God looks a the heart.

9 Oppression is an Opportunity for Growth! Vs But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage; in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor. Despite the oppression and hard bondage Israel still prospered! One Commentator said Egypt served as a mother s womb for Israel, a place where they grew to unparalleled rates into a mighty nation This is the Christian s story. Ancient Christian writer Tertullian said The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. Isaiah 54:17 says No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment shall be condemned.

10 Oppression is an Opportunity for Growth! We can t see the end, but God wrote the plan We look at the day to day, but God sees the bigger picture! It doesn t always feel good, but Romans 8:28 says And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

11 How do you comply with something that s not of God? Vs The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live. The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. The king devised a plan to annihilate Israel by ordering death to all of the baby boys born. Can you imagine a more heinous crime? Shiprah and Puah were probably over a group of women that were midwives We, like they, must obey God, rather than man! Man s rules should compliment the order of God.

12 How do you comply with something that s not of God? Irony of it midwives are the ones used to help usher babies into life and into purpose! To help the mother push out the gift that can only come from God! When man s commands are contrary to God, we must obey God! Think of times when you ve been asked to compromise your beliefs or standards? Did you take a stand for God? The midwives feared the Lord. Proverbs 9:10 says The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. They were wise and God would bless them for that.

13 God Will Bless your Efforts Vs Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live? The midwives answered Pharaoh, Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive. So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live. Commentators were divided on whether or not the Hebrew women actually gave birth that quickly. Some said it wasn t possible, others said they were probably a strong group of women.

14 God Will Bless your Efforts God blessed the midwives and granted them children and they prospered Many times midwives had that particular job because they were not married or did not have children When you are faithful to the will and the way of God, be encouraged because God rewards our faithfulness! The children of Israel were indeed temporarily afflicted, but not long-term affected! Because of the faithfulness of God they still grew mightily in number and multiplied and would go on to possess the Promised Land. Be encouraged because it s always darkest before day!