THE L.I.F.E. PLAN ENSLAVED IN EGYPT BLOCK 2. THEME 3 - ISRAEL IN EGYPT LESSON 2 (46 of 216)

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1 THE L.I.F.E. PLAN ENSLAVED IN EGYPT BLOCK 2 THEME 3 - ISRAEL IN EGYPT LESSON 2 (46 of 216)

2 BLOCK 2 THEME 3: ISRAEL IN EGYPT LESSON 2 (46 OF 216): ENSLAVED IN EGYPT LESSON AIM: Show that Israel came into unfavorable circumstances in Egypt. SCRIPTURE: (Exodus 1) 13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: Many people are what we might call creatures of habit. We find something that we like and we stick with it. We find a particular dish that we like and we order it every time we go out to eat. We find something that works well for us and we do it long after others have found a better way to get it done. The old saying is, If it is not broken, do not try to fix it. Why do we do these things? The simple answer is because people are naturally resistant to change. We want things to remain the same if possible, and maybe even at all costs. Things were good for the children of Israel down in the land of Goshen in Egypt. Through the wondrous works of God, they had been saved from a severe famine which had stricken all the land. When they heard there was corn in Egypt, they went there to buy food to feed their families. Through a long series of unfolding events, God brought all of them, seventy in number, to Egypt to keep them alive. At this point, it might be good for us to note that God is doing something greater than just keeping the children of Israel alive. By preserving Israel, he is keeping alive the lineage of the Messiah that he promised would come to deliver man from sin. This is the greater plot in the story. Israel s story is actually the smaller story. For a time, life was good in Goshen. They had escaped the famine. The whole family was together. Egypt had given them a place to settle in the best land of the country. The land was watered and grassy and suitable for Israel to raise their cattle. Their families were growing and multiplying until they had become very strong in number. It looked like they were set for life. Then things began to change. First, the older generation, Joseph and his brothers all died. This took away the strong ties Egypt had with the Hebrew people. Sure, Joseph had done a great service to Egypt and to the Pharaoh, but his passing lessened any loyalties Egypt may have had with Israel. Next, a new Pharaoh took over the throne in Egypt. He owed no allegiance to Joseph or to his people. He only saw Israel as a growing mob which could be disastrous for Egypt if they were to become allies with their enemies. Something had to be done, and quickly. The obvious thing to do was to reverse the situation for Israel. Egypt would have to take away their freedom and make them become slaves. This was their course of action. As a part of Israel s new status as slaves, Egypt set supervisors over them. The slaves were used to build storage cities for the king of Egypt and to work in the farming fields of Egypt. The supervisors were not only to make sure the slaves did

3 their jobs, but they were instructed to do everything they could to make Israel s jobs even more difficult. They made the labor as hard as was humanly possible. The children of Israel were worked so hard and treated so harshly that the lives which once had flourished in Goshen were now grievous and bitter. To make matters even worse, the king began a program to make their lives even more horrendous when they came home from the long days of slaving in the fields or in the cities. The king told the midwives who delivered Israel s babies to only allow the female babies to live. They were to kill any male child that was born of the Israelites. Among the midwives came one of the only rays of hope for the Hebrews. The midwives feared God and would not do as the king had ordered them. They told the king that the Jewish women were much stronger and livelier than Egyptian women, and by the time they got to the homes, the women had already given birth to their babies. Since this plan of the King did not work, he then told the parents themselves that if they gave birth to a male child, they were to throw the baby into the river and end his life. All these things were done to make life absolutely miserable for the enslaved children of Israel. The king s efforts to break the back of Israel actually had the opposite effect from what he had tried to do. Instead of the nation dwindling down to few numbers through the hard labor and the killing of their babies, the people multiplied even more. Although they were in undesirable circumstances in Egypt, God was still with them. God was still honoring his promise to Abraham that his descendants would become a mighty nation. God was still in the process of keeping his promise to one day send a mighty deliverer who would be the Savior of the world. He was still in the process of destroying the works of the devil, even though at the time, it looked like the devil had the upper hand. There is a very good spiritual lesson from this story for Christians today. As believers in Christ, we are also the promised offspring of Abraham. God is continuing to multiply us among all the people of the earth, still keeping his promise to Abraham. Like the Egyptian King, Satan wants to defeat us. He has many weapons aligned to attack us from every direction. The more he works to defeat the church, the more it multiplies. The Messiah has already come the first time, but he is coming again. The church is working now to evangelize the nations in preparation for his return. In Egypt, the Israelites had gone from the heights of blessing to the lowest of slavery. This entire process lasted for four hundred years. God saw and heard their afflictions. He knew the situation they were in and in his perfect time, he moved to deliver Israel from this awful slavery. One of the Israeli women who had a son chose not to take his life by throwing him in the river. Instead, she came up with a scheme which she hoped would not only preserve his life, but would also result in a good situation for her baby. The Lord brought her scheme to pass and her son s life was saved. God would use this son to deliver Israel out of their bondage in Egypt. His name was Moses.

4 LESSON OUTLINE BLOCK 2 THEME 3: ISRAEL IN EGYPT LESSON 2 (46 OF 216): ENSLAVED IN EGYPT Israel s unfavorable circumstances in Egypt I LIFE WAS GOOD IN GOSHEN A. Saved from famine B. Israel was blessed and multiplied II EGYPT GETS A NEW KING A. No allegiance to Israel B. Israel enslaved 1. Made to work extremely hard 2. Israel s male children are to be killed III ISRAEL MULTIPLIES ANYWAY A. God multiplies Israel B. God preserved the lineage of his Messiah SCRIPTURES TO BROADEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING 1. Israel multiplies under harsh circumstances Exodus 1:12 2. Pharaoh orders the killing of Israel s male babies Exodus 1:15-22 LINES OF THEOLOGICAL CONNECTION 1. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD The preservation of the saints

5 LESSON GLOSSARY 1. Midwife A woman who assists the mother in giving birth 2. Grievous Full of sadness 3. Horrendous Terrible QUESTIONS ANSWER KEY 1. How many of the family of Israel came to Egypt? Whose lineage did God preserve by sending the children of Israel to Egypt? The Messiah 3. How did the Pharaoh try to control the growth of Israel? By enslaving them 4. How did the Pharaoh try to defeat Israel when slavery didn t work? By ordering the mid-wives to kill the male children 5. What effect does oppression have on God s people? It tends to multiply them

6 BLOCK 2 THEME 3: ISRAEL IN EGYPT LESSON 2 (46 OF 216): ENSLAVED IN EGYPT QUESTIONS TO INSPIRE THOUGHT 1. How many of the family of Israel came to Egypt? 2. Whose lineage did God preserve by sending the children of Israel to Egypt? 3. How did the Pharaoh try to control the growth of Israel? 4. How did the Pharaoh try to defeat Israel when slavery didn t work? 5. What effect does oppression have on God s people?