Exodus chapter 1, please. Every since God told the serpent
in the garden that the woman's seed would crush his head, Satan
has attempted to nullify that promise. But God's promises cannot
be foiled, frustrated, And what's occurring here in the first chapter
of Exodus is God fulfilling his promise to Abraham, to Isaac,
and Jacob, causing their seed to be as numerous as the stars
and as the dust of the ground. What started out in Egypt as
a little more than 70 people has now grown into what many
estimate to be two to three million people. In verse 7 we read, And
the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, and
multiplied and waxed exceedingly mighty, and the land was filled
with them. And now there arose up a new
king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his
people, behold, the people of the children of Israel are more
and mightier than we. Come on, let us deal wisely with
them, lest they multiply. And it come to pass that when
their fall without any war, they join also in our enemies and
fight against us. So get them up out of the land. And therefore they did set over
them taskmasters to afflict them with their burden. And they built
for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Ramesses. But the
more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew,
and they were grieved because of the children of Israel. And
the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor,
and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and
in brick, and all manner of service in the field, and all their service
wherein they made them serve was with rigor. And the king
of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of
the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other was Puah. And
he said, when you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women,
and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then you shall
kill him, but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. Now I was
thinking, reading this, it's one thing to enslave a people
and put great hardships on them. It's pure wickedness to drive
someone to the brink of destruction with inhuman treatment. But it's
a whole nother degree of cruelty to murder innocent newborn children. And I believe this just gives
us a glimpse into the deep recesses of man's depravity, that wickedness,
that desperate wickedness that's within man's heart. And there's
more cruelty in the corrupt heart of man by nature than one would
care to know and believe. What a great grace it is that
God doesn't show us and fully reveal to us the full wickedness
of our hearts. I'm telling you, it's a great
grace and mercy that he doesn't. No question in the mind of a
believer that by nature, as Paul wrote in Romans 3, that we're
swept to shed blood and that destruction and misery are in
our ways. Yet none of us would like to
think Anyway, that mankind is capable of doing such horrid
things to children. But then sadly, it's true that
this continues on in our day with abortion and child abuse
and even the unjust murdering of children. We hear it all the
time. It's almost common to hear it in the news today. None of
us like to think or dwell on such matters. We really don't.
But they are nonetheless true. And here we see that Pharaoh,
as well as Herod, some almost 1,000 years later, proved themselves
to be instruments of Satan, to do away with the woman's seed.
That's what this is all about. Don't think that it's not. The
purpose of this in the heart of the enemy is to do away with
the coming of Christ and His seed. But how comforting it is
to know that no matter how Satan schemes and how he attacks and
attempts to destroy his efforts, are always subject to the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, who assures that his divine
will is always accomplished. Isn't that such a comfort to
know? No matter what came Israel's way, and a lot came at them,
God was guiding and directing and accomplishing His perfect
will and purpose in their life, overriding the will of Pharaoh,
overriding the will of Egypt. And the lesson is always the
same. God is always causing things
to work in perfect order. Maybe not as we see perfect order,
but God knows what's best. We don't. Matter of fact, a very
good way for us to pray is, Lord, thy will be done, not ours, because
we don't know what's best for us. But God works things in perfect
order for the good of them whom he's called by his grace to be
conformed to the image of his son. And again, I say, and I'm
talking to me, you can listen in. That's why we should never
worry and fret, even though we always do, don't we? Granted,
some more than others, I know, but it's because we always concern
ourselves with what we deserve instead of what grace in Christ
gives us. We need to stop that. We need
to stop that. Truly these eyes have not clearly
seen or these ears clearly heard, not like I wish they had, and
neither have these things entered into the heart of this man the
things that God has prepared for them that love him. One day
we're gonna see, we're gonna look back in glory when we no
longer, our vision is clouded with sin, and we're gonna see
just how God did everything in perfect order for our good and
for His glory. And I always look inward at my
lack of love for Him instead of looking outwardly to Christ
to see, hear, and understand His great love for me. May God
enable us to do that. Let's make it our goal every
day, not to look within, but to look without to Him who loves
us and gave Himself for us. So I think it's pretty easy to
see from this chapter what's going on here. Satan knows that
if the male children of the Hebrews are destroyed, that in the future
there would be no David, and there would be no son of David,
which is the Lord Jesus Christ. But thanks be to God that man's
will, Pharaoh's will, does not reign over God's will. The divine
providence and the salvation of his elect is not of him that
willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
And again, we see the love and grace and mercy of Christ in
the lives of his people. Now look at verse 17. I just love this. But the midwives
feared God and did not, as the king of Egypt commanded them,
but saved the men and children alive. And back in verse 15,
we're given the names of these two Hebrew midwives. The first
is Shifra and the other is Pua. And we should not at all be surprised
at what their names mean. Shifra means splendid and Pua
means brilliant. These women were told feared
God. That's all we're told about them.
They feared God. You see, the people of God fear,
not a slavish fear, a reverential fear. God's people fear Him. They reverence Him. They worship
Him in their hearts. And in Christ, these two midwives
were seen, considered, counted, and presented splendid and brilliant
in the eyes of God Almighty. That is so refreshing to me because
all of God's people are presented holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in His sight. Splendid and brilliant. Are we in Christ? Isn't that
an amazing picture? Let's talk for a few minutes
about the fear of God. In verse 17, that's all we're
told about these two ladies. They feared God. Oh, you ladies
that fear God, how blessed you are. How blessed we all are who
fear God. You know, the fear of God is
something that every believer has, and the fear of God is something
that no unbeliever has. The fear of God is the product,
and it's the result of knowing God. Now, if you know God, you'll
fear Him, and if you don't know God, you won't. It's just that
simple. What does the scripture say about
the fear of God? What does God say about fearing
Him? Well, stick your marker here
in Exodus, and let's just look at a few places. We'll go not
much further than the book of Proverbs, if you'll turn there
with me. Let's take a crash course from the wise man Solomon. Look at Proverbs chapter one
with me. Verse seven, talking about the
fear of the Lord. First of all, notice in verse
seven that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the starting
point in knowing God. Look over a page at chapter two,
verse five. Then shalt thou understand the
fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. Fear is the
starting point. Turn over to Romans, or excuse
me, Proverbs chapter eight. Proverbs chapter eight. Look
at verse 13. The fear of the Lord is to hate
evil, pride and arrogancy. The fear of the Lord causes us
to hate these things, not so much in others, but in ourselves,
in ourselves. Look at chapter 14, verse 26. In the fear of the Lord is strong
confidence, and His children shall have a place of refuge. You see, my confidence, our confidence
is not in ourselves, friends, it's in God, it's in the Lord,
and it's not in my works, it's not in my will, it's not in my
way. The fear of the Lord has taught
me that Christ is my confidence. Isn't that what the fear of the
Lord has taught you? the respect that you have for
God, you see that Christ is your confidence. The believers made
to know that Christ is their righteousness. Therefore, they're
humbled and they're made to know that they're nothing and that
Christ is all. They're made to know that in
Jesus Christ, they are made everything that God requires. And therefore,
all their confidence is in Him. Is there any other place to put
our confidence? And we have He who fills everything
and fulfills all that God requires of us. Look at Proverbs 16, verse
six. By mercy and truth, iniquity
is purged, and by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil."
When we see that God is holy and hates sin, when we see that
all our sin is against Him and Him only, the child of God, though
unsuccessful in and of themselves, they desire more than anything
else in their life to depart from evil. And this newfound
goal in the saved sinner's heart is to be pleasing to God, knowing
that we cannot be so apart from the mercy and the grace of God
in Christ. Love, honor, respect, and the
fear of the Lord is what causes men and women to depart from
any evil that would bring reproach and dishonor upon Christ. It's
a great detour. It's a great detour to doing
things that we know that would be displeasing to Him. And look at Proverbs 19, verse
23. The fear of the Lord tendeth to life. and he that hath it shall abide
satisfied and he shall not be visited with evil." Boy, isn't
that a wonderful, wonderful promise? The fear of the Lord, the reverential
respect of God. It's the fear of the Lord. The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, we read. The fear
of the Lord is the believer's strong confidence. The fear of
the Lord, gives life, the fear of the Lord
causes us to rest satisfied in Christ. And the fear of the Lord
sees to it that we shall not be visited with evil. That's
just wonderful. In Ecclesiastes chapter 12, you
don't have to turn there, verse 13, Solomon said, let us hear
the conclusion of the whole matter. He said, fear God. That's the
first thing. Fear God and keep his commandments
for this is the whole duty of man. Well, how do we keep his
commandments? Well, only in Christ, only by
our perfect union with him. Jeremiah 32, 40, you know this
verse very well. It reads, and I will make an
everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from
them. Oh, I tell you, I have that written down in the front
of my notebook and I read it every morning. I will make an
everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from
them. To do them good. I'm not gonna turn away from
you to do you good, God says. Isn't that such a promise? So
it's such an encouragement. He said, but I'll put my fear
in their hearts. I'll put that reverential respect
for me in their hearts that they shall not depart from me. How
comforting is it that our union with Christ in and by through
the covenant that God made with Christ. And because of that,
God won't turn away from us to do us good. And he'll put his
fear in our hearts. And if we have the fear of the
Lord, then God gave it. That's what I want you to see.
Just the same as if we have faith, God gave it. Just the same as
if we have repentance, God put it there in our hearts. God is
behind it all. Salvations of the Lord. If we
have joy, if we have peace, if we have long suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, we have all these things only
because God granted them to us. What a God. Now back in Exodus
1 verse 17, again we read, but the midwives feared God and did
not, as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men's children
alive. These midwives feared God more
than Pharaoh. And they refused to put these
infant boys to death. And that is such a remarkable
statement in thought when you consider, especially when you
consider the fact that you didn't disobey Pharaoh and live. You just didn't. You didn't disobey
the king and not pay a consequence. The faith of these two women
caused their names to be forever written in the word of God. And
we've quoted the scripture many times, and so again, we must
do so. Our Lord Jesus said, fear not
them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul,
but rather fear him being God, which is able to destroy both
soul and body in hell, Matthew 10, 28. You know, I was reading
today, I was reminded by one of the writers in Acts chapter
4 where Peter and John were called before the powers to be. And
the scripture says that they were commanded not to speak at
all nor teach in the name of Jesus. Do you remember what they
said? They said, whether it be right
in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God,
judge ye, for we cannot but speak the things which we've seen and
heard. We're not gonna shut up. We're gonna keep right on doing
it. You do what you gotta do. We trust in God. You remember
what happened? Well, the scripture says, so
when they had further threatened them, they let them go. finding
nothing how they might punish them because of the people for
all men glorified God for that which was done. Then in Acts
chapter five, just a short while later, they were arrested and
God busted them out of jail. You remember what they said?
They said, we ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our
fathers raised up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree."
They didn't sugarcoat this to those who questioned them. They
said, you took God in the flesh and you killed him. You slew
and hung him on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his
right hand to be a prince and a savior, to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And the scriptures said
that these Jewish leaders were cut to the heart. Oh, can you
imagine how mad they were? And they took counsel to slay
them. But do you remember what happened? You ought to read it.
Acts chapter five. God raised up a Pharisee. Of
all people, Gamalia, a doctor of the law who had a good reputation
among those folks, and he said, you better take heed to yourselves.
What you intend to do is touching these men. God raised up one
of them to defend them. And instead of killing them,
they beat them. And here's the amazing thing
of that story. The scripture says that the disciples
departed rejoicing. I don't know if you've ever been
beaten. I was a few times younger by my folks and then a few fights,
but I never left rejoicing. They departed rejoicing that
they were counted worthy, counted worthy to suffer shame for the
name of Christ. Isn't that amazing? I love those
stories, I do. You tell me that God isn't amazing,
he's gonna take care of those that belong to him. He's gonna
take care of his children. The child of God will say with
Job, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. And we ought to. He's deserving of our trust.
And that's what fear is. It's a reverential respect for
He who loves us and takes care of us. Now look at verse 18. And the king of Egypt called
for the midwives, and he said unto them, why have you done
this thing, and have saved the men and children alive? And the
midwife said unto Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not as the
Egyptian women, for they are lively and are delivered, ere
the midwives come in unto them. And I'm telling you, I've read
this verse several times, and it's almost as though that they're
mocking Pharaoh here. What they're saying is this,
They're saying the Hebrew women are in such good physical shape
and in such good condition that they deliver their children by
themselves. They go into labor and these
children are born so quickly before we even can arrive and
help. And I find it absolutely amazing
that their answer to Pharaoh ironically points to their affliction
And they're being overworked as a blessing instead of a hindrance. It's though they're saying, well,
you've got them working so much. They're in such good shape. They
pop these babies out and go on about their day. And I tell you,
I was thinking, God knows how to rub Pharaoh's face in it. And that's what he does here.
It seems that the more Pharaoh demanded them to work, the more
the Hebrew babies they produced. That's just like God, isn't it?
What an amazing God. And that's exactly what verse
20 tells us. It says, therefore God dealt
with the midwives and the people multiplied and waxed very mighty. Now, the word dwelt here is worthy
to spend a moment or two on in verse 20. It's the same Hebrew
word as favored, accepted, and blessed. God showed favor. God showed mercy and grace to
the midwives, and no doubt he did. It doesn't even say anymore
that Pharaoh dealt with them in any way. Why? Because God
had his hand upon them. God had his hand upon them. That's
why we shouldn't fear those of us who found favor and acceptance
and blessings with God. And in verse 21, we're told,
and it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that
he made them houses. Now I want, before I deal with
the last part of that verse, I want to ask you a question.
I know you know the answer to. Many folks don't know the correct
answer to. But the question is, did God
show these midwives favor because of their fear and obedience?
That's what some would say that this verse means. And at first
glance, It seems that that seems to be the case. It says, and
it came to pass because the midwives feared God that he made them
houses. But we've always got to compare
scripture with scripture. God never gives grace because
of something that we do. If grace came as a result of
our obedience and our fear and something that we do, then that
would be salvation by works. But salvation's not by works,
salvation is by grace. God didn't favor them because
of their obedience. Their obedience came as a result
of God's mercy, grace, and favor, and that's just the way it is.
These women's outward conduct tells us of an inward work of
the grace of God in their hearts. And to some, what these women
did, it may seem but a little thing. But even though we know
that God is the first cause of everything, yet in the way of
a secondary cause, if I can use that thinking, the actions of
these two women actually saved and preserved Israel's seed.
If they had been obedient to Pharaoh, it could have changed
the course of history. But we've always got to remember
that history is his story. It's his story. He wrote it,
and it's going to come to pass just as God ordained it to come
to pass. These faithful women worked out
what God had already worked in. That's simply the truth, and
that's Paul didn't say for us to work out our own salvation
with fear and trembling, and without going on to say that,
for it's God which worketh in you both to do, to will and to
do His good pleasure. We don't work out what God doesn't
first work in. Let me draw your attention to
one more great blessing here that God did. It says in the
last part of verse 21 that God made them houses. Now that doesn't
mean that God built them a house, and it doesn't mean that God
caused Pharaoh to build them a house. In Old Testament times,
it was very common for barren women, women that couldn't give
birth, very common for them to be midwives according to the
old biblical historians. And it was a very tough thing
for a woman of Israel to be barren. You remember Rachel? Well, you
remember Sarah? For years and years she wanted
a child. You remember Rachel? You remember
Hannah? God had promised that the Messiah The seed of the woman
would come through the seed of the woman. And every woman born
from Eve among God's people desired to receive a son from the Lord.
Do you remember what Eve said when her first son Cain was born? She said, I've gotten a man from
the Lord. I am convinced that Eve thought
that Cain would be the savior that God had promised immediately
after the fall. And of course, God spoke of Christ,
but every Hebrew woman counted it a great honor and privilege
to have children, especially to have a son and hope that that
son might be the promised one. And that's what makes this last
part of that verse so special. God made them houses. That simply
means that God gave them children. He gave them families of their
own. And what really makes this statement
such a blessing is the fact that the word made there, it's the
same word used throughout Genesis and all the word of God. Have
you ever thought about that word? God made the firmament, same
word. Genesis 1-7 God made two great
lights same word God Genesis 2-4 God made the earth and the
heavens God spoke them into existence God spoke this blessing into
existence God speaks all our blessings into existence doesn't
he? They all come from him Genesis
5, 1, God created man in the likeness of God. Made he him. Same word. He made them houses. In other words, this gift to
these women was God's gift to them. And I couldn't help but
to laugh out loud when I thought about this. God gave them faith. Now listen to this. God gave
them faith, and then he rewarded them for it. You think about
that. God gave them faith, and then
he rewarded them for their faith. What a glorious thought. Because
of their faith, because of their obedience, which he gave them,
God rewards them and gives them more. That's the kind of God
we have. That's the kind of God we serve.
That's the kind of God we fear. The kind of God we reverence
and respect. For by grace are you saved, the
scripture says. God gives us that grace. We are saved by grace through
faith, through believing on Christ we're saved. God gives us that
faith. Through believing on Christ we're
saved. It's not of works, it's the gift of God. Isn't that what
Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 2? It's the gift of God. It's not by works lest any man
should boast. No man is going to be able to
boast before God that they did something to merit salvation. Paul goes on to say we're his
workmanship. I heard somebody say one time,
Doc, God doesn't make any junk. I guess that's true. We are created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. Ephesians 2 tells us. Any good
works we have comes as a result of being in Christ, right? Right. There was a time when we were
without Christ. There was a time that we were
without God. There was a time that we were without hope in
this world. But Paul says, but now in Christ
Jesus, We who were sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Made. What a word. You know what that
really means? Well, we were once a far off,
but we were made nigh. We were once wrong, but we were
made righteous. We were once unholy, but we're
made holy. We were made We were sinful,
but we were made just. What does that mean? God made
us a house, just like he did those midwives. And he said,
I go prepare a place for you, that where I am, you may be also. In other words, he gave us faith
to believe him, and then he rewards us for believing him. That makes
me smile. reward us with Himself, Himself. We say it all the time. Heaven
is heaven only because Christ is there. And it's called substitution. It's called salvation. It's called
being reconciled to God. It's called being made unto Him. Paul said we're made but of Him. Are you in Christ Jesus who of
God is made unto us? He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. In Christ, we have God's wisdom. In Christ, we have God's righteousness. In Christ, we have perfect sanctification. We have redemption. In other
words, we got it made. Made. But never forget, it's
of Him. That's what Paul said. But of
Him. Are you in Christ Jesus? It's
of God that we're in Christ Jesus. Remember that it's Christ Jesus
who is made unto us. He was made sin for us. Same word. That we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. Made. Made. My, what a word. I love that word. Made accepted
in the beloved. Ephesians 1-6. Made free from
the law. Galatians 5.1. Made to sit together in heavenly
places. Made. Made nigh by the blood
of Christ. We just read. Made fit, made
meet to be partakers of his inheritance. Colossians 1.12. Made an heir
according to the hope of eternal life. Titus 3.7. Made a partaker
of Christ. Hebrews 3.4. And made perfect,
Hebrews 12, 23. Made, made. Don't you love that word? God
made me everything that I wasn't. And God made me everything that
I had to be. I love that word. Little four
letter word. Well, you're still in the Exodus,
right? I bet after all this, Pharaoh
straightened up and flew right. Verse 22, and Pharaoh charged
all his people saying, every son that is born, you shall cast
into the river and every daughter ye shall save alive. And you
know what I thought of when I read that verse? I thought of Romans
9, 17. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, God says unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up. that I might show my power in
thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the
earth. Now we'll see in the next lesson or two that this Pharaoh
died, but the other one was just like him. He just took up right
where this one left off. Friends, they're gonna learn
something. They're gonna learn something.
Pharaoh's going to learn that God raised him up only to bring
him down to show the world and all who read the scriptures that
God's in control. I think it was Arthur Pink who
said that the book of Exodus is basically Moses' continuation
of the book of Genesis. I certainly agree with that.
What a story this is. Greatest story ever told, isn't
it? It's all about Christ beginning at Moses and all the prophets
testified of himself.