Tonight I want to begin our study
in the book of Exodus. We just finished our study in
the book of Genesis, and I want to say what a blessing that study
has been to me personally, and I hope also to you. Historically speaking, the book
of Genesis that we just went through is called the book of
beginnings. And it's certainly that, in the
beginning God. Without God was not anything
made. Without Christ was not anything
made that was made. It's the book of beginnings.
Doctrinally speaking, the book of Genesis, it shows us a great
deal concerning election. concerning God's sovereign choosing. God chose Seth from the three
sons of Noah as the channel that Christ would come in the flesh
on both Mary and Joseph's side. God singled out Abraham to be
the father of his chosen nation, and it wasn't because of anything
in Abraham. Why, he was an idol worshiper,
an idol maker, actually, in the land of Ur of Chaldeas. God passed
by Ishmael, the son of the flesh, the son of man's work, and he
chose Isaac, the son of promise. The book about God's choosing.
God passed by Esau and chose Jacob, those twin boys used by
the Apostle Paul to prove the election of God and God's choosing
of his people. God, before the foundation of
the world, set his affection on some, not all, but some, and
all them came to Christ. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth. Romans 9 11. And God appointed
Joseph over the other 11 sons of Jacob to be the provider for
Israel in a time of famine. And God calls Jacob, as you remember,
to pass over the elder son of Joseph, bestowing the firstborn's
portion on Ephraim instead of Manasseh. So election is a primary
doctrine and teaching found in the book of Genesis, and it gives
great light to that passage found in 2 Corinthians 2.13 that we
all know so well, which tells us that God from the beginning
hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
spirit and belief of the truth. And that great truth is illustrated
over and over and over again in the book of Genesis as we
just mentioned. Now tonight we come to the book
of Exodus and historically the book of Exodus tells of Israel's
deliverance and their coming out of Egyptian bondage by the
mighty power of God. But viewed doctrinally, Exodus
is a beautiful picture and story of redemption. Just as Genesis
teaches us that God elects and chooses unto salvation, Exodus
instructs us in how God saves his people by his mighty power.
And in our study of Exodus, we'll see Israel's need of redemption. We'll see something about our
need of redemption. We'll see something about the
power and might of the Redeemer. How redemption is purchased by
blood. how redemption is accomplished
only by the mercy and grace of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. And we'll see the provision that
God makes for his people in spite of all their failures. In other
words, it's the gospel according to Exodus, just like it was the
gospel according to Genesis. Now, the first five verses of
Exodus chapter one takes us back to what we've already seen in
the book of Genesis. Verse one, now these are the
names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt. Every
man in his household came with Jacob, Reuben, Simeon, Levi,
and Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali,
and Gad, and Asher. And all the souls that came out
of the loins of Jacob were 70 souls, for Joseph was in Egypt
already. And when Jacob and the 70 members
of his family settled in Egypt, things were great. Things were
really good. Because of Pharaoh's love for
Joseph, they were given a wonderful welcome. As you remember, Pharaoh
sent some wagons to retrieve Jacob and the family, 70 members
in all. They were allowed to live in
the land of Goshen, which was said to be the best of the land,
and the Lord blessed them. and he gave them favor. But then
in verse six here, we see what we saw in Genesis chapter 50,
and Joseph died. And now we're told that all Joseph's
brethren and all that generation died also. In verse seven, and
the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and
multiplied and waxed exceeding mighty, and the land was filled
with them. The descendants of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob were, look at it again, fruitful. They increased abundantly. They multiplied, they waxed exceeding
mighty. and the land was filled with
them. And there's no doubt here upon reading this, that God was
fulfilling the promise that he made to Abraham in Genesis chapter
15 and also in Genesis chapter 22, when God said to Abraham,
now look toward heaven and tell the stars if they'll be able
to number them. And he said unto them, so shall
thy seed be. And then in chapter 22, he told
him that in blessing, I will bless thee and in multiplying,
I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven and as the sand,
which is upon the seashore. This is the fulfilling of the
promise that God gave to Isaac in Genesis chapter 26. And the
same promise that he gave to Jacob in Genesis chapter 28.
When God promises something, you can count on it. Numbers
23, 19 tells us that God is not a man that he should lie. He's
not a man that he should repent or change his mind. Hath he said
and shall not he do it? Hath he spoken and shall he not
make it good? I wonder if we've learned that
yet. Oh my, Lord, help me to trust you. Help me to believe
you. You've never, ever let me down. You've never, ever not
done what you promised you'd do. But now we see after the
death of Joseph and his brethren and all that generation, something
changed. What was it? Well, verse eight,
we're told. Now there arose up a new king
over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. Now, obviously that doesn't mean
that this new king, that this new Pharaoh didn't know who Joseph
was. Everyone in Egypt knew who Joseph
was. His name had gone down in their
history books. He had saved that nation. He
had saved that country. This Pharaoh knew very well the
history of Joseph. There's no doubt in my mind that
that's so. He knew the things that Joseph had accomplished.
He knew the benefits that Joseph had brought to Egypt by his God. Everyone in Egypt So what does
it mean when it says that this new king, this new Pharaoh knew
not Joseph? Have you ever thought about that?
It means that he did not regard Joseph. He did not love Joseph. He did not esteem him. He didn't
acknowledge him and what he had done. And he showed no respect
to Joseph's memory. He showed no respect to Joseph's
people. And ultimately, he showed no
respect to God. That kindness that Israel had
enjoyed was abruptly terminated. And that led to 430 years, 430
years of bondage and slavery. Why did the Lord allow Israel
to stay enslaved for 400 plus years? Let's consider a couple of secondary
causes, and then I'll give you the primary cause, which you
already know what it is. Now, no doubt that Israel's rough
treatment and punishment for this 430 years conditioned and
toughened and schooled and prepared them for what lay ahead. Their
bitter lot and trials in Egypt and in the wilderness was allowed
by God to make the land of promise that they would one day enter
into much more appreciated when it became theirs. There's no
doubt that that was a secondary cause for this. Another secondary
cause may have been the fact that at the beginning of their
enslavement, the land of Canaan was too large and vast for one
family and 12 small tribes to occupy. But when they did leave
Egypt some 430 years later, they left by conservative estimates
with two to three million people. Another secondary cause may have
been the wickedness that was done to Joseph by his brothers.
Like everyone, Joseph's brothers would reap some of what they
had sown. Now, let me say this up front.
I don't think that God keeps a running tab on men and women's
sins and offenses so that he can pay back each one for every
transgression they commit. You know, no believer will ever
reap the full evil that they deserve. But there are consequences
for our sin. We've seen it so many times.
We saw it a lot in the book of Genesis. And I cannot help but
to think that this was another secondary reason why Israel was
in bondage for so long to the Egyptians. And I think this brings
to light that verse that we quote often in Numbers chapter 14 verse
18 that says, the Lord is long suffering and of great mercy
and he is. Forgiving iniquity and transgressions
and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity
of the fathers upon the children unto the third and the fourth
generations. Joseph had been sold into slavery. and carried down to Egypt. So
in God's providence, it's not unreasonable to think that his
brethren and their children and their children's children for
four generations suffered the same thing. These are secondary
causes, but the first cause of this 430 years of being in bondage
to Egypt was the purpose of God. Now hold your place here in Exodus
and turn back to Genesis chapter 15 with me. And look at verse 13, Genesis
15. And he, being God, said unto
Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they
shall afflict them 400 years. And also that nation whom they
shall serve will I judge, and afterward shall they come out
with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers
in peace. Thou shalt be buried in a good
old age. And look at verse 16, but in
the fourth generation, they shall come out hither again. And then
it says this, and never paid much attention to this before,
but it says for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. Now, what does that mean? What's
that talking about? Well, as we see, God told Abraham
that his seed, his people, would sojourn in the land of Egypt
for 400 years, and that comes to pass. But the fourth generation
of those people, he would deliver, and they would return to Canaan,
to the land of promise. After 400 years, in the last
part of verse 16, God tells Abraham that at that time the iniquity
of the Amorites would be full. Some 430 years later, it would
be time for God to deal in judgment with the Amorites' iniquity. It took that long before God
decided and determined for their iniquity to be full. The time
for God to deal in judgment with the Amorites would not be fully
ripe in the days of Abraham, wouldn't be in the days of Isaac,
wouldn't be in the days of Jacob nor Joseph, not until 400 years
later. And we see that in the book of
Joshua, if you remember our study there. The Amorites' iniquities
at this time had not reached the bounds that God had appointed. They were not yet full. And after 400 years, The Amorites'
iniquity was filled up, and at the same time, Israel was ready
as a nation to be the instrument that God would use to destroy
them. And it's just amazing when you
think about it. It's amazing how the Lord God
can accomplish so many things in just one swift move of His
great providence. And this should give fruition
to what we've talked about so many times, that the sin, the
wickedness, and rebellion of men and women are made to serve
God's divine counsel and purpose. Even man's disobedience is tied
to the turning will of God's providence, sovereign providence,
and God uses it to accomplish his will. And that very much
confirms what David said, surely the wrath of man shall praise
thee, and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. Now back
in Exodus chapter 1, again verse 8. Now there arose
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. And as you know, Egypt represents
this world in which we live. Egypt very well represents salvation
by works. Egypt very well illustrates and
pictures man's work religion. And man's religion is nothing
but bondage. Nothing but bondage. Egypt, under
this new king, did not know, did not regard, did not love
Joseph. They chose not to remember him. And I was thinking today that
human religion, man's religion, the religion that we're born
with, has no love or regard for Christ. None whatsoever. And this, I know, is a serious
accusation. Can I back it up? Well, I think
I can. I know I can. Now you and I both
know that the Jesus of modern day religion is not the Christ
of the Bible. Just not. The Christ this book
declares does not resemble the Jesus that modern day religion
declares. The Jesus of religion loves everybody. The Jesus of religion died for
everybody. We know that the true Christ
of the Bible didn't. We know that having loved his
own that were in the world, he loved them unto the end. Christ
died and loved a particular people whom God gave him before the
foundation of the world. Why he said, I pray not for the
world, but I pray for them. We know who those them are. For
he said, I pray for them that thou has given me. Christ died
for those that God gave him, and all that the father gave
him will come to him. And we find such comfort in knowing
that. That's the Christ of the Bible.
And if Christ loved everybody, wouldn't he pray for them? If
Christ died for everyone, will there be any in hell? The Jesus
of religion, he wants to save and he's trying to save, but
the real Christ of the scriptures saves whom he wills. There's
a big difference between the two, big difference. The men
and women of religion make Christ subservient to their will. They
know not the Christ of the Bible, because He works all things after
the counsel of His own will. He has mercy on whom He will.
He has compassion on whom He will. And it's not a man that
willeth. That's what works religion teaches,
that man has a will. There's a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but it's the wrong way. And the end thereof is the
way of death. They know not the Christ of the
Bible, This is the God and the Christ of the Bible. He says
whom He wills, how He wills, when He wills. And you don't
have to talk to folks long to know or to find out which God
and Christ that they know and love. Now look at verse 10 here. Pharaoh said, come on, let us
deal wisely with them lest they multiply and it come to pass
that when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our
enemies. and fight against us, and so
get them up out of the land." So what did Pharaoh do? We're told right here in verse
11. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them
with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure
cities, Pithom and Ramesses. Now, I couldn't help in reading
these verses to see what a picture of modern day religion we have
here. Men and women hate the true gospel
of Christ because it takes away their hope and that hope that
they find in themselves and what they do. They'll hate you for
believing it. There'll come a time, Christ
said, when men will kill you and think they're doing God service. If you hold your place here and
turn with me to Psalm 105, I want to show you something that I
I think confirms again the sovereignty of God in everything. Psalm 105
and look at verse 23 with me. Psalm 105, verse 23, you got
it? Israel also came into Egypt and
Jacob soldiered in the land of Ham. And he, being God, increased
his people greatly and made them stronger than their enemies.
That's what we've just read in Exodus chapter one. Now check
out verse 25. And he, God, turned their heart
to hate his people, to deal subtly with his servants. Who turned
their hearts to hate his people? God did. Who caused them to deal
subtly with his servants? God did. You see the sovereignty
of God in this matter? God turned Pharaoh in Egypt's
heart to hate his people, to deal subtly. And that word subtly
there means to conspire, to deceive, to deal treacherously against,
against God's people. God was behind it. You tell a
lot of folks that and they think you're crazy. We know it's so
because God is in control and behind all things. And it came
to pass. How many times have we talked
about that? It came to pass because God caused it to come to pass. You remember that fellow that
cursed David and cast stones at him? One of David's servants
wanted to cut his head off. You remember what David said?
He said, let him alone and let him curse me. For the Lord hath
bidden him." The Lord's behind it. Maybe the Lord will look
on my affliction and do me good this day for his cursing against
me. If someone deals subtly with
you, someone hates you without a cause, and there will be some
that do, and you'll think to yourself, what did I ever do
to them? Know that it's God. It's God
that turned them to do so. And it will somehow, some way,
be for your good and for His glory. I find such comfort in
that. The true gospel takes away sinners'
choosing of God, their decision and their free will, their acceptance
of God, their works of righteousness. And it puts our redemption totally
upon God who works all things after the counsel of his own
will. Now back in Exodus chapter one, again verse 11, here we see that
works religion. It sets taskmasters to afflict
its servants with heavy burdens. If you look up the word taskmaster
in a concordance, it means one who burdens. It means one who
causes to faint under a heavy workload. One who taxes in the
form of forced labor. Isn't that exactly what works
religion does? Knowing many of your religious
backgrounds and you knowing mine, I was thinking about this today.
Works religion, it burdens. It burdens because you can never
do enough. And it burdens because you can
never do good enough. Works religion is a taskmaster. A taskmaster forces you to labor. It causes you to faint under
the workload. You know, for years, I tried
to be good enough to be saved. And I failed miserably. It was
nothing short of bondage. I see that so clearly now. It
afflicted me and I always came up short. I was always like Israel,
I was short of mortar. I didn't have enough mortar to
put my bricks together to build a place of salvation for myself.
And look at the last part of verse 11. And they built for
Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Ramesses. If you see those
pyramids today over in Egypt, do you know who built those?
Israel did. They were the brawn behind that.
And again, I couldn't help but to think of works religion. I remember so well that the church
that I attended most of my life decided that they needed to add
on an addition to the church. I'm still not convinced that
they needed it, but I think they were seeing what other churches
were doing in the community, and they decided they wanted
to add a big addition to the church. My father was a trustee
at that church, and he was so upset because this put such a
burden upon the members of that small assembly, just a handful,
not much bigger than we are at the time. Boy, this just set
off a whole chain of events. They started having pledge week
and pledge month and need you to pledge to give. And they had
a building fund and it wasn't to save money to add the addition,
it was to pay back the money that they'd already borrowed
to build the addition. They asked the members of that
church to give above and beyond what they normally gave. And
their tactics were afflicting and they were burdensome. That's
what works religion does. It's afflicting and burdensome.
Churches today, they're growing in number, they're building bigger
and bigger buildings, but they're not growing in the grace and
in the knowledge of the Lord. How do I know that? Because I
hear what they're preaching. I hear what they preach. I know
by what they preach that they don't know, and they don't love,
and they don't regard the Lord Jesus Christ. They put financial
burdens on their parishioners and afflict them with building
structures that are treasures to men, but not to God. How be
it that the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands?
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he
is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made
with hands. Neither is worship with men's
hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life
and breath and all things. Now back here in Exodus, look
at verse 12. But the more they afflicted them,
the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because
of the children of Israel. Now let me give you just a word
of encouragement here. Child of God, the more this world
afflicts you by the permission of God, I might add, the more
you'll grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. How do I
know that? Because God says in his word
that our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh
for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Look
at verse 13, 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 in all manner of service
in the field, all their service wherein they made them serve
was with rigor. And again, like Egypt, man's
religion of works causes men and women to serve with rigor.
And that word rigor in the Hebrew language means to deal in severity,
to fracture and to break apart. Salvation by works is an unbearable
burden. It really is. The very thought
of having to do something and do it perfectly in order to earn
God's favor is rigorous. It's cruel, it's severe, it's
heartbreaking. We can't do it. Can't do it. Now I need to finish with these
verses tell us the type of people that the Lord delivers and redeems.
Remember, Exodus is a book about redemption. What kind of people
does the Lord save? Well, he saves those that are
under heavy burdens, heavy burden of sin. Those who are being taxed,
forced to do a work. By the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified in God's sight. We can't be saved by working. The Lord saves those who are
afflicted, those who are unable to do what's required of them. God requires perfection and we
can't provide it, only Christ can. That's the gospel, we talk
about it all the time. God saves those who because of
the yoke of hard bondage are made to serve and cry out to
God. Let me show you that. Turn over
a page to Exodus chapter two. Look at verse 23. And it came to pass in the process
of time, is all things do by the will and purpose of God.
They come to pass in the process of time. But that the king of
Egypt died, this Pharaoh that we've been talking about died,
and the children of Israel, look at this, they sighed, they groaned
by reason of the bondage, by reason of their laboring, by
reason of their working. And they cried, and their cry
came up unto God by reason of the bondage. Four quick things
I want you to see here and I'll finish. Because of their labor,
because of their working, because of their bondage, remember that's
what Egypt represents. It represents man's religion
in this world, work's religion. doing and not doing in order
to be saved. It's such a bondage, isn't it?
I am so thankful that my salvation doesn't depend upon what I have
to do before God. Well, they cried because they
couldn't do enough. They cried because they couldn't
do good enough. And notice that God heard their groaning. Dear sinner, if you cry unto
the Lord in misery, By reason of your bondage, He'll hear you.
And notice secondly, that God remembered His covenant. Verse
24, God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant
with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. God had promised
to deliver them and He would certainly do it. God always does
what He promises. And then thirdly, God looked
upon the children of Israel, verse 25. You know, that word
looked there, it means much more than just seeing. It actually
means to gaze upon one in pleasure. Boy, isn't that a glorious thought
that God would look upon me in pleasure? Why does he look upon
me in pleasure? One reason only. Because when
he looks upon me, he sees his beloved son. It means to look
upon one with affection, with compassion, with mercy, with
the intentions of doing them good. And when I think about
those things, I'm so humbled. God heard my cry and my groaning. I was in misery. Weren't you?
Those of you that were in religion, weren't you in misery? Could
never do enough, could never do good enough. God heard your
cry and your groaning. God remembered your covenant
with Christ. You know, when David was on his
deathbed, I'll mention this, when he was on his deathbed and
he said, although my house be not so with God, I wonder if
he was speaking of his family or his own earthly body of flesh
that housed his spirit, probably both. This earthly house, this
house right here, is not what it ought to be. It's just not
what it ought to be, yet. And there's another three-letter
word that we can rejoice in. Though my house be not so with
God, yet, yet, yet. God hath made with me, David
said, an everlasting covenant. And that everlasting covenant
was actually made with Christ. And by, in, and through our union,
our oneness with Him, it's also made with us. And this covenant
that God made with us is in Christ. David said it's ordered in all
things and sure. It's sure because God ordered
it. And this is all the believer's
salvation. This is what we put our trust
in. This covenant that God made with Christ before the foundation
of the world. Not the work the sinner does
for God. No, that's works religion. That's
man's religion. That's Egypt. but the work that
Christ did for God for the sinner. That perfect righteousness that
Christ worked, that's all my salvation. When I stand before
God and He says, what do you plead? I'm going to say, I plead
total innocence because I'm covered in the perfect righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Can't get more perfect than that,
friends. It's all my salvation. It's all
my desire. I have no desire to even appeal
to God on any other grounds other than the righteousness of Christ. I used to care and desire many
things, but not anymore. It took most of my life to see
it. Christ and His righteousness is all I need, and it's all I
desire. And I'd have you notice that
the last thing in verse 25 of Exodus 2 we see is, and God had
respect unto them. I was thinking today, does the
Lord just tolerate us for Christ's sake? You know, that's what I
used to think, that the Lord just tolerates me for Christ's
sake. But I don't think that way anymore. I really don't. Because of Christ and what He's
done for us, a holy God now has respect unto me. It doesn't even sound right to
say it, does it? But it's true. It's true. How? How does that happen? In and by and through the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember in Genesis chapter
four, I believe it's verse three, we're told, again, the same language,
in the process of time, it came to pass, that Cain brought the
fruit of the ground, an offering to the Lord, out of the fruit
of the ground. He was, as you know, a master gardener. And
he brought his offering to the Lord, and Abel also brought,
the scripture says, of the firstlings of his flock, and the fat thereof,
and we're told this. And the Lord had respect unto
Abel and to his offering. Why did the Lord have respect
unto Abel? The same reason that he has respect
unto every believer, every child of God, because of his offering. Now, I'm not going to stand before
God, offer Him anything that I've done. I'm not going to offer
Him my work. I'm not going to offer a work
of righteousness that I've done. I'm not even going to offer Him
my heart. You know, folks say, well, give your heart to the
Lord. Offer your heart to the Lord. Only one thing that we
have to offer, and that's the blood that Christ shed for us.
That's the only reason, that's it, that's the only reason we
have any hope of being saved and redeemed is the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I say amen to that, thankful
for it.