Turning your Bibles please to
Exodus and the 5th chapter, we read a couple of verses at the
beginning of the chapter, verse 1, where it is written, And afterward
Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast
unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the
Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not
the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. Moses and Aaron went
in and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my
people go. Let my people go. For whom does God send Moses
unto Pharaoh to deliver them? For his people. Let my people
go. The deliverance of the children
of Israel from Egypt is a tremendous picture of the gospel and of
the salvation of God's people chosen out of a world that has
rejected God. God here does not send Moses
to deliver the Egyptians. God's purposes and dealings in
this book and in the books in the Old Testament continuing
on from here are not to bring blessing to the Egyptians or
the other nations but they are to bring blessing to that people
that God has chosen the children of Israel His people God has
a people in this world whom he has chosen to bless that people
is pictured by the physical nation of Israel of old but that people
in the scriptures is referred to as Israel, spiritual Israel,
God's people, the elect, that chosen company that God has chosen
to save and to bless through his Deliverer, the Deliverer. Here that deliverer in history
was Moses, that God chose as his servant and sent the Pharaoh.
But for spiritual Israel, the deliverer was God's Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, whom he sent in this world to save sinners,
to save his people. Let my people go. the people here were bound fast. They had gone down to Egypt in
a time of famine when Israel, Jacob and his sons in the providence of God moved
down to Egypt because those sons in jealousy had sold their brother
Joseph and tried to slay him and sold him into captivity in
Egypt. And the events of history came
to pass that God sent famine in all the world round about.
But in his mercy and blessing of Joseph, he raised up Joseph
to a great height in Egypt. He revealed Pharaoh's dream and
the meaning of it to Joseph. through which Joseph was able
to advise Pharaoh and the Egyptians that there would be seven years
of plenty followed by seven years of famine. And through his great
wisdom, the Egyptians stored up food in those seven years
of plenty to bring them through the seven years of famine which
would follow. And the nations round about who suffered the
famine went down to Egypt for they knew that there was food
to be found in Egypt. And by this means God sent Joseph's
brothers and family back to where he was and Israel and his children
went to dwell in Egypt. That family multiplied to become
a great nation and for a time they enjoyed blessing in that
land under the rule of that Pharaoh who loved Joseph and was thankful
for the peace that Joseph brought to his land in a day of famine.
But times changed, that Pharaoh died, another Pharaoh, another
king was set over Egypt, who knew not Joseph, who cared not
for the Hebrews, and his heart was turned against them. And
they found themselves captive, and they found themselves to
be slaves. They found themselves under hard
labor, and their hearts cried out to their God to deliver them
from the captivity in which they were found. And at last God hears
their cry, raises up Moses and sends him to Pharaoh to demand
that people's deliverance. So Moses goes to Pharaoh and
says unto him, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people
go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. But Pharaoh's answer was as follows. Who is the Lord that I should
obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, Neither
will I let Israel go. Pharaoh knew not God. He despised God. He despised
the commander God. And he would not let that people
whom he held in his clutches, who were so youthful to him in
his service, he would not let them go. What a grip he had on
that people. and how hard his heart was set
against their deliverance and against their God and against
their ways. This people had an adversary,
a powerful adversary, an adversary who had a mighty grip upon them
from which they themselves were powerless to set themselves free. They could not escape if they
wanted to. They were bound fast, captive. And this is the state in which
we all find ourselves by nature. For this is all an allegory of
the spiritual state of man, as he is bound captive in a land
called Egypt, which is but a figure of this world, and under the
rule of an adversary, of which Pharaoh is but the figure. But
this adversary is so great, so much greater than Pharaoh. And
his grip upon the hearts of that people who are his captives is
a mighty grip. This adversary is Satan, that
old serpent who was there from the beginning. That old serpent
who came upon mankind in the Garden of Eden and so beguiled
them and deceived them that he led them astray. that he led
them to believe the lie of his own heart and to cry out as it
were in their hearts with him who is the Lord that I should
obey his voice. This insinuation of Pharaoh's
here came from that father of lies in the beginning that great
adversary of man who puts in the hearts of every man, every
fallen creature in this world, that cry of rebellion against
their Maker. Who is the Lord that I should
obey His voice? O man has a mighty adversary,
greater than Pharaoh, whose heart is harder than Pharaoh's, and
whose despising of the Almighty God is stronger than Pharaoh's. And this adversary, like Pharaoh
of old, will not let that people go. Do you know his influence? Have you felt his grip upon your
heart? Have you wondered why, by nature,
you cry out from your heart Who is the Lord that I should obey
his voice? Why is it that you do not go
out to worship the Lord? Why is it that you do not think
of God naturally? Why is it that your thoughts
and will and ambitions and goals are set upon yourself and upon
this world? Why is it that God and his son
the Lord Jesus Christ do not figure in your life's ambitions
that they are not the center of your heart's desire by nature? Why is it? It is because that
adversary who plunged man into darkness at the beginning of
time when mankind fell took hold of your heart too and deceived
you too and led you into darkness where you willingly ran and from
which you cry out who is the lord that i should obey his voice
that's the cry of your heart and my heart by nature and we
cry it because there is one like pharaoh an adversary who whispers
it in our ear every day, every day and yet the Lord by the mouths
of his servants comes unto that adversary and comes to the hearts
of those who were so affected by that adversary and says to
him Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go. Let them go that they may hold
a feast unto me in the wilderness. God does not stand by and leave
this adversary to have his will in the end. God did not look
upon this world which had turned its back upon him. and leave
it in the state into which it fell at the fall. God did not
turn his back upon this world when Adam fell and when wickedness
multiplied on every side. God has not purpose to destroy
all but God from the beginning had a people whom He chose. A people chosen in His Son. A people chosen to be delivered
by His Son. Here God had a people in Egypt
to whom He sent a Deliverer. A people whom He would bring
out of Egypt with His mighty hand. Even though Pharaoh would
not. And God has a people in this
world. chosen throughout this world from the beginning of time
to the end of time from all four corners of the earth scattered
amongst the nations God has a people for whom he has sent a deliverer
even his own son the Lord Jesus Christ into this world into this
Egypt to stand before that adversary and to deliver that people That
deliverer came face to face with Satan the adversary and said
unto him, let my people go. And the adversary's reply was,
who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let thy people
go? I know not the Lord, neither
will I let Israel go. His heart was set against it,
His heart was hardened. He had them in His grip and He
would fight for them with all His might. Yet in the end, Christ
had the victory. When God purposes to deliver,
He delivers. God sent Moses, a deliverer,
to Pharaoh to plead for his people. He sent to Pharaoh to declare
the Word of God under him. To declare what God had sent
him with. That the Lord God of Israel,
who has sent me unto you, he says unto you, let my people
go. He came with authority. He came with a message of power. He did not go in his own strength. He went because he was sent.
God sent him and he came declaring God's word, yet Pharaoh would
not. Pharaoh would not. And Pharaoh's
response to Moses and Aaron's visit and to the word of God
they delivered under him was to take that people who were
already burdened and to make their burden greater. to take
that people who were already slaves under his grip and to
set them to work and their taskmasters who had them building out of
bricks took away all the means of making those bricks they made
their task impossible things only got worse for this people
who Moses fought the Lord would deliver. Things got worse. Moses had gone, trusting the
Word of God. God had sent him. He'd sent him
to preach this message. And instead of seeing immediate
fruit and immediate results, instead of seeing Pharaoh immediately
agree, what actually happened? that Pharaoh in the hardness
of his heart made the plight of that people ten times worse. Oh how Moses' faith was tried. Rather than things getting better
they seemed to get worse. Rather than Pharaoh heeding his
words and setting the people free, Pharaoh was growing harder
in his opposition against that people and his grip upon them
was getting stronger. And though Moses had gone at
the command of God, believing God, and resting in his power,
and believing the word of God and the message which he would
bring, things seemed to be going contrary to that which he expected. How often the servants of God
are tried in this way. God sends them. They're faithful
to what he tells them to do. and yet things don't go the way
they'd imagine it would go God's ways are not man's ways his time
frames are not our time frames his methods are not our methods
we want search results so fast we're used to a world which looks
for instant results yet the work of God the work of God in salvation
The work of God in setting His people free from sin is a deep
and a thorough work. It is not one that can be rushed. It is not one that happens in
a moment. And before things get better,
so often things get worse. At the end of chapter 5, Pharaoh
having made the plight of Israel terrible. Moses comes unto his
Lord again and says, Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this
people? Why is it that thou hast sent
me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath
done evil to this people. Neither hast thou delivered thy
people at all. Oh, the depth of feeling of Moses
here! God sent him, he spake. And yet
since he spake to Pharaoh in God's name, Pharaoh has done
evil to the people. And the people aren't delivered.
They're in a worse situation than before. What will it take
to set this people free? Oh Lord, I've spoken your word
in your name. I've preached your message. And
yet the people are bound fast. When will they go free? What
an encouragement there is here for the gospel preacher. He could
be tempted to fail as Moses felt. He preaches and he preaches.
He believes what he preaches is true. He believes in the power
of his God to use that message to save. And yet the hearts of
the people remain hard. Few come, few gather, and few
are set free. And yet as with Moses, God's
work is not the work of a moment. And the adversary of that people
is a great adversary. How hard Pharaoh's heart was
set against that people and against their God. time and time again
in the following chapters we read of the plague sent to Egypt,
of their awful effects, of their terrible consequences, of the
tremendous impact they have upon the nation of Egypt and the people
therein, and upon Pharaoh himself. And you would imagine that just
after one or two of these plagues coming upon them, that the Egyptians
and that their leader Pharaoh would want to be rid of the Israelites
and their God. And yet the heart of Pharaoh
grows harder. How often we read of how God
hardens his heart. Of how God hardens his heart. Time and time again, no matter
what the plague is which is sent, Pharaoh's heart is hardened.
Chapter 7, And God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he hearkened not unto
them as the Lord had said. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Pharaoh's heart is hardened. He refuseth to let the people
go. Verse 22, And Pharaoh's heart
was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them as the Lord
had said. Chapter 8 verse 15, And when
Pharaoh saw that there was respite from the plague, he hardened
his heart, and hearkened not unto them as the Lord had said.
Chapter 9, When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the
thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more and hardened his heart,
he and his servants. And the heart of Pharaoh was
hardened. Neither would he let the children
of Israel go as the Lord had spoken by Moses. Chapter 10 verse
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them
go. And Pharaoh said unto Moses,
Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see my face no more,
for in that day thou seest my face, thou shalt die. And Moses
said, Thou hast spoken well, I will see thy face again no
more. Time and time again Pharaoh's
heart is hardened, but there eventually came that day when
he said, I will see thy face no more to Moses. And Moses the
deliverer said, that's true. That's true. Because Moses knew
that the end would come. And though the adversary contend
with Christ, the deliverer of his people, and though his grip
upon that people is mighty and strong and he holds them fast
and he will not let them go and though Christ may say unto his
adversary let my people go let the heart of this one go let
them come unto me and believe on me and worship me And though
the heart of that adversary is hard against him and against
that child of God, he will not let him go. And yet the day comes,
the day comes when the deliverer will have his victory. And when
the adversary's grip and strength is removed. How great salvation
is. How greater power is needed to
deliver such a poor people from such a force of will. How firm
is Satan's grip upon the heart of God's lost sheep. He will
not let them go. Yet in the end, in the end, no
one Not Pharaoh, not Satan. No one can stand against Almighty
God and win. Pharaoh had said, who is the
Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not
the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. That was his cry. That is the adversary Satan's
cry. And that is your cry and my cry
by nature. How many others have said the
same? Have you in your heart cried
out, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice? We have. Yet in the end, none can stand
against him. If the Lord says, let my people
go, they will be set free. If he determines to deliver a
people, that people will be delivered adversary or not. Pharaoh or
not, Satan or not, no matter how strong Pharaoh was he could
not stand before Almighty God. And no matter how strong Satan
is and how strong Satan's grip on your heart or my heart is,
if God purposes to deliver us, He will deliver us. If God looks
upon you in grace and says this is my son, this is my daughter,
I have set my love upon them, I know them by name, I will save
them, then no matter how firm the grip of Satan is upon your
heart or my heart, we will be saved. None can stand in God's
way, none can. in the end God saves his people
and that salvation is entirely the work of God when Christ came
into this world to deliver his people he came to save them and
save them he did when he came and when he went to the cross
and when wicked men nailed him to the cross and when he was
crucified He came to accomplish the deliverance of his people.
He came to save and salvation is what he accomplished. Moses
said later on when the people were at the shores of the Red
Sea. Pharaoh's will having finally
broken, Pharaoh having finally said to Moses, take them away. Pharaoh then starts to charge
after them with his chariots and the people find themselves
at the Red Sea with the sea in front of them and Pharaoh's chariots
behind them. They cannot go forwards and they
cannot go backwards, they're trapped. And Moses says unto
the people, Fear ye not. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord which he will show you today. For the Egyptians
whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you,
and you shall hold your peace. Here they are, they can do nothing. All that they have done has accomplished
nothing. They find themselves captive
and lost. They find themselves trapped.
They can't get across the Red Sea in front of them and they
can't escape the chariots behind them. They have no strength. And that's exactly like us. We
have no ability and no strength if we're to be delivered from
our adversary, if we're to be delivered from Satan's grip,
if we're to be delivered from our sin and the judgment and
wrath of God against our sin, which we deserve because of those
things we have done, because of that rebellion in our heart
against God which said, who is the Lord that I should obey his
voice? If we're to be delivered from God's wrath because of our
state, then it's not by our strength. He must do it. And thank and
praise God that he has, because as Moses said, fear ye not, stand
still and see the salvation of the Lord which he will show you
today. When Christ died upon the cross
for his people, he said unto his people, stand still and watch,
because today I will accomplish your salvation here in your place. All the works of man are of nothing
worth. Pharaoh had set this people to
work. but their working held them fast
in his captivity. When Moses came unto Pharaoh
and said, let my people go, Pharaoh set that people to greater work
and took away all their ability to do it. Now this is as we are,
when the word of God comes unto us and when we become aware that
there is a need for salvation, the accuser, Satan, comes alongside
us in our conscience and says, but look what you should be to
be saved. Look at God's holy law, look
at the standard that you should achieve if you want to be saved. Go on, go and perform it. And without giving us any bricks
or any straw, he taunts us and derides us and says, go and build,
go and work, go and perfect yourself, because you'll only be saved
if you do. And there we are in strong burdens
and captivity, striving away to reach some standard we can
never attain to. So the accuser, the adversary,
our Pharaoh comes alongside and ridicules us and puts us to work. But our works are of nothing
worth, they just make the situation worse. We're captive, we're dead
and we're lost. We need a strong deliverer. And there is one. And that deliverer
is Christ. that Deliverer is Christ, the
One that came to us in our state of captivity, where we found
ourselves, as it were, with Israel, with the Red Sea in front, death
ahead of us, the rivers, the waters of death in front of us,
and with the charging legions, chariots of Pharaoh and his chariots
behind us, of Satan and his legions charging towards us, Satan will
drive us into the sea. He will drive us to our death. He will work us into the ground
and then drive us to our death and we can't go forwards and
we can't go back and we're trapped by him. Our sins will condemn
us and Satan the accuser will come with God's law and lay the
charges against us and we will say we are guilty, we have no
plea, he is right. But God the Deliverer comes into
the scene, Christ comes into the scene and takes us to the
cross and says, fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord which he will show to you today. For the Egyptians
whom ye have seen today, your accusers, your enemies, ye shall
see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you,
and ye shall hold your peace. This is what Christ did at the
cross, he fought for his people, to deliver them from sin, to
deliver them from death, to deliver them from their adversary, to
bring them through that river of death, the Red Sea, and bring
them through dry shod, on dry ground, through death, the other
side, into life eternal, into a promised land. And to leave
their enemies their adversary and his chariot, Pharaoh and
his armies, Satan and his legions, to leave their enemies and their
condemnation behind. Indeed, when Christ died and
when Christ took his people through the rivers of death with himself,
as he took the punishment of God against their sins, when
he died, Satan came, the accuser, to accuse them and to charge
their sins against them. But through Christ's death Christ
took those very sins upon himself as their substitute. He died,
not they. through his death Satan was conquered,
Satan was slain. When Christ as it were went with
that people through the rivers of death Satan and his chariots
as Pharaoh of old plunged into those rivers to attack them and
were drowned and slain by the very rivers and the very condemnation
they sought to bring upon that people. When Satan thought that
he had slain God's Son, he slew himself. And Christ and that people went
through that river and rose up again the other side, victorious,
saved, delivered, righteous, sinless, in everlasting life. and they could turn back and
they could look and see Pharaoh and his chariots dead in that
river conquered and slain all their enemies slaughtered and
they could cry out salvation is of the Lord can you? have you heard the voice of a
deliverer Calling to your adversary, let my people go. Has your voice
which once cried out, who is the Lord that I should obey his
voice, been changed to cry out in praise and thanksgiving to
that Lord who brought you through death and delivered you from
both death and from your adversary? Can you look upon Christ at the
cross and see your great Deliverer that saved you from Egypt and
from Pharaoh? Can you say that salvation is
all God's work? It's all by grace, it's all free
grace, it's all because He loved me though I deserved it not,
though I should have died in that river, though I should have
perished in Egypt. Christ loved me, He came for
me, He died for me, He suffered for me, He was slain for me,
and yet He rose again for me. It's all His work and how great
a work it is, what it took Christ to save His people, what a length
He had to go to, what a depth of suffering, what pain, what
rejection, what everlasting love. What love He had for His own
that He went to that place, that He waded through those rivers
for them. Pharaoh and his chariots perished
in the Red Sea through which God's people, my people, had
passed. At the cross that people walked
dry shod through the sea of death and their adversary and all their
enemies were destroyed. What a victory. Christ died,
yes. But he had the power to lay down
his life. And he had the power to take
it up again. And take it up again he did.
What a salvation he wrought. And what a rejoicing it puts
in the hearts of all his people. How Israel of old sang and rejoiced. Exodus 15 it's recorded. Then sang Moses and the children
of Israel this song unto the Lord and spake saying, I will
sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. For the
horse and his rider have he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my
strength and song and he has become my salvation. He is my
God. and I will prepare him and habitation,
my Father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war,
the Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his host
have he cast into the sea. His chosen captains also are
drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them,
they sank into the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord,
is become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, have
dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine
excellency thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee,
thou sentest forth thy wrath which consumed them as stubble. And with the blast of thy nostrils
the waters were gathered together, the flood stood upright as an
heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea. The
enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil,
my lust shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my
hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind,
the sea covered them, they sank as lead in the mighty waters. Who is like unto Thee, O Lord,
among the gods? Who is like Thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? Thou stretchest
out Thy right hand, the earth swallowed them. Thou, in Thy
mercy, hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed. Thou
hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation. The
people shall hear and be afraid. Have you heard? Are you amongst
that people whom God has redeemed through his mighty hand of power
when Christ died in your stead? Did he die for you? Have you
beheld him? Do you know the power of your
adversary against you? Oh, if you do, look unto the
cross. Look unto that river upon which
Christ brought his people through, through death unto life. Look at the cross and look at
the one upon it, a strong deliverer, a great deliverer, the Lord our
deliverer. The Lord is my strength and song
and He has become my salvation. Can you say it? He is my God
and I will prepare Him in habitation. My Father's God and I will exalt
Him. Can you say it? Oh may God give
you grace. May He give you understanding.
May He open your ears and your eyes to see. May He put faith
in your heart to believe and to look. upon the one who said,
let my people go. And in his power, cause Pharaoh
the adversary to let that people go. He wrought a victory. He saved his people. Did he save
you? Is he your savior? The Lord Jesus
Christ. Amen.