our text for tonight's message is taken from Exodus 5 10 to 21. have you ever encountered a situation whereby things seem to be getting better but then it got worse just when you thought you had some sort of a victory success relief and the circumstances seem to change for the better then all of a sudden it got worse it could be something relating to your family to your relationship to your financial situation to your health to your ministry Etc well that was exactly how the children of Israel would have felt remember they had been under the oppression of the Egyptians for centuries and then came the hopeful day when they received the message that the Lord had visited them in their afflictions and he would deliver them from the oppression they had believed and trusted both Moses and Aaron who went boldly to the pharaoh to demand that he let the people go and worship the Lord in the wilderness they must be so happy and relief that finally their bad days were coming to an end however the Pharaoh not only had refused to let the people go but he even issued a decree to make things more difficult for the children of Israel the Israelites had already been laboring hot in the fields by making bricks to make great cities for the pharaoh in the past they were provided with the straws to make the bricks but now they had to gather their own straws to make the bricks in other words they had to do more than before when Moses demanded that the Pharaoh let the people go his response was like saying to Moses yes I will let them go I will let them go and gather their own straws from now onwards this is what we want to learn from today's passage in Exodus 5 verse 10 to 21 and the title of our message is when things seem to get better it got worse our first point is things God was let us begin with verse 10. and the taskmasters of the people went out and their offices and they speak to the people saying Pharaoh I will not give you straw verse 11 go ye get you straw where ye can find it yet not out of your work shall be diminished in other words the pharaoh's decree was that he would no longer provide the straws for the Israelites anymore they would have to find their own straws wherever they could find them and their work Lord shall not be reduced so they are workloads who Behavior than before history tells us that the East the Egyptians use bricks for all kinds of buildings they use bricks to build their temples their palaces their storehouses they are military buildings and official residences it took millions and millions of bricks to fulfill all those architectural endeavors and the only way to get the slaves to make sufficient bricks was to establish a daily quota indicating how many breaks they were required to produce and how many bricks were actually delivered verse 12 so the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt together stubble instead of strong so the Israelites had to travel all over the land of Egypt to look for straws and when they ran out of straws they had no choice but do get us doubles instead verse 13 and the task Masters hasted them the word task Masters was a reference to the Egyptian Masters who were placed in charge of the children of Israel and their job was to push them pressure them press them to make them work faster and they were saying to the Israelites fulfill your Works your daily task as when there was straw in other words fulfill the same daily requirements just like when you were given the straws initially no doubt many of those task Masters who derive perverse pleasure by abusing the slaves just like the bullies we have in our modern times they enjoy making people suffer indeed God's people suffered greatly and the Bible recorded for us all the details of their sufferings to show their desperate need of salvation and more importantly to show the glory of God's grace and mercy take a moment and consider this passage this is a powerful picture of what it really means to be a Slave the children of Israel were prisoners and slaves in Egypt they had to take orders from the task Masters who represented the pharaoh they had to work under the hot sun at first they were given straws to make the bricks it was already difficult but now more was required from them they had to gather their own straws the task Masters who demand more bricks and less straws what lessons can we learn from here like the Israelites we were once slaves to sin and sin is the worst task master it always demands more and more from us whilst giving us less and less in return right think about this the more we indulge in immorality what happens the more immorality We crave and the less happy we are the more prideful we are the more acknowledgment and appreciation we want and the less loving we become when our love for money increases the more money we desire and the less content we become the list goes on and on that is what sin will do to us it demands more and more from us while giving to us less and less in return some people will say well when I'm able to do this when I'm able to have this it is enough I will be satisfied no this principle does not apply to sin this is not how sin works Satan never loosen his grip and he is always tightening his grip around us like the task Masters it is always more bricks and less stress this is the very nature of sin he wants to control the sinner's life by our lord Jesus who said in John 8 34 verily verily I say unto you whosoever commit us sinned is the servant of sin as a servant you have no choice but to obey the Taskmaster if your Taskmaster is sin Satan and the world you have no choice but to obey them that is why we need a savior the Lord Jesus Christ to Deliver Us from this terrible bondage and we are all reminded our lord Jesus lovingly said in Matthew 11 28 to 30 come unto me all ye that label and heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I make and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls for my yoga is easy and my burden is light so things were getting worse for the Israelites and what do they do when things were getting worse for them our second point is they appealed to the pharaoh look at verse 14. and the offices of the children of Israel which pharaohs taskmasters has said over them were bitten and demanded wherefore have he not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today as heretofall as like before as like in the past these officers were like the foreman they were Israelites who were placed in charge of the children of Israel by the task Masters when the children of Israel failed to produce the required number of breaks these officers were beaten the interesting thing was what did they do who did they turn to look on to verse 15. then the officers of the children of Israel came and Cried unto Pharaoh saying wherefore dealers thou tasked with thy servants verse 16 there is no straw given unto thy servants and they say to us make brick and behold thy servants are beaten but the fort is in thy own people they turned to the pharaoh can you imagine that this is something very amazing about a Slave even when a door has already been opened toward freedom he is always tempted to return to slavery he is always tempted to return to his former master later on we will see a clearer picture of the Israelites when they were finally freed they still long to go back to Egypt and serve the pharaoh can you see what a stronghold the Pharaoh had over his slaves the moment they were mistreated they immediately appealed to him they cried out to him why have you treated your servants in this way your people the task Masters did not provide us with the straws and yet we were told make the bricks because of this we are being beaten but the fort is with your own people rather than praying for God to deliver them They begged the pharaoh to make their bondage easier for them to bear God had already chosen Moses and Aaron to serve as their representatives so by going to the Pharaoh themselves they were overstepping the boundaries if this was simply a label issue there would be nothing wrong with asking the Pharaoh for better working conditions or if they really believe that the task Masters were abusing their authorities and changing the rules without the pharaoh's permission but the real issue was a spiritual one it was because of the requests to let them go into the Wilderness to worship Dear God it was a spiritual issue so the central question was whom would the Israelites serve God or the pharaoh at the end of chapter four maybe you can turn with me to Exodus 4 31. let me read for you Exodus 4 31 and the people believe and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had looked upon their Affliction then they bowed their heads and worshiped that was such a good thing they bowed their heads and worship God but I had the first sign of trouble they immediately ran back to the pharaoh notice how they identify themselves three times they said we are thy servants in other words it not only shows how much power and control the Pharaoh had over them but also the fact how they perceive themselves and the pharaoh we are your servants you are our master they were so used to being in bondage that they could not see themselves as anything but slaves rather than seeking to be free they went back to negotiate the terms of their slavery dear friends if we are under the oppression of sin it is useless to ask Satan to set us free it is useless to negotiate with sin and the world to set us free to be gracious to us not to torment us so much
sin is never our friend but our enemy and we must always bear that in mind there's no way we can escape from sin remember sin will only tighten his grip around us there's only one person who can free us from the bondage of sin and he is the Lord Jesus Christ and if Jesus has set us free then you and I must not return back to the shackles of our former slavery our former bondage whatever it may be instead of running to the Pharaoh what the Israelites should do is to run to God their response should be Our God has visited us in our afflictions he knows what is happening to us he has promised to deliver us and he will keep to his promise we will trust and believe in him it is all said to see many profess Christians behaving like the Israelites when everything is working smoothly when they are making great spiritual progress when they are receiving blessings when they are experiencing victories all is well and good but the moment they encounter certain difficulties they immediately go back to their old sinful ways to help cope with the problem some would return to self-pity others would return to drugs and alcohol yet others will return to secret sexual sins whatever it may be that is a sad reality dear friends at the first sign of trouble our response should not be running back to our old sinful ways instead we should run to God we acknowledge that there is a strong temptation to return to our former bondage the devil knows how to tempt us well it is useless to fight a good fight of faith it is useless to live a Godly life look at all the troubles you are going through why don't you just drop everything and go back to your old ways we must never do that the only way you and I can resist the temptation and remain free in Jesus Christ is to cling onto the cross and we must always cling onto the cross and Trust in his power to save us the Lord Jesus will help us run to him not run to our own sinful ways not run do whatever slavery that we were once in bondage to let us move on to our turn and final Point blame the spiritual leaders verse 17 but he said therefore he say let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord Verse 18 go therefore now and work for there shall no straw be given you he yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks or quota or bricks remember when Moses and Aaron made a request to the pharaoh to let the people go and Worship the Lord in the wilderness the pharaoh's conclusion was that the people were lazy they were idle in other words they had so much free time that they were considering this foolish idea of going into the Wilderness to worship their God and if the problem was about laziness then more work should be given to them that was the reason why he stopped providing them with straws they had to look for their own straws but here the Pharaoh seemed to be using a wicked strategy to drive a wedge between Moses and the Israelites well you are lazy that is why you requested for me to let you go and worship your God to make sacrifices to your God in the wilderness if you did not make that request things will be status quo you will not need to suffer and who was the one who represented you to make that request Moses verse 19 and the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in either case after it was sent he shall not Minish ought from your bricks of your daily task in other words they realized that they were in deep trouble it was a bad case a bad situation because the Pharaoh had refused to reduce their daily production of bricks so they are appeal to him was rejected and who should they blame for all these troubles Moses and Aaron verse 20. and they met Moses and Aaron who stood in the way as they came forth from pharaoh so as they were on their way out from the pharaoh's residence we saw Moses and Aaron interestingly the word met can be translated as attack in other words they attack Moses and Aaron it was not a physical attack but a verbal attack and what did they say to Moses and Aaron verse 21 and they said unto them the Lord look upon you and judge because he had made our savior to be uphold in the eyes of pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants to put a sword in their hand to slay us firstly they accused Moses and Aaron you have made us to be a stench through the Pharaoh and his taskmasters and you have given to them the reason to kill us they were blaming their spiritual leaders for all their troubles and more than that they were pronouncing a curse the Lord looked upon you and judge which means they were calling upon God to send his Divine judgment upon Moses and errand remember just a moment ago they had seen the three miraculous signs the sign of the snake the sign of the leprous hand the sign of the blood they believed that both Moses and Aaron were truly God's servant they were so glad that the Lord had visited them in their afflictions so much so that they bald their hates and worship God now all of a sudden they had shifted and now they are putting the blame on their spiritual leaders they are also pronouncing a curse upon their own spiritual leaders what has happened what has made them all of a sudden change troubles dear friends when bad things happen it is common for people to look for someone to put the blame on people will not consider their own thoughts their own sins their own weaknesses people will not consider the fact that God has a sovereign purpose and will to allow certain things to happen they just want to look for a guinea pig so to speak someone whom they can put the blame on think about this when people are not growing spiritually it is always the church the problem is always with the church there is insufficient Biblical teaching the fellowship is not sweet when their children are not actively attending church services and fellowship meetings it is because the people are hypocritical when the church is small it is because the leaders are not focusing on evangelism and discipleship when they are sick and not recovering from their illnesses it is because the church is not prayerful enough you will blame everyone else but themselves isn't it true and oftentimes the most potential candidates for them to put the blame on will be the spiritual leaders like the Israelites one moment they were embracing Moses and Aaron as God's servants the next moment they were cursing at them all because there was trouble can cause people to all of a sudden change one moment they may embrace you welcome you the next moment they may say all kinds of nasty things about you and reject you troubles dear friends how do we respond to trouble how do we respond to the adverse circumstances of life when things seem to get better and then it gets worse how do we respond to that do you run back to your old sinful ways whether it be self-pity whether it be some kind of a bondage do drugs alcohol gambling or some secret sexual sins do you put the blame on others do you blame the church do you blame your parents do you blame the leaders of the church or do you search your hearts and ask yourself have I done anything wrong have I sinned against the Lord is there anything I should have done and not done is this situation a situation whereby God has allowed into my life to cause me to trust and believe in him and to help me to grow in him is this situation a situation that God has a sovereign purpose for me do you consider all these things when things seem to get better any guessworks let us on respond in a manner that will glorify our almighty God let us not run back to our own sinful ways let us not put a blame on anyone but let us run to God and God Alone let us cling onto the cross and trust that the power of the cross our Lord Jesus Christ he will help us he's always faithful to us let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank thee for enabling us to consider this portion of scriptures indeed we know that there will be moments in our lives whereby like the Israelites when things seem to get better it gets worse but thou has the Sovereign purpose and will for allowing things to occur in our lives help us to Humber ourselves before thee Trust and Believe the thou will help us at every step of the way help us to learn not to behave like the Israelites whereby they go back to the pharaoh just like we going Bank to our old sinful ways at the first sign of trouble instead of running to our old sinful ways we should run today and die alone and help us not to put the blame on someone else or on certain things but to search our hearts and US ourselves what have we done what should we do or if there are things we have not done help us always to consider thy Sovereign purpose and will nothing happens by chance not coincidence but by thy appointment Thou Art sovereign and help us to Humble ourselves before they Trust and Believe that thou alone will guide us and lead us at every step of the way we give thee thanks and we pray all this in Jesus name amen
Our text for tonight's message is taken from Exodus 5:10-21. Have you ever encountered a situation whereby things seem to be getting better, but then it got worse? Just when you thought you had some sort of victory, success, relief, and the circumstances seem to change for the better, then all of a sudden, it got worse. It could be something relating to your family, to your relationship, to your financial situation, to your health, to your ministry, etc. Well, that was exactly how the children of Israel would have felt.
Remember, they had been under the oppression of the Egyptians for centuries, and then came the hopeful day when they received the message that the Lord had visited them in their afflictions and He would deliver them from the oppression. They had believed and trusted both Moses and Aaron who went boldly to the Pharaoh to demand that he let the people go and worship the Lord in the wilderness. They must be so happy and relieved that finally, their bad days were coming to an end. However, the Pharaoh not only had refused to let the people go, but he even issued a decree to make things more difficult for the children of Israel.
The Israelites had already been laboring hard in the fields by making bricks to make great cities for the Pharaoh. In the past, they were provided with the straws to make the bricks, but now they had to gather their own straws to make the bricks. In other words, they had to do more than before. When Moses demanded that the Pharaoh let the people go, his response was like saying to Moses, "Yes, I will let them go, I will let them go and gather their own straws from now onwards."
This is what we want to learn from today's passage in Exodus 5:10-21, and the title of our message is "When things seem to get better, it got worse."
Our first point is: Things got harder. Let us begin with verse 10: "And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, 'Pharaoh will not give you straw.'" Verse 11: "'Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.'" In other words, the Pharaoh's decree was that he would no longer provide the straws for the Israelites anymore. They would have to find their own straws wherever they could find them, and their workload shall not be reduced. So, their workload became heavier than before.
History tells us that the Egyptians used bricks for all kinds of buildings. They used bricks to build their temples, their palaces, their storehouses, their military buildings, and official residences. It took millions and millions of bricks to fulfill all those architectural endeavors. And the only way to get the slaves to make sufficient bricks was to establish a daily quota indicating how many bricks they were required to produce and how many bricks were actually delivered.
Verse 12: "So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw." So, the Israelites had to travel all over the land of Egypt to look for straws, and when they ran out of straws, they had no choice but to gather stubble instead.
Verse 13: "And the taskmasters hasted them." The word "taskmasters" was a reference to the Egyptian masters who were placed in charge of the children of Israel. And their job was to push them, pressure them, press them to make them work faster. And they were saying to the Israelites, "Fulfill your works, your daily task, as when there was straw."
- in other words fulfill the same daily requirements just like when you were given the straws initially n."
No doubt, many of those taskmasters derived perverse pleasure by abusing the slaves, just like the bullies we have in our modern times. They enjoyed making people suffer. Indeed, God's people suffered greatly, and the Bible recorded for us all the details of their sufferings to show their desperate need for salvation, and more importantly, to show the glory of God's grace and mercy.
Take a moment and consider this passage. This is a powerful picture of what it really means to be a slave. The children of Israel were prisoners and slaves in Egypt. They had to take orders from the taskmasters who represented the Pharaoh. They had to work under the hot sun. At first, they were given straws to make the bricks. It was already difficult, but now more was required from them. They had to gather their own straws. The taskmasters demanded more bricks and less straws.
What lessons can we learn from here? Like the Israelites, we were once slaves to sin, and sin is the worst taskmaster. It always demands more and more from us while giving us less and less in return. Right? Think about this. The more we indulge in immorality, what happens? The more immorality we crave, and the less happy we are. The more prideful we are, the more acknowledgment and appreciation we want, and the less loving we become. When our love for money increases, the more money we desire, and the less content we become. The list goes on and on. That is what sin will do to us. It demands more and more from us while giving to us less and less in return.
Some people will say, "Well, when I'm able to do this, when I'm able to have this, it is enough. I will be satisfied." No. This principle does not apply to sin. This is not how sin works. Satan never loosens his grip, and he is always tightening his grip around us. Like the taskmasters, it is always more bricks and less straws. This is the very nature of sin. He wants to control the sinner's life.
By our Lord Jesus, who said in John 8:34, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." As a servant, you have no choice but to obey the taskmaster. If your taskmaster is sin, Satan, and the world, you have no choice but to obey them. That is why we need a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver us from this terrible bondage.
And we are all reminded, our Lord Jesus lovingly said in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
So, things were getting worse for the Israelites. And what did they do when things were getting worse for them? Our second point is: They appealed to the Pharaoh. Look at verse 14: "And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh's taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, 'Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and today, as heretofore?'" As like before, as like in the past.
These officers were like the foremen. They were Israelites who were placed in charge of the children of Israel by the taskmasters. When the children of Israel failed
to produce the required number of bricks, these officers were beaten. The interesting thing was, what did they do? Who did they turn to? Look on to verse 15: "Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, 'Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?'" Verse 16: "There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, 'Make brick': and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people."
They turned to the Pharaoh. Can you imagine that? This is something very amazing about a slave. Even when a door has already been opened toward freedom, he is always tempted to return to slavery. He is always tempted to return to his former master. Later on, we will see a clearer picture of the Israelites when they were finally freed. They still longed to go back to Egypt and serve the Pharaoh. Can you see what a stronghold the Pharaoh had over his slaves? The moment they were mistreated, they immediately appealed to him. They cried out to him. "Why have you treated your servants in this way, your people, the taskmasters, did not provide us with the straws, and yet we were told to make the bricks? Because of this, we are being beaten, but the fault is with your own people."
Rather than praying for God to deliver them, they begged the Pharaoh to make their bondage easier for them to bear. God had already chosen Moses and Aaron to serve as their representatives. So, by going to the Pharaoh themselves, they were overstepping the boundaries. If this was simply a labor issue, there would be nothing wrong with asking the Pharaoh for better working conditions. Or if they really believed that the taskmasters were abusing their authorities and changing the rules without the Pharaoh's permission.
But the real issue was a spiritual one. It was because of the requests to let them go into the wilderness to worship their God. It was a spiritual issue. So, the central question was: Whom would the Israelites serve? God or the Pharaoh? At the end of chapter four, maybe you can turn with me to Exodus 4:31. Let me read for you Exodus 4:31: "And the people believed, and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped."
That was such a good thing. They bowed their heads and worshipped God. But at the first sign of trouble, they immediately ran back to the Pharaoh. Notice how they identify themselves three times. They said, "We are thy servants." In other words, it not only shows how much power and control the Pharaoh had over them, but also the fact how they perceive themselves and the Pharaoh. "We are your servants. You are our master."
They were so used to being in bondage that they could not see themselves as anything but slaves. Rather than seeking to be free, they went back to negotiate the terms of their slavery. Dear friends, if we are under the oppression of sin, it is useless to ask Satan to set us free. It is useless to negotiate with sin and the world to set us free, to be gracious to us, not to torment us so much.
Sin is never our friend but our enemy, and we must always bear that in mind. There's no way we can escape from sin. Remember, sin will only tighten its grip around us. There's only one person who can free us from the bondage of sin, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And if Jesus has set us free, then you and I must not return back to the shackles of our former slavery, our former bondage, whatever it may be. Instead of running to the Pharaoh, what the Israelites should do is to run to God. Their response should be, "Our God has visited us in our afflictions. He knows what is happening to us. He has promised to deliver us, and He will keep to His promise. We will trust and believe in Him."
It is sad to see many professing Christians behaving like the Israelites. When everything is working smoothly, when they are making great spiritual progress, when they are receiving blessings, when they are experiencing victories, all is well and good. But the moment they encounter certain difficulties, they immediately go back to their old sinful ways to help cope with the problem. Some would return to self-pity, others would return to drugs and alcohol, yet others will return to secret sexual sins. Whatever it may be, that is a sad reality, dear friends. At the first sign of trouble, our response should not be running back to our old sinful ways. Instead, we should run to God. We acknowledge that there is a strong temptation to return to our former bondage. The devil knows how to tempt us well. "It is useless to fight," he says. "A good fight of faith is useless to live a godly life. Look at all the troubles you are going through. Why don't you just drop everything and go back to your old ways?" We must never do that. The only way you and I can resist the temptation and remain free in Jesus Christ is to cling onto the cross. And we must always cling onto the cross and trust in His power to save us. The Lord Jesus will help us run to Him, not run to our own sinful ways, not run to whatever slavery that we were once in bondage to.
Let us move on to our third and final point: Blame the spiritual leaders. Verse 17, "But he said, Therefore he say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord." Verse 18, "Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks." Or quote: "of bricks." Remember when Moses and Aaron made a request to the Pharaoh to let the people go and worship the Lord in the wilderness? The Pharaoh's conclusion was that the people were lazy; they were idle. In other words, they had so much free time that they were considering this foolish idea of going into the wilderness to worship their God. And if the problem was about laziness, then more work should be given to them. That was the reason why he stopped providing them with straws. They had to look for their own straws. But here, the Pharaoh seemed to be using a wicked strategy to drive a wedge between Moses and the Israelites. "Well, you are lazy, that is why you requested for me to let you go and worship your God, to make sacrifices to your God in the wilderness. If you did not make that request, things will be status quo. You will not need to suffer." And who was the one who represented you to make that request? Moses. Verse 19, "And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task." In other words, they realized that they were in deep trouble. It was a bad case, a bad situation because the Pharaoh had refused to reduce their daily production of bricks. So their appeal to him was rejected. And who should they blame for all these troubles? Moses and Aaron. Verse 20, "And they met Moses and Aaron who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh." So as they were on their way out from the Pharaoh's residence, we saw Moses and Aaron. Interestingly, the word "met" can be translated as "attack." In other words, they attacked Moses and Aaron. It was not a physical attack but a verbal attack. And what did they say to Moses and Aaron? Verse 21, "And they said unto them, The Lord look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us." Firstly, they accused Moses and Aaron. "You have made us to be a stench through the Pharaoh and his taskmasters, and you have given to them the reason to kill us." They were blaming their spiritual leaders for all their troubles. And more than that, they were pronouncing a curse. "The Lord look upon you and judge," which means they were calling upon God to send His divine judgment upon Moses and Aaron. Remember, just a moment ago, they had seen the three miraculous signs: the sign of the snake, the sign of the leprous hand, the sign of the blood. They believed that both Moses and Aaron were truly God's servants. They were so glad that the Lord had visited them in their afflictions, so much so that they bowed their heads and worshipped God. Now, all of a sudden, they had shifted, and now they are putting the blame on their spiritual leaders. They are also pronouncing a curse upon their own spiritual leaders. What has happened? What has made them all of a sudden change? Troubles, dear friends. When bad things happen, it is common for people to look for someone to put the blame on. People will not consider their own faults, their own sins, their own weaknesses. People will not consider the fact that God has a sovereign purpose and will to allow certain things to happen. They just want to look for a guinea pig, so to speak, someone whom they can put the blame on. Think about this. When people are not growing spiritually, it is always the church. The problem is always with the church. There is insufficient biblical teaching, the fellowship is not sweet. When their children are not actively attending church services and fellowship meetings, it is because the people are hypocritical. When the church is small, it is because the leaders are not focusing on evangelism and discipleship. When they are sick and not recovering from their illnesses, it is because the church is not prayerful enough. You will blame everyone else but themselves, isn't it true? And oftentimes, the most potential candidates for them to put the blame on will be the spiritual leaders. Like the Israelites, one moment they were embracing Moses and Aaron as God's servants, the next moment they were cursing at them, all because there was trouble.
- can cause people to all of a sudden change one moment they may embrace you welcome you the next moment they may say all kinds of nasty things about you and reject you t.
Troubles, dear friends. How do we respond to trouble? How do we respond to the adverse circumstances of life? When things seem to get better and then it gets worse, how do we respond to that? Do you run back to your old sinful ways, whether it be self-pity, whether it be some kind of bondage, do drugs, alcohol, gambling, or some secret sexual sins? Do you put
the blame on others? Do you blame the church? Do you blame your parents? Do you blame the leaders of the church? Or do you search your hearts and ask yourself, "Have I done anything wrong? Have I sinned against the Lord? Is there anything I should have done and not done? Is this situation a situation whereby God has allowed it into my life to cause me to trust and believe in Him and to help me to grow in Him? Is this situation a situation that God has a sovereign purpose for me?" Do you consider all these things when things seem to get better and it gets worse? Let us respond in a manner that will glorify our almighty God. Let us not run back to our own sinful ways. Let us not put the blame on anyone but let us run to God and God alone. Let us cling onto the cross and trust that the power of the cross, our Lord Jesus Christ, He will help us. He's always faithful to us. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank Thee for enabling us to consider this portion of Scriptures. Indeed, we know that there will be moments in our lives whereby, like the Israelites, when things seem to get better, it gets worse. But Thou hast the sovereign purpose and will for allowing things to occur in our lives. Help us to humble ourselves before Thee, trust and believe that Thou will help us at every step of the way. Help us to not behave like the Israelites, whereby they go back to the Pharaoh, just like we go back to our old sinful ways at the first sign of trouble. Instead of running to our old sinful ways, we should run to Thee and Thee alone. And help us not to put the blame on someone else or on certain things, but to search our hearts and ask ourselves, "What have we done? What should we do?" Or if there are things we have not done, help us always to consider Thy sovereign purpose and will. Nothing happens by chance, not coincidence, but by Thy appointment. Thou art sovereign. And help us to humble ourselves before Thee, trust and believe that Thou alone will guide us and lead us at every step of the way. We give Thee thanks and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.