In our last message, we have considered how the Israelites were in Egypt and how they were oppressed by the Egyptians. The amazing thing was that 500 years before Moses, during the time of Abraham, God had already prophesied that the descendants of Abraham would one day be strangers in a strange land. They would be slaves and they would be oppressed for 400 years. And that prophecy came to pass. God had also prophesied that the descendants of Abraham would be like the sand on the seashore and like the stars in the heavens. That prophecy was partially fulfilled, as Exodus 1:7 says, "And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceedingly mighty, and the land was filled with them."
Tonight, our text is taken from Exodus 1:8-14. When Joseph was still alive, the children of Israel had lived in peace and prosperity in Egypt. As long as Joseph ruled as the prince of Egypt, it had been good for the people of Israel. They held a position of privilege. In a sense, it had been good for the children of Israel to live in the land of the Pharaohs. But what had once appeared to be a promising place, a prosperous place, had become a house of bondage. Because the moment Joseph died, the situation in Egypt had changed. Verse 8 tells us, "Now there arose a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph."
We will consider this passage, and the title of our message is "From Prosperity to Persecution." Our first point is the complacency of Israel. The word "knew not" does not merely mean an acquaintance or having knowledge of someone. It speaks of an intimate relationship which is characterized by a commitment and concern to the parties involved. So, this particular new king did not know Joseph, as in he did not care about who Joseph was and what Joseph had done for Egypt. Therefore, he felt no sense of obligation to his descendants.
My friends, in life, whether it be in businesses, in our employments, in social environments, and especially in politics, more often than not, it is about who we know, right? Apparently, after Joseph had revealed himself to his brothers in Genesis 50:22, subsequently, they had come down to Egypt to live there. So it is safe to say that the children of Israel had lived in Egypt because of Joseph. In other words, it is because of who you know. "We know Joseph. We are related to him. He is the prince or the prime minister of Egypt. We are going to live in Egypt. We are going to be greatly respected." Do you really think so? All it took was for the new king to take over the throne, a new regime, a new leadership, and it changed their entire situation.
In a similar fashion today, there are people who trust and put their confidence in men, in who they know. They will say to you, "I know this particular politician. He is my neighbor. Oh, I know the boss in my company. He's a personal friend. Oh, I know the pastor of this big church, so everything will be all right." But all it takes is for a change of government, a new politician, a new boss, a new church pastor to take over the leadership, and their situations and circumstances will change as well. Rather than putting our trust and confidence in men, we should put our trust and confidence in God. Men may change. God will never change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). So it is not who we know, but it is whom we know, as in God we must know, trust, and believe in God alone we put our trust and confidence in, not men.
The other problem with the children of Israel was that they did not understand that God had never intended Egypt to become the promised land. Even Joseph knew that. That was why he prophesied from his deathbed in Genesis 50:24. Let me read for you Genesis 50:24, "And Joseph said unto his brethren, 'When I die, God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land which is Egypt, unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.'" Joseph, the second most powerful man in Egypt, was focusing on the land of promise, and he even made his brethren promise to take his bones to Canaan, the promised land. But the children of Israel, they were so comfortable in Egypt, they had become complacent. They had forgotten that Egypt was not the promised land.
How do we know they had become complacent? Later on, when God delivered them out of Egypt, they mourned about eating manna and quails every day, longing for the good life in Egypt. They remembered the fish, the cucumbers, the melons, the onions, the garlics that they could eat freely in Egypt. They became so complacent that they were willing to go back to Egypt and be slaves again. Can you fathom that? To go back to Egypt, to be oppressed by the Egyptians again? My friends, what can we learn from here? God has never intended for you and I to live in this world forever. Our promised land is in heaven. We know that. We understand that. But sometimes we live our lives as if this world has become our promised land. We try to accumulate more wealth and material things, and enough is never enough. We care more about pleasure, enjoyment, holidays, more than the eternal things of God. We care more about worldly pursuits than spiritual pursuits. We care all about our retirement plans, then preparing for the time we will meet our creator.
Like the children of Israel who were so complacent, many professed Christians have become complacent in this world. So much so that when the time for them to leave this world to go to heaven, the promised land, they were reluctant, unwilling, and said, "May the Lord forgive us." When the new king saw the children of Israel increasing in numbers, he felt threatened by them. He feared their numbers. He started to hate them, and finally, he wanted to subjugate them. That was the reason why he advised, he said to his advisors, "Look at verse 9, 'And he said unto his people, Behold, the children of Israel are become more and mightier than we.'"
We must learn to understand that nothing happens by chance or coincidence, but by God's providence. God allowed the new king to take over the throne. God allowed the Israelites to be caught in this predicament so that they would be able to understand that Egypt was not the promised land and he would take them out of Egypt. My friends, perhaps something has happened to you recently. Instead of murmuring against God, "Why me? Why must it be me?" Did you pause to ask yourself, "Have I become too complacent?" God does not want his children to be complacent. He wants us to understand that all it takes is just one adversity, one recession, one change of government, one COVID-19, one new policy, and our current situations would change. God wants us to know that he alone is in control of all things. He wants us to put our trust and confidence in him alone, not men.
Perhaps you have received a medical report of a terminal illness, and that sickness could potentially terminate your life on this earth. Do not be afraid because this world is not your home. This world is not your promised land. Soon, God will take you out of this world and into heaven, which is your eternal promise. Then, God's children must not be complacent. Our second point is the rebellion of Egypt.
So the new king thought he had a problem. "Look, the children of Israel have multiplied and they have become bigger and stronger than us. So we must think of a way to deal with them." Verse 10, "Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that when they falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land." Here, the word "wisely" was used in a negative sense, which means to deal with them shrewdly or cunningly. Like most dictators, the new Pharaoh felt threatened. Despite his military powers, he was worried about being overturned. The more foreigners he had in his land, the more insecure he became. The Israelites' population had grown so large that he felt it could destabilize his entire government.
Another thing he was worried about was the possibility of a foreign nation attacking Egypt. In the event it happened, the children of Israel may join forces with his enemies. Then he will be outnumbered, his dynasty will come to an end. To be fair, it is not wrong for any leader to plan ahead. In fact, it is wise for any leader to consider all these potential outcomes. But leaders must make wise plans, not foolish and wicked plans that only serve his own interest and aggravate the other party. That would suddenly trigger a negative response. That was exactly what this new Pharaoh did.
Verse 11, "Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses." So their plan to deal with the problem was twofold. Firstly, it was to crush the spirits of the children of Israel with hard labor so much so that they will be unable to rebel. Secondly, it was for their own benefit, for their own interests. Their wicked plan would lead to the construction of two great cities, Pithom and Raamses. Pithom was the house of one of the Egyptian gods. Raamses was the royal residence of the Pharaoh. The children of Israel were forced to build these two great cities with their bare hands. They suffered. But as the saying goes, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." The Egyptians' lust for power was never satisfied.
Look on to verse 12, "But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel." The children of Israel were very resilient, strong, mighty. But remember, ultimately, it was God who had blessed them. It was God who had caused them to increase in great numbers, not the Israelites themselves per se. It was their God.
Let us pause and consider this for a moment. If the Egyptians had felt threatened by the children of Israel, if they were afraid that they would join force us with their potential enemies, what should they do? Instead of treating the children of Israel cruelly, they should treat them better, right? They should try to win over the hearts and minds of the children of Israel rather than abusing and mistreating them. That would be the right, wise thing to do.
A word of exaltation to all of you who are bosses, employers, managers, and supervisors who have subordinates working under you. If you are worried that your subordinate may sabotage your work, if you are afraid that they may leave your company and join a rival company, do not behave like the Egyptians. Do not abuse and mistreat your subordinates and try to twist their arms to do your whims and fancies. But rather, you should treat them kindly, generously. Firstly, by doing that, you will remove any resentment in your hearts. Secondly, more importantly, you will be obeying the biblical command in Colossians 4 verse 1: "Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." Which means, treat your servants righteously and equally like the way you treat yourself. And remember that you have a Master who is in heaven, always watching over all your actions. And you must treat your servants like the way your heavenly Master has treated you. This is commanded of all of us believers. This is what we must do.
Verse 13: "And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor," which means with cruelty. "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." One can imagine how these Egyptians, the taskmasters, had made life so terrible for the children of Israel. They would whip them. They would give them very little food to keep them hungry and in need all the time. They would purposely make them work in the hot sun. The purpose was not just to make them work and serve; it was to make them suffer. That was just how cruel the Egyptians were to the children of Israel.
But the Egyptians, whenever they struck the children of Israel with each blow, with each whip, they failed to realize that they were actually fighting against God. Why do we say they were fighting against God? Firstly, they were fighting against God's people. The children of Israel were chosen by God. They were meant for His glory. They were supposed to be free to worship and serve God. By making them slaves, the Egyptians were preventing them from fulfilling their calling to work and serve for the glory of God. By forcing them to do hard labor, essentially they were saying to the children of Israel, "We are your masters. We are your gods. The purpose of your life is to serve us." Do you think God does not know? And do you think God will not deal with them most surely He will?
Secondly, they were fighting against God's promise. Remember, God had made a covenant with their forefathers to make them into a great nation. God promised Abraham, "I will make unto thee a great nation, I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curses thee." So no matter how hard the Egyptians tried to stop the Israelites from increasing in strength and numbers, it was futile because God's promise will surely come to pass.
Thirdly, they were fighting against God's plan. God's plan was to give His people the Promised Land, not the land of Egypt. When God called Abraham out of the Ur of the Chaldeans, Abraham and his descendants were already set on the path to enter the Promised Land. This promise was taught from one generation to another, and they all believed that one day they would enter into the Promised Land, not the land of Egypt.
In fact, towards the end of Joseph's life, he had prophesied to his brothers in Hebrews 11:22. Quoted for us, if you can turn with me to Hebrews 11:22, this is what the Bible says, "By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing..." Now, they're departing, was the same word for Exodus, which means the Exodus of the children of Israel, "and gave commandment concerning his bones." So Joseph reminded his brothers of God's plan to take the children of Israel out of Egypt. However, the new king was hostile to God's plan, whether knowingly or unknowingly. That was why he said in verse 10 that he did not want the children of Israel to join forces with any potential enemies of Egypt. And then he went on to say, "Look at the last phrase in verse 10, 'And so get them up out of the land.'" In other words, he did not want the children of Israel to leave the land of Egypt. This new king wanted the children of Israel to live under the Egyptians, be oppressed by them, serve them for many generations to come. So the new king resented God's people. He rejected God's promise. And he resisted God's plan.
Even his name was not recorded for us in the Bible. He was simply called the king of Egypt or just the Pharaoh. I believe the reason why his name was not even mentioned was for a purpose. It has a theological significance. Some theologians would argue about the name of this new Pharaoh. Some say he is a man who topped the second; others say he stopped most the third. I think it does not matter who he was. The fact that his name was not even recorded for us is that God does not want us to focus on who is the Pharaoh of the Exodus, but rather who is the God of the Exodus. It does not matter who this Pharaoh was, but what matters is we must know who is the God of the Exodus. In a sense, Pharaoh was a picture of men in rebellion to God, against God's people, against God's promise, against God's plan.
Consider all the persecutions and sufferings the Christians had endured throughout the centuries and all over the world. Consider the attacks on the Word of God, the attacks on the inspiration and preservation of Holy Scriptures. Consider the mockers who have scoffed on the salvation that we preach in Christ Jesus, about heaven and hell, about Christ's Second Coming, about the millennial kingdom, the new heavens, and the new earth, the great white throne judgment. Consider how the adversaries try to stop the Gospel from being propagated throughout the whole world. Jesus has said, "When the Gospel has been preached in all the world, the end will come, and I will return."
Today we see the enemies of the Gospel actively attacking God's people, God's promise, and God's plan. Yes, Pharaoh may think he was the one who was against God's people, God's promise, and God's plan, but ultimately he was just an instrument. Pharaoh was just an instrument of Satan. Donald Banhaus, the theologian, called Egypt the greatest symbol of Satan's enmity against the children of Israel. And he said this, let me quote him, "The devil was in Egypt. The devil was ruling Egypt behind Pharaoh was Satan indeed, my friends
." Likewise, anyone who goes and fights against God's people, God's promise, and God's plan, he or she is an instrument of Satan. Is it not true?
So let us end this message to take heed. Let us beware of the things we do, the things we say, that you and I will not fall into the sin of fighting against God, fighting against God's people, the church, fighting against God's promise, the Word of God, the Bible, or fighting against God's plan. His plan was for the Gospel to be preached to the uttermost parts of the world. "We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth."
Let us pray, our Father in heaven, we thank thee for enabling us to consider this portion of scriptures tonight. Help us to learn from the lives of the children of Israel and even the wicked Egyptians who had oppressed thy people for four hundred years. We learn from the complacency of Israel. God's people must never be complacent. We put our trust and confidence not in men, not in who we know in this world, but in the Almighty God whom we know, trust, and believe in. Help us to know that nothing happens by chance nor coincidence. By Thy provisioned, that we learn to see Thy hands working in our lives. There may be times when we fall into the sin of complacency. All it takes is for one adversity, one recession, one change of government, that our entire situations and circumstances will change, so that we will realize that only our God is in control of all things, only our God in whom we should put our trust and confidence in.
Help us to learn from the rebellion of Egypt. Indeed, they were wicked, how they have mistreated and abused the children of Israel. We learned even from their failures that we will not behave like them, but in the decisions we make, let that be wise decisions. In the way we treat our subordinates, the people whom Thou has put under us, under our care, that we will treat them kindly, generously, as Thou has taught us, that we have a Master in heaven who has treated us well and who is always watching over all our actions. Help us to understand that when the Egyptians fight against God's people, God's promises, and God's plans, they were fighting against Thee. So we take heed and consider our actions, our words, that we will not fall into the sin of fighting against Thee, whether it be against the church, against the Bible, or against Thy sovereign plan for the Gospel to be propagated throughout this whole world.
We give Thee thanks and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.