This is our first prayer meeting for the year 2023, God willing. For our messages, we will be focusing on a new book, and I prayerfully decided to consider the book of Exodus. Allow me to give you a brief introduction to this book.
The word "Exodus" means exit or departure. This name first appeared in Exodus 19 verse 1: "In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth." The Hebrew word for "gone forth" was translated in Greek as "Exodus." Eventually, this word became known as the title for this book.
The author was none other than Moses, as Exodus 17 verse 4 tells us that the Lord had commanded Moses to write this for a memorial in a book. And again, in Exodus 34:27, the Lord had commanded Moses to write down these words, and Moses obeyed the Lord. Exodus 24 verse 4 tells us, "And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord." Most certainly, Moses was able to write because he had been trained in Pharaoh's court. He was a prince, he grew up in Pharaoh's court, and so he was well-educated. But perhaps the best proof of Moses' authorship was the fact that Jesus himself quoted from the book of Exodus and attributed it to Moses. For example, in Mark 7 verse 10, Jesus said, "For Moses said, 'Honor thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death.'" There was a quotation from the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20. And in Mark 12:26, Jesus said, "And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses?" Jesus called the book of Exodus the book of Moses because it was written by Moses. And Jesus said, "How in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." That was a quotation from Exodus chapter 3 about the burning bush.
When was this book written? The Bible gave us a clue in 1 Kings 6 verse 1: "And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel." Which means, the 480th year in which the Israelites came out of Egypt, it was the fourth year of Solomon's reign. We know that Solomon reigned around 967 BC, and therefore, if you add 967 BC with the 480 years, it will be around 1446 BC. So, the book of Exodus would have been written after the year 100 or 1446 BC.
This is an amazing book. It speaks of two great nations, Israel and Egypt, and they were led by two great men: Moses the hero, Pharaoh the villain. This book is filled with wonderful stories that most of us will remember: the baby that was left by the river in a basket, the burning bush, the plagues, the angel of death, the opening of the Red Sea, the manna from heaven in the wilderness that fed the Israelites, the water from the rock, the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, the golden calf, the Tabernacle, and so forth. In fact, not only us, but even our children would remember the stories in this book.
So, as we move along, we will be focusing on many of these wonderful stories of God's deliverance, His provisions, and most importantly, His providence. For the Jews, Exodus was the story that reminded them of the deliverance that made them God's people. For us Christians, it was the Gospel of the Old Testament. It was God's great demonstration of redemption. For the Jews, it was about the freedom from the bondage in Egypt. For us Christians, it was about the freedom from the bondage of sin.
Therefore, the book of Exodus reminds us that there is a God who saves and delivers His people, and He does it in a most breathtaking way. The book of Exodus presents the Israelites as a group of complaining and murmuring people. There's nothing praiseworthy about the Israelites. We do not praise the Israelites, but we praise their God, which is the same God you and I believe in. So, as we study through this book, we must learn to see that the real hero was God Himself. God was the one who revealed Himself to Moses as the Great I Am. God was the one who heard the cries of His people in bondage in Egypt. He took pity on their sufferings and raised up a deliverer, Moses, to save them. God was the one who sent the plagues on Egypt and divided the Red Sea and destroyed the armies of Pharaoh. God was the one who provided the manna from heaven and the water from the rock. God was the one who gave the law on the mountain and filled the Tabernacle with His glory. From beginning to end, it was all about God. Exodus was a God-centered book.
Now, if it was a God-centered book, then needless to say, it must also be Christ-centered in one way or another. The whole Bible is about Jesus Christ. The Old Testament speaks about the Savior to come, the New Testament speaks about the Savior who had come and He will be coming again. The entire Bible is about Jesus Christ.
In many ways, Moses was like a type of Christ. Like Moses, Jesus was born to be a Savior, and He was rescued from His enemies at birth. Like Moses, Jesus had lived in Egypt. If you remember, King Herod had wanted to kill the child. An angel of the Lord revealed to Joseph to bring the child and His mother to go into Egypt, and after the death of King Herod, they returned back to the land of Israel, which was a fulfillment of the prophecy, "Out of Egypt have I called my Son" (Matthew 2 verse 15). Like Moses, who lived in the wilderness for 40 years, Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days. Like Moses, who went up to the mountain to receive the law, Jesus, who was the Lawgiver, went up to the mountain to explain the law to His disciples. You can read about that in Matthew 5 to 7.
In a similar fashion, we are just like the Israelites who were in bondage in Egypt and needed a deliverer. You and I used to be slaves to sin, isn't it true? And we needed to be set free from sin. We need a deliverer, a God to save us from slavery, from bondage, and to destroy our enemies. We need a God who is a provider, who will feed us with spiritual bread from heaven and spiritual water from the rock. We need a Lawgiver, a God who will teach us how to live our
lives, how to love Him, how to serve Him. Ultimately, we need a friend, a God who will always be with us at every moment of our lives, forever. Just like the Israelites had God as the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night.
So, as we study through the book of Exodus, we must learn to apply all these spiritual lessons into our daily walk with God. This is best illustrated by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 1 to 4. Allow me to read for you 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 1 to 4. Paul says, "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ." But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Then the Apostle Paul went on to explain how despite the fact that God had saved the Israelites in the wilderness, they had turned away from Him, and they all perished in the wilderness. And he concluded in verse 11, – now this is very important for us – "Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come." In other words, Paul was saying, whatever happened to the Israelites were written down for us. The book of Exodus was intended for our spiritual benefits so that you and I will not repeat the same mistakes. We will learn from the examples of the children of Israel.
Let us begin with our text, Exodus chapter 1 verse 1 to 7. The title of our message is "God's Prophecy and Promise Had Come to Pass."
Our first point is the prophecy, verse 1: "Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob." The word "now" is a connection between the book of Exodus and the book of Genesis. It was a continuation of the wonder-working of God in the lives of His people from beginning until now. Genesis speaks of the creation of the world. Do you know what Exodus speaks of? Exodus speaks of the creation of a nation, the nation of Israel. Notice, they were called children of Israel. Israel was Jacob's name. Later on, they will be known as the Israelites.
Verse 2: "Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah." Verse 3: "Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin." Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. "And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already." The sons of Jacob were named according to his wives. Let me explain. Firstly, you have the children of Leah: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Then you have the children of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. Joseph was mentioned separately because he was already in Egypt. And then followed by the children of the maids of Leah and Rachel: Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
Before the children of Israel could come out of Egypt, they had to be in Egypt in the first place, right? So, it is important for us to remember why they were in Egypt. Joseph was the first person in the family to enter Egypt. He was the favorite son of Jacob, the apple of his father's eye, that earned him the envy of all his brothers. In a fit of jealousy, they threw him into a pit, sold him to slavery, and then took a blood-stained robe that belonged to Joseph back to their father. Yet, by God's providence, Joseph became the second most important person in Egypt. Later on, there was a famine in the land of Israel, and his family had to go down to Egypt. Joseph was able to provide for all his brethren, and he revealed himself to them. We read that wonderful story according to Genesis 50 verse 20. After that, both Joseph and the descendants of Jacob had lived in Egypt. So, that was how they ended up in Egypt. The twelve sons of Jacob was not a large family; there were only seventy of them to begin with.
They were not powerful, though Joseph had risen to a position of authority. But that office could not be passed down to the next generation. Once he died, that office died with him. That was why verse 6 emphasized the fact, "And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation." In other words, after the death of Joseph, all the brethren, and all the people of that generation, the rest of the subsequent generations were living as strangers in a foreign land. Eventually, they became slaves to the Egyptians.
This is the irony: that the brothers who sold Joseph into slavery, their families ended up being slaves themselves. And they had to toil in the hot sun under those Egyptian masters. For how many years? The Bible tells us, 400 years. Do you know what is most amazing about these 400 years? About 500 years before this account, during the time of Abraham, God had already prophesied that Abraham's descendants would be living in a strange land. They would be strangers, they would be slaves, they would be oppressed by the masters. If you can turn with me to Genesis 15 verse 13, that will give you that account that God had prophesied about Abraham's descendants. Genesis 15 verse 13: "And God said unto Abram, Know of a surety” – or, of a certainty – “that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years." My friends, that was prophesied 500 years ago.
There were three aspects to this prophecy: the children of Israel would be strangers in a foreign land, they would be slaves, and they would be oppressed for a total of 400 years. Did God's prophecy come to pass? Most certainly. What can we learn from here? There are many prophecies in the Bible. Many of those prophecies had already been fulfilled: prophecies pertaining to the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, it came to pass; prophecies regarding the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, the dispersion of the Israelites, and the return of the Israelites back to the land, they have all been fulfilled. But there are many prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled: prophecies concerning the end times, the tribulation, prophecies concerning Jesus' second coming, the battle of Armageddon, the millennial kingdom, and so forth. Will they come to pass? Most certainly. God will always make sure that His word will come to pass.
The Israelites, if you look at their lives, they were not especially bright. They were not as talented as the Egyptians, who had built a civilization that could boast many things, both about their achievements, like the pyramids, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The children of Israel were not righteous. Their family history was a sad story of treachery, betrayal, and violence. Their own father, Jacob, had deceived his brother of his birthright. As the saying goes, like father, like son. All the brothers wanted to get rid of Joseph because of jealousy. The most despicable of them all was Judah, who had slept with his daughter-in-law, Tamar. Interestingly, that was how the sex concluded their lives, like in an obituary. Nothing good can be said about them. All that the Bible said was this, "And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation." Obviously, some good things had been said about Joseph in the Book of Genesis. But that was simply the conclusion of their lives: they died, and all the people of that generation, they died.
My friends, one day you and I would die. We'll be buried. If Jesus would tarry in His return, have you ever thought about what would be written on the headstones of your graves? What would be written by your children, relating to your life? "He has fought a good fight, he has finished his course, he has kept the faith." Or, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Or, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Would all these things be said about us? Would they be a conclusion of our lives? Or will it be just simply, "So-and-so has died on this particular date," and nothing good can be said about him or her because his or her life is not a good testimony? May the Lord have mercy on us that our lives will not be like that.
Our second point is the promise. Look at verse 7: "And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them." Though there were only seventy Israelites to start with, but soon they filled the entire land so much so that the Egyptians were threatened by their existence. This was the promise that God had made with Abraham: that "I will make you into a great nation. I will bless them that bless you, I will curse them that curse you. And your descendants will be like the sand on the seashore and the stars in the heavens." In fact, this promise could be traced further than Abraham. Do you know that this promise could be traced all the way to Adam and Eve when God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth"? God kept His promise to turn this one family into a mighty nation. That was why verse 7 said, "They were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them." Essentially, it was God keeping His covenant blessings, His covenant promises.
Think about this: from a family of seventy souls, they had grown to be about two million people. How do we know? If you can turn with me to Numbers 1 verse 45 to 46. This was also during the time of Moses. Numbers 1 verse 45: "So were all those that were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel; even all they that were numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty." In other words, six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty fighting men, excluding the women and children. So, if you were to include all of them, it would easily be two million people. I believe it would exceed two million people too.
What can we learn from here? Just as God's prophecy will surely come to pass, His promises would also come to pass, my friends. Do you know the promises in the Bible? His promises concerning the mansion that our Lord Jesus had gone to prepare for us, concerning the rapture and the resurrection, that all believers would either be raptured or resurrected, concerning the new heavens and the new earth, concerning the rewards that all faithful believers will receive from the Lord Jesus Himself, concerning your life, your family, your children? When you bring your child before the Lord, He will enable you to bring up this child in the fear of Him and to come to know Him in a salvific way. God will surely keep His promises. That is the God we believe in.
The Israelites, they were a group of complaining and murmuring people. They were not righteous. Their entire history was a sad story of treachery, betrayal, and violence. But what was important about the children of Israel was not them per se; it was about the fact that they were God's people. What made the children of Israel special was their relationship with God. It was God who kept all His promises and prophecies that He had made to their forefathers, my friends.
Likewise, when we look at our lives, we are not perfect. We are not righteous. So often, we sin against God. We disobey His word. We are not faithful in serving Him. It was not about us; it was all about our God. It was all about our relationship with the one living and true God, the God who is also the God of the children of Israel, is the same God we believe in. The God who has kept all His prophecies and all His promises. So, the more we read the Bible, the more we know of God's prophecies, the more we know of God's promises, the more we must live our lives in accordance with His word. This is how you and I should live our lives.
So, when we come back, we'll continue from verse 8 onwards. Let us look to the Lord in prayer.
Father in heaven, we thank You for Your precious word, Thou who has impressed upon our hearts to consider this particular book for our prayer meetings. Help us as we study through this book that we may draw spiritual lessons to apply into our lives. Help us remember what we have learned tonight. Thou art a God who will keep Thy word, Thy prophecies, Thy promises. As we have seen in the lives of the Israelites, we believe Thy word, and we want to live our lives in accordance with Thy truth. Help us by the wonder-working of Thy Spirit. Help us that we will be diligent in the study of the Bible and to rightly apply the word of truth into our lives. We give You thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.