ICEL Deliverance Exodus 1:1-2:10 ICEL 21 November 2010

ICEL An Unexpected Moment Deliverance — the act of delivering someone or something: liberation, rescue. I needed a deliverer. Exam on Paul Ricoeur ’ s The Symbolism of Evil Symbol for evil in the book. Terrence asked Colby, “ Did you find that symbol for evil? ” That was my deliverance!

ICEL A Beloved Story There was a day when Abraham ’ s descendants needed deliverance. God would give them a deliverer in a most unusual way.

ICEL Scripture text: 1These are the names of the sons of Israel who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher. 5The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, Exodus 1:1-7 (1)

ICEL Scripture text: 7but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them. Exodus 1:1-7 (2)

ICEL Vocabulary The language here is interesting. Three verbs are used in the story which also appear in the creation story in Genesis 1.

ICEL Scripture text: 22God blessed them and said, “ Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth. ” Genesis 1:22

ICEL God ’ s Blessing God had promised to make a great nation from Abraham ’ s descendants. And the Israelites were flourishing. They were multiplying. They were increasing in number. They were filling Egypt. God ’ s blessing sometimes stimulates opposition.

ICEL Scripture text: 8Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 9 “ Look, ” he said to his people, “ the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. 10Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country. ” 11So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. ” Exodus 1:8-14 (1)

ICEL Scripture text: 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelities 13and worked them ruthlessly. 14They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly. Exodus 1:8-14 (2)

ICEL Opposition God ’ s blessing brings opposition. The Egyptians become afraid of this numerous people.

ICEL Oppression God ’ s blessings are often accompanied by resistance. For the Egyptians it was fear. So Pharaoh decides to kill the Israelite ’ s baby boys.

ICEL Scripture text: 15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “ When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live. ” 17The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Exodus 1:15-22 (1)

ICEL Scripture text: 18Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “ Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live? ” 19The midwives answered Pharaoh, “ Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive. ” 20So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. Exodus 1:15-22 (2)

ICEL Scripture text: 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. 22Then Pharaoh gave is order to all his people: “ Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live. ” Exodus 1:15-22 (3)

ICEL Life There ’ s a strong theme of “ life ” running through this story. God rewards the women for protecting life. The midwives deceive Pharaoh. They were motivated by their fear of God.

ICEL Scripture text: 1Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, 2and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. Exodus 2:1-10 (1)

ICEL Scripture text: 4His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him. 5Then Pharaoh ’ s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the river bank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her slave girl to get it. 6She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “ This is one of the Hebrew babies, ” she said. Exodus 2:1-10 (2)

ICEL Scripture text: 7Then his sister asked Pharaoh ’ s daughter, “ Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you? ” 8 “ Yes, go, ” she answered. And the girl went and got the baby ’ s mother. 9Pharaoh ’ s daughter said to her, “ Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you. ” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. 10When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh ’ s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “ I drew him out of the water. ” Exodus 2:1-10 (3)

ICEL Desperate Times Jochebed can ’ t hide her baby any longer. So Jochebed exposes her son by placing him among the reeds in the Nile River. A papyrus basket. The reeds will provide some protection from the sun and from crocodiles. But what will happen?

ICEL Deliverance Then God does the unexpected. Miriam watches the basket while Pharaoh ’ s daughter goes down to bathe. I wish that we were given more of the details … He uses Pharaoh's daughter to save Moses. God ’ s deliverance comes in an unexpected way.

ICEL God ’ s Plan It ’ s God ’ s plan for the deliverer to grow up in Pharaoh ’ s court! This is something that no Israelite slave could have imagined. But God is unfolding His plan. Centuries before this moment, God had made a promise to Abraham.

ICEL Scripture text: 12As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13Then the Lord said to him, “ Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. 14But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. Genesis 15:12-16 (1)

ICEL Scripture text: 15You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure. Genesis 15:12-16 (2)

ICEL God ’ s Plan God is working out His plan through history. God wants to establish the Kingdom of God (Phil. 2:9-11) We are also a part of that plan. However, our comfort is not what ’ s at stake. God wants to conform us into the image of Christ.

ICEL The Israelites How did the Israelites respond to God ’ s deliverer? They didn ’ t understand him. They criticized Moses — God ’ s deliverer. They rejected Moses. They revolted against God. Ultimately a whole generation had to die away.

ICEL God How did God respond to the Israelites? He heard their cries. He sent a deliverer — Moses. He set the slaves free. He formed them into a nation. He led them through the wilderness. He gave them the Promised Land.

ICEL Scripture text: 23During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. Exodus 2:23

ICEL Points to Ponder God works unobtrusively through history. God has a plan for history. God ’ s plan is the Kingdom of God. Where every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

ICEL Our Lives God works in our lives to meet our needs. God also works through our lives to further His master plan. We rarely understand what God is doing at the moment. We usually see everything better in hindsight.

ICEL Making It Personal God ’ s blessing may bring opposition or oppression. If you are suffering, God hears the cry of your heart. God delivers His people in unexpected ways.

ICEL What Should We Do? Cry out to God when you suffer. Know that God has compassion on you. Look for God ’ s deliverance in unexpected ways. Be a part of God ’ s plan — help to further the Kingdom of God.