Exodus 5:1-6:1 Let My People Go!

Have you ever tried to do what God has told you to do only to run into opposition? If you have, you’re not alone. Some of the greatest heroes in the Bible ran into opposition when they did God’s work, and we heard a good example of this a few minutes ago in the reading from Exodus 5:1-6:1.

Pharaoh’s response to Moses’ and Aaron’s request to let the Hebrew slaves go should be seen as contempt for God and not ignorance. In response to Pharaoh’s ignorance, God sent plagues and death on the Egyptians so that there would be no doubt about the ultimate answer.

Pharaoh’s response was a decree that the Hebrews would have to gather their own straw to make bricks during the early morning and late evening while still putting in a full day’s work. To say that these conditions were oppressing was an understatement. In ancient times, straw was added to the clay-and-mud mixture to give greater strength and cohesion to the brick once it dried. Straw was not readily available, so the Hebrews had to gather small pieces of straw. Consequently, their production of bricks slowed while their production quota remained unchanged. It was no surprise therefore that the people accused Moses of making their situation worse.

When God works on our behalf, sometimes the situation gets worse before it gets better. That setback can allow us to take our greatest leap forward in faith.  Pharaoh’s refusal to let the Israelites go is a good example. The situation for the Israelites got worse before it got better, God uses roadblocks in our lives to make us doubt our own plans and rely on him. God did this for the Israelites by hardening Pharaoh’s heart.  

It isn’t surprising that Moses was discouraged, and in his discouragement he asked God why he allowed this situation to happen. We are sometimes like Moses and the Hebrews when bad things happen to us. We often ask God why he allowed it to happen, but sometimes we fail to realize that God can take something bad and make something good out of it. God told Moses that he would deal harshly with Pharaoh and force him to allow the Hebrews to go free.

The time God used to make the Egyptians suffer from the plagues served two purposes. First, God wanted the Egyptians to know that it is the Lord who acts. Second, God wanted the Israelites to learn to trust him while he was working on their behalf. God promised the Israelites that he would bring them out of Egypt with a strong hand.

The situation between Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh was similar to the situations between Jesus and the Pharisees. Pharaohs were considered to be gods, and the Pharisees showed “god-like” behaviour.   Moses challenged Pharaoh like Jesus challenged the Pharisees. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened just like the Pharisees’ hearts were hardened. Pharaoh refused to listen to Moses for a long time just like the Pharisees refused to listen to Jesus. Pharaoh ruled over the Israelites with an iron fist just like the Pharisees used Old Testament laws along with their own rules to rule over the Jews with an “iron fist”

Both Pharaoh and the Pharisees had hard hearts and refused to listen to God. When God speaks, we must listen. Pharaoh learned that lesson the hard way when his army drowned in the Red Sea. God wants us learn the same lesson, but he doesn’t want us to have to learn it the hard way.

Bibliography

1.      Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing, 2013, pp. 81-82)

2.      ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package.

3.      Dunnam, M.D. & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 2: Exodus (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987; pp. 81-88)

4.      Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, NKJV (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)

Luke 15:1-3,11-32 Going Home

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables that make the same point. God loves the lost. The lost sheep, the lost coin and a lost son are part of a trio whose members are of increasing value. The lost sheep was one of one hundred, the lost coin was one of ten, and the lost son was one of two. In the first parable, Jesus is the shepherd; in the second, he is the woman; and in the third he is the father who seeks his lost sons. Today I’m going to talk for just a couple of minutes about the third and final parable.

For centuries it has been called the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but a more appropriate title would be the Parable of the Loving Father. While a father might divide his estate before he died, the younger son’s request was cold and scandalous because he was saying in effect that he wished his father was dead. As the younger son, he received one-third of the estate, while the older brother received two-thirds (as was the custom at that time). 

When you hear the word prodigal, you might think that it means “wayward” or “rebellious”, and the younger son certainly behaved that way. The term “prodigal” also means “recklessly spendthrift”, and the father acted that way. He gave his sons everything they asked for and showered them with gifts. This is an image for God. He lavishly spends his love on us from start to finish.

After the younger son received his inheritance, he went away to a far country. This was more than a reference to geography. It also referred to moral and spiritual separation from God. The lowest point of this separation occurred when the younger son spent all of his money and reached the point where he had to work in a hog pen. Pigs were considered unclean animals for a Jew. Wanting to eat the pods that were fed to the pigs was a sign that he had reached the lowest point in his life. He had to come to this lowest point in order to realize how foolish he had been. This is a picture of some of us. There are times when as wayward sinners we have to come to the lowest point in our lives in order to realize that we have been foolish by running away from God. It is at times like these when we finally turn back to God and start the journey home to our loving, heavenly Father.

The prodigal son’s first words to his father fell short of repentance. Jewish tradition viewed the statement “I have sinned against heaven and in your sight…” as an attempt at manipulation. The father did not care about the son’s words though. He just wanted him to return. Every day the father travelled a great distance to a vantage point from which he could look for his son. When the day came for the son to finally return, the father was so happy that he did something that was very undignified for a first-century man to do. He ran to meet his son. This is an image of God. God is so happy when we turn to him and away from sin that he comes to meet us in the person of Jesus Christ. Just like the father showered his son with kisses of compassion, forgiveness, acceptance and restoration, God showers us with love and affection. Jesus even said that there is great rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents. 

God even loves people who stubbornly refuse to repent. A good example of someone who refuses to repent is the older son. He rebelled by referring to his brother as “this son of yours”. While the younger son was away, the older son continued working and doing his duty without love. He reduced the father-son relationship to a system of rewards in exchange for services rendered, much like an employer-employee relationship. In spite of this father never stopped loving him.

The older son also represents the Pharisees, who we heard about in Luke 15:1-3. They hated sinners, especially tax collectors. Tax collectors worked for the Romans, who occupied the territory. In addition, many tax collectors tried to get rich by extorting more money that they were told to collect from people. Jesus wanted the Pharisees to see that his purpose in coming to earth was the very thing that prompted them to make accusations. His purpose was to reach out with grace to sinners, and that is still his purpose today. Repentance and forgiveness give birth to an authentic, loving parent-child relationship-and that’s the type of relationship that Jesus wants to have with us.

 Bibliography

1.      Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible, NKJV (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 1416-1418)

2.      Swindoll, Charles R.: Swindoll’s New Testament Insights on Luke (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan; 2012, pp. 382-389)

3.      ESV Study Bible. Part of Wordsearch 11 Bible software package