When Exodus
starts there is a “new king of Egypt”
(Exodus 1:8) who did not know about Joseph.
He is
worried that “children of Israel
are more and mightier than” he is (Exodus 1:9). He plots many ways to fix the
problem. We then step into the story of
the birth of Moses, his growing to adulthood (Exodus 2:11), now age 40 he kills
an Egyptian and flees to Midian for 40 more years. This Egyptian King dies
while Moses is gone and a new one comes to the throne. (Exodus 2:23)
This one
would have been “raised in the same court” with Moses. Therefore, the purpose God had Moses spend
his first 40 years a “prince” of Egypt because as a nomad, Moses would
have had trouble getting “audiences” before the king but not as a prince.
Then we
FINALLY get to the last half of verse 23:
“…Israel…cried,
and their cry came up unto God…”
THEY JUST NOW CRIED OUT TO GOD!
God Never
Left……..the People Did! Do we wonder how
much sooner they could have left Egypt if they had only asked?
Scholars
have all written of the “years of God’s silence” while the Jews were in bondage
in Egypt. Their mistake, it was “years of silence by
the children of Abraham”.
One other
side note in the story….that is often “MISSED”
When this
Pharaoh decides to give chase to Moses…Exodus 14:7 says Pharaoh took 600
“chosen chariots”. These chariots were
the ELITE vehicles in the army. They
were inspected for all faults!
That adds
more flavor to verses 24 and 25 when the “Lord….took off the chariot wheels…”
in the middle of the sea.
Then there
is the fact that World Historians have had trouble pin-pointing the story of
the Exodus because they cannot prove which “Pharaoh Ramses” was the king during
the Exodus. The records for those years are all “jumbled” as thought some MAJOR
catastrophe happened! DUH! Three
Pharaoh’s died during the first 80 years of lifespan of Moses (remember the
heir to the throne also died in the plaques). This Pharaoh (unlike what Hollywood depicts) died
in the river at the HEAD of His army. He was…
“Washed
from History”….. Imagine the “recovery period” for Egypt. Economically, environmentally and militarily
alone would take decades to recover. All
caused by the plaques and the total annihilation of their army in the river.
Egypt would once again provide sanctuary
for the seed of Abraham when Joseph would flee there with Mary and their
child. Egypt also has the promise of a
significant part in God’s plans for the children of Abraham in the Last Days.
The Pharaoh
in chapter 1:8 was worried about the eventual downfall of his empire from the
Jews taking sides with an eventual enemy.
If he had lived long enough he would have seen the death of the next 2
generations caused by his own throne.
Silence of Israel
For 40
years the Children of Abraham would wander until they could get their lives in
servitude to God.
They would
eventually get into Canaan and go through
years of ups and downs always forgetting God. They did not listen when they had
Moses. They did not listen when he sent
Judges one after another to “bail out” the children of Abraham. Then through the generations of Kings and
their guilty pleasures, they would not listen and time came for the Prophets.
That did
not work so, God allowed them to go back to “Egyptian Bondage” that they wanted
so badly. Five more empires over the
generations to come would chastise (oh, I love that word) them.
Assyrians, Babylonians,
Medo-Persians, Greece and
the Roman Empire all would take them captive.
Every time, ONCE the children would “cry out” for HELP, their Father would
rescue them!
The last
time he did….God sent HIS Son! What did
they do? They killed him…….
Now enters
the Gentiles, now enter the “Church”, now enters “Christianity”……
Silence of Christianity
The Jews
turned their backs too many times and the door opened to the rest of the
world. Scripture from beginning to end
is still about His plan for the Children of Abraham. However, the Church and Christianity have now
been added to the script that is playing out before our eyes.
The Church
and Christianity that came into existence upon the message that Jesus preached.
They have had 2000 years to do what the Jews did not. Has it been done?
Christians might be eagerly awaiting the return of Christ but what are they
doing in the meantime? The best effort
they can generate usually comes on Sunday mornings. As long as it occurs early enough on Sunday
to be done before the sports kick-off at noon.
And the preacher does a good job on the sermon; they have succeeded in
doing their requirement for the week. Out the door on Sunday, turn on the
electronics and get caught up on what was missed during the hour in church!
How is that
any different than what has gone on for the past 6000 years? How is this any
different than the Children of Abraham in Egypt
or in Canaan?
Silence from the Church and
Christians. TOO BUSY FOR GOD.
WHERE IS THE DESIRE TO SPEND EVERY
BREATHING MINUTE WITH THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE?
