Ep. 26. Exodus 5-6 | Persecution and Promise
EPISODE 26
PERSECUTION AND PROMISE: EXODUS 5,6
Moses came to the people with the promise of deliverance and signs from God. For a brief moment, the people believed. That is, until things got difficult. I've often said you can tell what people really believe about God when they get stage four cancer (or substitute some other tragedy). I've watched people get the diagnosis and shake their fists at heaven, cursing the name of God on their way out the door of the church. I've watched other people get the exact diagnosis and embrace the hope they have in Christ, drawing nearer to Jesus with every day they drew nearer to death. It is easy to "believe" when everything is going our way, but when we introduce suffering, our true belief is revealed.
Israel believed Moses' message for a moment, but then Pharaoh laid heavier burdens on them, and they responded with grief and overwhelming sorrow. The Hebrews were promised freedom, and all of their attention was on the cruelty of their slave masters. And when the leaders of the people bump into Moses (their deliverer), what words do they have for him, "the LORD look on you and judge because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants and have put a sword in their hand to kill us." They can not hear of the deliverance God was bringing about "because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery." These same doubters will rejoice as they exit Egypt in a matter of weeks but want to return to Egypt as slaves the moment things don't go the way they hoped.
Spiritually speaking, we who have faith in Christ have been set free from slavery as well. "Our old self was crucified with him so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin." And "Thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness." Sin is no longer our master, but too often, like the Israelites, we focus on the oppression of our sin rather than the deliverance of God. I hear people say all the time, "I'm just a sinner saved by grace." That would be like the Hebrews living in the Promised Land saying, "I'm just a slave of Egypt living in a new land." What a discouraging perspective. Rather, the Scripture calls us saints and holy ones. We are forgiven, loved, and righteous. Sometimes, our sin seems so oppressive we find it nearly impossible to see the deliverance we've received. But now I'm preaching and not writing a blog as I'm supposed to do, so I'll save the rest of my thoughts for a sermon one day.
ADDITIONAL READING: ROMANS 6
