Exodus (Lesson 75)

Welcome to the Preaching the Cross Radio Podcast, featuring the radio ministry of Pastor James W.

Knox of the Bible Baptist Church of Delane, Florida.

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Now here's your host, Pastor James W.

Knox.

I'm Brother James, and I greet you as always in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

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I greet you.

I greet you in the name of our Lord, think about it, and Savior, Jesus Christ.

He's both.

He's both.

He always has been.

He is the Lord, and he is the Savior.

And he's the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.

No other God could do that.

There is no other God.

No other God would do that.

There is no other God.

The only way to have your sin taken away, and all have sinned, everybody's a sinner, is through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ offered willingly as a sacrifice on the cross at Calvary.

Now we've been studying the Bible book of Exodus, and we got all the way through its last, its 40th chapter on the previous broadcast.

And what we're going to do today, and I don't know if we can do this all in one day or how many days it's going to take us, but we're just going to go back and pick up some random ideas here and there, some little thoughts from the book of Exodus that we did not cover as we made our way through.

We wanted to keep the narrative and keep the study flowing and not get sidetracked too very often.

And so today we're going to start and look at these little um just little bits and pieces here and there from the book of Exodus.

Let's talk for a few minutes about the religion of Egypt.

The religion of Egypt.

God brought his people out of Egypt and then warned them again and again not to go back there.

Why is that?

Well, the religion of Egypt was completely idolatrous.

The form which this idolatry took went through many phases.

In early days there were local deities, and these formed the basis of a complex network of myths and legends which developed over the centuries.

New gods were added as the system became more sophisticated.

Animals and insects were often deified.

The worship of the sun and the worship of the god who brought the annual flood to the river Nile, together with other deities, flourished.

In the closing years of the New Kingdom, foreign deities such as Baal and Ashtarath were introduced.

The pyramids and tombs proved that Egypt had a keen sense of life after death.

The great effort and expense which went into the preparation of the burial chambers which would be sealed, never again to be seen, is evidence of the importance which they placed on the afterlife.

The pyramids were, in effect, intended to be a court which would function after death.

Thus food was left, furniture was installed, and gold and precious artifacts were sealed in with the dead.

In some of the early tombs, the retainers of the monarch appeared to be buried in tombs surrounding that of the Pharaoh.

It's not known whether these courtiers and retainers were put to death when the monarch died, or whether the bodies of others who had died at the same time as the king were placed there to form such a court.

What is clear is the belief that life continued after death.

The priesthood centered on ON, ON, in the north, asserted that Ra, R.

A, the sun god, crossed the skies each day in a boat, and that at night the moon and the stars embarked on the same journey.

The problem of what happened to the sun during the night was overcome by teaching that it passed through the underworld, the debt.

Similarly, the stars undertook that journey during the day.

Others taught that the goddess Nut, N-U-T, consumed the sun each evening and gave birth to it again each morning.

Then there was Osiris, O-S-I-R-I-S, who was probably a petty king with only local authority, predating the mythical Menes, M-E-N-E-S.

But he was gradually deified and became the head of another cult.

Other gods were brought into this family.

Osiris was believed to be the son of the earth god Geb and the goddess Nut.

He held sway over the earth, but was murdered by his brother Seth.

The wife of Osiris, Isis by name, I-S-I-S, brought her husband's body back to Egypt, where she gave birth to her son Horus.

Later in the narrative, Horus sought to avenge his father's death, and in the struggle with Seth lost an eye.

Nevertheless, he was victorious and had his eye resorted to or restored by the god Toth, T-H-O-T-H.

So Seth represents all that is evil, and Horus represents what is good.

And he, Horus, is pictured as having the body of a man and the head of a falcon.

If you're just joining us, this is the preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast.

We are taking some time to consider the religion of Egypt as we wrap up our study on Exodus, so you didn't turn into a pagan radio station thinking you were getting a Christian radio station.

All right, throughout the turmoil of our history, the land of Egypt has been continually dependent on the river Nile.

In summer, much rain falls on the Great Lakes situated in the highlands of Ethiopia.

These rains, together with the water from the melting snows, flow into the Nile, which rapidly rises and floods.

This took place each year in the month of June, and the river could rise about twenty two, twenty-three, twenty-four feet in the south, and sixteen, seventeen, eighteen feet in the north around the area where Cairo is now situated.

The water then was about twenty times the usual volume.

The Nile flood was the most important part of the year for the Egyptians.

It marked the beginning of their calendar year.

In September the waters abated and it was possible to sow in the wet soil.

After about four months, harvest could be taken, and then until the floods returned, the ground lay fallow.

The higher the flood, the greater the potential harvest.

Clearly, during the seven fat years when Joseph gathered the harvest into storehouses, the river rose to great heights.

But in the lean years, the flood failed to rise to a height that guaranteed a useful harvest.

Now today the annual rise and fall of the river has been controlled by reservoirs so that regular irrigation of the land is possible.

Apart from the effect on the harvest, the river water filtered into the soil and replenished the water table.

As a result, there was an abundance of deep wells round which houses could be placed and trees grown.

Such were the benefits which came from this river that the Egyptians called the god of the flood happy, H A P Y, who is represented as a bearded man with a female body and a large abdomen to portray the fertility and generous bounty which came from the river.

Now do you understand when the people, after 430 years of living in this mess?

Do you understand why the first thing God said to them is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me?

Other gods are Bez, who protected from evil, Kunum, who gave life and created the first man on a potter's wheel, Toth, already named in connection with Horus, who was lord of magic, knowledge, and wisdom, Hathor, the mother of Horus, the goddess of love, seduction, and music.

But the religious life of the nation at times went through periods of turmoil.

During the reign of Achen Aten, or Amenophys IV, there took place a religious revolution.

Hard to uncover the details, but evidence available indicates that the ascension to the throne of this monarch led to the establishment of the worship of Aten, a sun god, as the supreme deity.

A new capital city, planned and designed by this uh monarch, was built further south.

He named it after himself, and his name means horizon of the Aten.

Akhetan.

To this city there came the rich and others who were promoted by the king to position of power.

The impression is left of a divided nation.

For after the death of this monarch, the new capital was abandoned, and the worship of the old deities resumed with vigor, as the priestly caste reasserted its authority.

For archaeologists, the abandoned capital has become a rich source of artifacts, throwing life into daily life of that time, or light on the daily life of that time.

Religion and state were closely linked.

Each pharaoh acquired divinity at the coronation ceremony.

He became one of the favorite who joined the divine world at this time, and after death he acquired full deity.

And so you see where that uh that false idea entered the early church that Jesus Christ was a man who became God or deity rested upon him.

It has its roots in many of the pagan systems.

The Egyptian religious system kept the people in bondage and darkness.

The priests held great power, being viewed as guardians of the mysteries which were not open to the laity.

Again, again, sad to see so much Egyptian false religion under the guise or name of Christianity.

And so it is.

Moses' birth until the flight to Midian, forty years.

From the flight to Midian until the return to Egypt, forty years.

From the return to Egypt until the Exodus, one year.

From the Exodus until the tabernacle is erected, one year.

So eighty-three years from Exodus one through Exodus chapter forty.

The year which commenced with the Exodus and ended with the rearing of the tabernacle was one of great activity in Egypt.

The stated dates in Exodus are Passover, chapter 12, first year, first month, 14th day.

Arrival at the wilderness of Sin, Chapter 16, first year, second month, 15th day, so 31 days later.

Arrival at the wilderness of Sinai, Chapter 19, first year, third month, first day.

And then the tabernacle set up, chapter 40, second year, first month, first day.

The root of the Exodus is set forth in the book of Exodus.

It's pretty clear.

Not hard to pick this up at all.

Stage one, according to Exodus 12, verse 37, they traveled from Ramses to Sukkoth.

Exodus 12:37

Six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, left Egypt by this route.

Second stage, Exodus 13, verse 20, was from Sukkoth to Etham.

Exodus 13:20

The Lord went before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to show them the way.

Thanks be to God for his guidance.

Stage 3, Exodus 14 2, they turned and encamped before Pi He Hieroth, between Migdal and the sea over against Baal Zephon.

We read that Exodus 14 2.

They turned to encamp beside the sea.

Pharaoh sees this as an opportunity to recapture them, as they'll be trapped between his armies and the Red Sea.

The people are fearful, they complained.

And God moved between the Israelites and the Egyptians, providing defense for his people, and then he led them across the Red Sea as on dry land.

Stage 4, Exodus 15, verse 22.

Exodus 15:22

This is from the Red Sea into the wilderness of Shur to Merah.

You remember?

They went three days and found no water.

When they did find water at Merah, it was bitter, and the water was made sweet by a tree being placed in it.

We talked about how lives are bitter and days are dry until Jesus Christ, hanging on that tree, is cast into the midst of our lives, and what a difference, what a difference.

Come unto me, you'll never thirst again, said our blessed Lord.

Stage five, Exodus 15, 27, from Merah to Elam.

At Elam they found plenty of water.

Stage 6, chapter 16, verse 1, from Elam to the wilderness of sin.

There they complained that they didn't have sufficient food.

And God began to give them the manna.

Stage 7, Exodus 17:1, from the wilderness of sin to Rephanim.

Exodus 17:1

Once again, a lack of water, leading to further complaints.

And at this stage the rock was smitten and living water flowed out.

A picture of Jesus Christ taking up residence in the thirsty life of an unbeliever and providing them with rivers of living water, according to the Lord Himself.

And then stage 8, Exodus 19:1, from Rephidim into the wilderness of Sinai, and here the law was given, and the tabernacle was reared.

Exodus 19:1

Now, how many, how many people took part in this Exodus?

According to chapter 12, verse 37, the number of adult males who left Egypt was about 600,000.

This is confirmed in chapter 38, verse 26.

More exact figure: 603,550 men over the age of 20.

Now the total number of males of all ages is not given, so only an estimate's possible, but easily between one and one point one million males.

And so we can assume safely the total, including men, women, and children, had to be two million or more.

Now the liberals who don't don't don't uh like the Bible for any other reason than they like to tear it apart or criticize it, argue that this is excessive because such a great number would strike fear into an enemy, and nobody would attack a nation of that size.

But this reasoning ignores the size and power of the enemies of Israel, and it doesn't take into account that the people led by Moses were freed slaves, regarded as homeless wanderers.

They had no history of military prowess, they were untried in battle, and their life in Egypt suggested they were not given to struggle and resistance.

Other people object and say, well, you couldn't feed that many people in the wilderness.

But wilderness doesn't mean dirt and rocks and nothing else.

Just it's undeveloped land.

And as we've talked about all that before, they certainly had enough wood for their fires, so their trees burn in there, and they brought all their livestock out with them.

There had to be enough grass for all the uh sheep and goats and so forth to eat.

So uh it's uh it's all pretty self-explanatory if you just want to believe the Bible.

Now, chapter one.

The scene is set.

Exodus begins with the children of Israel serving Pharaoh as slaves.

It ends with them serving the Lord as a redeemed people.

At the beginning of the book, they are building treasure houses of Egypt.

But after they've been redeemed through the blood of the Lamb, they build a house for God in the wilderness.

They travel from the house of bondage, chapter 13, verse 3, to the house of the Lord their God, chapter 23, verse 19.

They go from groaning under the whip to worship, they go from sighing to singing under the gracious guidance of the Lord.

What a wonderful, wonderful thing it is that God should redeem, that God should deliver, that God should keep his promises.

What do you mean, keep his promises?

Well, Genesis 12 2, he said to Abraham, I will make of thee a great nation.

12 7, unto thy seed will I give this land.

Genesis 15 7.

And I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit it.

CHAPTER fifteen verses thirteen and fourteen.

Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger to land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years, and also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge.

And afterwards shall they come out with great substance.

CHAPTER seventeen, verse eight, and I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession.

twenty two seventeen.

God promised Abraham he would give that land of Canaan to his children, that they would spend time as slaves in Egypt, but that he would bring them out, and he did.

And he did.

Hallelujah.

What a God.

He keeps his promises.

If he said something you can count on it, it may take longer than you thought it would for him to bring the fulfillment to pass, but he will.

But he will.

Now, during the time that Pharaoh was oppressing the people, we read about that in chapter number one, the cruelty of these taskmasters and the hard rigor and labor to which they were subjected.

Despite all this, the Israelites continued in Egypt to increase in number.

This is emphasized seven times in Exodus.

They were fruitful.

Now listen, this is chapter 1, verse 7.

Isaiah 1:7

They were fruitful, they increased abundantly, they multiplied, they waxed exceeding mighty.

The land was filled with them.

Chapter 12, they multiplied and grew.

Chapter 20, they multiplied and waxed very mighty.

Nothing could stop them.

Doesn't mean there won't be people against us.

It doesn't mean there won't be troubles and trials and opposition and hardship and persecution and bondage and martyrdom and all the things that God's people have suffered down through the years, and yet, and yet, through it all, God's Old Testament people, Israel, not only preserved but thrived.

Through it all, God's New Testament people, the church, not only survived, but have grown and spread and carried the good news to all the world.

In chapter two, Moses, you remember, putting that little ark of bulrushes and set afloat there in the waters and found by his sister.

It's all very remarkable to see God ruling in all this.

It's already been observed in connection with the use of the Nile River, but the use of the family of Pharaoh is another example.

This family that was responsible for the attempt to destroy the Israelites becomes the same family used of God for their deliverance.

Over all the plans and schemes of men, over all the subtle, crafty dealings of the devil, God sits supreme.

He will raise up, and he will cast down whom he will to fulfill his purposes.

Do you know him?

Are you trusting him?

There's no one else worth trusting.

Only God can keep all of his promises, and he will keep all his promises.

Now, in just the two or three minutes that we have left, and I'm glad, well, let me say this right.

I'm not glad we've only got two or three minutes left.

I wish we'd go all day long.

But who could afford that?

We sure couldn't.

Airtime uh costs a lot.

But uh I'm glad we've only got a few minutes to touch on this.

Pharaoh's hardened heart.

You know, ever since the first Calvinist misread the material regarding Pharaoh in the book of Romans, Calvinists appointed to Pharaoh as proof that God, to show how wonderful he is, made some people for the express purpose of letting them burn in the lake of fire forever without ever having any hope or opportunity of salvation.

And the Calvinist points to Pharaoh and says, See, God hardened Pharaoh's heart.

He didn't have a choice.

Now, I'm gonna give you a list of the places in Scripture where God hardened Pharaoh's heart.

You ready?

Exodus 4 21, Exodus 7 3, Exodus 7.13, Exodus 9.12, Exodus 10 1, Exodus 10.20, Exodus 10 27, Exodus 11 10, Exodus 14, 4, Exodus 14, 8, to which the Calvinist replies, see, see, he didn't have a choice.

See, God made his heart hard and there was nothing he could do.

Alright, now, now, suppose the Bible says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

How about that?

Well, it doesn't say that.

It says Exodus 7 14, Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Exodus 7 22, Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Exodus 8.15, Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Exodus 8 19, Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Exodus 8 32, Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Exodus 9 7, Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Exodus 9 34, Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Exodus 9 35, Pharaoh hardened his heart.

The good seed of the Word of God is not to be blamed if it falls upon stony ground.

You say, Well, I don't have any choice.

The ground of my heart, God made it stony.

Yes, and that same God commanded you to break up the fallow ground.

That's what he said.

Break up the fallow ground.

So it is true that God hardened Pharaoh's heart.

And it is true that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

And it matters not how you argue.

Who is the more responsible, who bears the greatest responsibility for Pharaoh's condition?

The truth of the matter is the man did not repent of his idolatry, of his paganism, of his opposition to the true and living God.

And for that cause, for that cause, he died, he died.

In a wretched and lost condition.

Don't blame God.

Don't blame God.

Oh no.

Oh no.

God is righteous.

God is just.

All right, this is the Preaching of the Cross radio broadcast.

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I can't even, I don't even have time to tell you where to write.

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I've got time to tell you that.

JamesNokx.com.

The address.

Maybe somebody come on as soon as we're gone and give that to you.

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Until then, I'm Brother James.

May the Lord richly bless you, and good day.

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Until next time and throughout eternity, may Jesus Christ be praised.