The Children of Israel

The Lord Seeks a Personal Relationship

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Rebellion and Renewal

Book of Exodus Chapter 32

Rebellion and Renewal

Book of Exodus Chapter 32

Rebellion is the attempt to have things your way.

We should keep in mind that never before this, had any people been so privileged, as the Children of Israel!

Never before had Jehovah so blessed any people as He did these people.

Remember Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden for far less than what these children of Israel had done!

Jehovah had only been known to them as Elohim, the true God.

His name Jehovah was being much more personal with them.

We should completely understand that our LORD wants a personal relationship.

Even then, they chose to call Him Adonai saying His name was too sacred to pronounce.

We do not have to have so much fear to not call our Lord by His name, but we must not ever take His name in vain!

We must respect Jehovah at all times! He is a Mighty Awesome God!

It should be noticeable that it was Elohim as Jehovah, who made first contact with humanity.

He had watched, only speaking to a few men such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and I believe Job since the time of the flood that covered this entire world.

Remember we hear almost nothing from Noah after the flood.

Now through Moses, Jehovah wanted to speak to all His creation and offer His Testimony.

This nation of Israel had been chosen to be witnesses of God’s testimony to all the other nations in this world.

Their first message was that there was only One True God and He had spoken to them and given His Testimony.

Moses had now in His possession the words that God had written with His own finger.

Exo_31:18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

Deu_9:10 And the LORD delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words, which the LORD spake with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.

It is human nature to rebel when we think we can get away with it!

Even babies will do this.

In fact, the worst of our enemies is our own flesh!

Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

This is not saying our good side is fighting with our bad side. This is saying our flesh is fighting against God’s Holy Spirit who abides in every believer.

We do not have a good side!

Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

So let us see what Jehovah thinks of rebellion.

1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Samuel was speaking to King Saul here in this passage.

We could say God does not like any rebellion against His Words.

Chapter 32 verse 1

*Exo 32:1 And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

We should keep in mind that these people had already agreed to do everything that Jehovah had told them to do.

They had made a Covenant with Jehovah.

But this obedience did not last very long!

Most of the people on this earth do not believe there is a God, and you can add to that, all those that do not believe that God keeps a watchful eye upon us.

It is a fact that Moses had been in contact with Jehovah for forty days continuously and these people had all sort of imaginations about what might have happened to him.

Mount Sinai was a rough old mountain, but these mountains cannot be compared to high mountains.

So, we see these people had no patience and we can see that this was Jehovah’s first test.

We can be sure the Lord will test our sincerity and our faith from time to time!

They may have been anxious to get to the Promised Land, but they would have been slaughtered if they even made it there without God.

So they decided they needed some gods and they had seen the Egyptian make their own gods for centuries.

All a false god had to do was to ride in a wagon in the front and go wherever the driver went and then get the driver to wipe the dust off occasionally.

This is all the power a false god has.

To worship false gods is to have Spiritual ignorance and a willful turning away from the Spiritual knowledge and worship of Jehovah.

A group of these people gathered unto Aaron.

The next Scripture has confounded many people.

*Exo 32:2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
Exo 32:3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

These same people wore earrings because they had seen the Egyptians wear them.

It is a sad thing that if a few people do something stupid and ridiculous, it is not long before many others will do the same thing.

In a sense they wanted to be like the free Egyptians.

Reminds me of our government today who at one time were bound to the Constitution, but who now want to be like the European Union and use those laws. How foolish can we be!

The EU is the most liberal group of nations on the face of the earth and who is foolish enough to be like them, many of our own politicians. Fools.

We have to understand that our hearts are full of sin!

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

What makes them so foolish?

Psalms 36:1 The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.

These Israelites were proud of their gold, but they wanted a false god the more.

There are some who believe that Aaron asked for their gold thinking they would not give it up, but they did willingly.

Exo 3:22 But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.

So what did they do?

*Exo 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

So, silver and gold and idols became the gods of the children of Israel!

The Book of Psalms, the song book of the children of Israel had this song in it:

Psa 106:19 They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.
Psa 106:20 Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
Psa 106:21 They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;
Psa 106:22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.

There can be no doubt that Satan was involved in these things.

We see that Jehovah made them sing about it when they gathered together in the Tabernacle and Temple.

There can be little doubt that this calf was similar to the false god Apis, of the Egyptians.

We know that the Holy Ghost caused Moses to write all these things down because Jehovah does not hide anything from us.

I am sure Moses was ashamed to write these things as instructed.

These things were written for us here today!

Many Christians today want to see a visible God.

It is a fact that I am sure that Jehovah has shown up at many to our services at Gethsemane where I attend.

If you worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, the Lord will show up.

I do not need to see some object that tells me what God would look like!

These people had worshipped the false gods of Egypt.

Jos 24:14 Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

Aaron had been one of those who had worshipped this false god.

We may not know who made the mold in the earth, it does not point out individuals because they were all guilty.

It does point out that Aaron took a graving tool and finished the work when the work of the mold was complete.

In reality we again see a type of Christ!

Just as Moses was away and upon the Mount; so Christ is away from this earth.

Before Christ went away, He told His disciples these words.

Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

The Lord Jesus Christ is to be the only “object” of our faith!

Even after we have studied and seen all the things in the Scriptures including future prophecies, the Lord Jesus Christ says, “let not your heart be troubled”.

In other words, we have no reason to worry about anything!

The Lord Jesus has all this world under His direct control!

He has been gone much more than forty days, but it is not time to make some idol resembling Him to worship.

We do not worship the cross we worship our Lord Jesus who took our place on the cross.
We do not worship the virgin, Mary; we worship her son Jesus as named by Jehovah and whose Father is the Holy Ghost.
We do not worship the Bible, we worship the God of the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ.

These children of Israel had been taught to do the same thing by Moses before he went upon on Mount Sinai and these people should have patiently waited on him just as we are to patiently wait on the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Aaron made another mistake which was even worse.

*Exo 32:5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.
Exo 32:6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

What is the cause of terrible sin?

We have seen that these Children of Israel: They were not patient enough to wait on God.

1) They lost “Faith” in God.
2) They turned away from God.
3) They chose to do things their own way.

They broke the Commandments of God, the same commandments that were explained to them by Moses and that they had agreed were good commandments and they had agreed to follow.

These children of Israel were already on their way to the Promised Land.

They had only stopped at Mount Sinai under direction of the same God, Jehovah who had released them from bondage.

Moses had stopped under the direction of Jehovah because the Pillar of Cloud had stopped at this location and Moses and the elders of Israel could receive the laws that would guide and govern their nation.

It had been nearly six weeks that Moses had gone up onto the Mountain and neither he nor Joshua nor those elders had been heard from though Moses had been with Jehovah all this time.

Again we can see “in type” that is what we are seeing today. The Lord Jesus Christ has not yet returned to take us to the true Promised Land.

What is patience?

1) We can learn patience by studying these Old Testament teachings!

Rom 15:4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Rom 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:
Rom 15:6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2) We can learn patience by keeping our faith.

Jas 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Jas 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
Jas 1:7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

Terrible sin can also be influenced by weak leaders as we see today in our own government.

Aaron was a weak leader who should never have been left in charge!
Aaron did not have enough backbone to stand up for God nor even for his brother Moses.

Terrible sin is believing in false gods!

We can say that none of these things have changed today.

Our world has not gotten any smarter in fact, we could say our world has gotten dumber, still seeking false gods.

Still placing weak leaders in place, leaders that have no fear of Jehovah God.

We do not know why Aaron built an altar, but to build an altar before an idol is a terrible sin.

Aaron had heard his own brother teach the Word of God and he too had agreed to it.

Exo 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying,
Exo 20:2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Exo 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exo 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

It did not take much time for these children of Israel to sink in sin and immorality.

Guess what, God was watching all these things even as He was speaking with Moses.

*Exo 32:7 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
Exo 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

We must clearly understand that Jehovah sees everything that goes on in this world at all times.

You can say that this is impossible, and I will tell you that I serve the God that does impossible things, and His name is Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jehovah is not blind to the things of this world!

Jehovah saw terrible sin and He became angry.

We should also understand that even though Jehovah knows what will take place before it takes place, He still can be angry to show us His feelings.

The purpose of the Bible is to teach us about our Heavenly Father and His Savior!

People need to understand that we cannot hide corruptness!

We cannot hide wickedness!

Our own government thinks we are blind to corruptness, but we are not, nor are we blind to their wickedness!

Jehovah states “they have corrupted themselves”.

Gen 6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
Gen 6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

People think our world has changed, but in reality, nothing really ever changes!

The entire world is corrupt before God today in fact, more corrupt than it has ever been because this world has denied God’s Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.

People are always quick to turn away from the commandments of God because the Word of God exposes their sin in fact, all of our sin.

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

They still think that the Word of God is a book of suggestions and not a book of commandments!

These children of Israel had in fact become children of false worship!

They had bowed themselves before a manufactured piece of metal that resembled a cow.

They were making the statement that salvation and deliverance are manufactured! How foolish.

The only thing this home-made cow could do was shine if someone took the time to keep it clean.

How many times have we seen lost souls go to the altar and be led in the sinner’s prayer and never change their ways?

They say yes to committing to the ways of the Lord Jesus and then, return to their old ways.

How does the Word of God compare this?

Pro 26:11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

We cannot deliver ourselves!
We have no goodness within us!
We cannot reach the Heavenly Father without the Lord Jesus Christ!
We cannot please the Heavenly Father without “Faith” in His Holy Words!

We are certainly fools to sacrifice to manufactured gods!

Jehovah pointed all these things out to Moses because these children of Israel needed a true leader, one who would also be their “Intercessor”.

Again, Moses would become a “type” of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Exo 32:11 And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

Exo 32:14 And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

We must all be “Intercessors” for our family, for our friends, for the lost, and sometimes even for our brothers and sisters in Christ!

*Exo 32:15 And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
Exo 32:16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
Exo 32:17 And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
Exo 32:18 And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

Does Jehovah have the right to be angry with us? You better believe He does!

Anger against sin is justified!
Anger against sin can even be said to be righteous!

Joshua did not know what Jehovah had said and he thought his brothers and sisters of Israel were being attacked, but Moses knowing what Jehovah had said, told him that the noise was not that of war but of singing and partying.

They were indeed dancing and drinking, some intoxicated and even immoral conduct and Moses was indeed angry, so angry that he cast the Word of God to the ground, breaking those tablets.

These are the same tablets that would be placed inside the Ark of the Covenant. The broken laws.

We all have broken the Commandments of God just as these children of Israel!

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

We always see pictures of these two tablets showing the Ten Commandments and that may have been all they contained.

They could not have been exceptionally large for one man to tote them both.

We see in verse fifteen that these tablets were written on both sides and that they were the work of Jehovah in verse sixteen.

What does God teach us about anger?

Eph 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Eph 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.

The Devil will take advantage of our anger if that anger lingers.

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Ecc 7:9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.

Psa 37:8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

Pro 19:11 The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

We need to get rid of our anger as quickly as we can and work toward presenting the truth of a “loving God”!

*Exo 32:19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

These children of Israel had served the false gods of Egypt and the government of Egypt gave them little choice, but we must keep in mind that we always have a choice, and that choice must always be to serve and worship our Creator, the One True God!

The vast majority of these same children of Israel had little or no faith!

Deu 32:19 And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.
Deu 32:20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.

We should understand that just like Moses, our Lord Jesus is going to come down from the mountain and right now if He came, He would see little faith even in His own house and the people would be playing around false gods being full of immorality and wickedness.

Exo 32:6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

We are warned as the Apostle Paul writes to the Church.

1Co 10:7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
1Co 10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
1Co 10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
1Co 10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

The Book of Revelation:

After destroying the two prophets of God who came with God’s message of repentance.

Rev 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

They tormented them with the truth of a Holy God!

If we read our lesson Chapters, then we know that Moses returned to the Mountain to meet Jehovah and again as a type of Christ he returned to the people.

In type we know that our Lord Jesus will return in two stages. First to get His Church and take them home and a second time seven years later He will return in wrath!

And Moses saw the calf.

*Exo 32:20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

What is an idol, something that can be beaten into dust?
Something that be burnt into nothingness!

Deu 9:19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also.
Deu 9:20 And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.
**Deu 9:21 And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, and ground it very small, even until it was as small as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.

What is Jehovah’s commandment to Christians?

1Jn 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
1Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
1Jn 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

Idol worship is sowing to our flesh!

Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Moses then turns to Aaron.

Aaron was allowed to become the High Priest, but he lost two of his sons who also did not listen to the Word of God and Aaron was not allowed into the Promised land.

Our Preachers and Pastors need to take heed. God makes these men responsible for many things of the Church Age!

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Notice who are those held responsible:

Rev 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

Rev 2:8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive;

Rev 2:12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

Rev 2:18 And unto the angel of the church in Thyatira write; These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass;

Rev 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

Rev 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

It was time for these children of Israel to decide if they were on the Lord’s side or not!

This is the same message we have today. When the Holy Spirit comes calling it is our time to decide if we are on the Lord’s side or not!

Amen

Struggling For Freedom

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Struggle for Freedom

Book of Exodus Chapter 5 and 6

It is a worldwide truth that when you hear the word freedom you will find that this world is trying to deny it’s people personal freedom.

We will always have to struggle to keep our freedoms.

There will always be the Bidens the Pelosis, the Clintons, the Obamas, the Irans, the Chinas, the Russias, and the many so-called rulers of this world who want to take away our freedoms.

The Democratic Party does not mind telling us that they know more about how we should live our lives than we do ourselves.

They know more about how to raise our children and it is the same in every liberal governed nation, every communist nation, and every socialist nation in our world today!

We understand there must be laws. God taught us policing in the Book of Genesis.

All laws need to be based upon the infallible Word of God so we will know we have the right laws.

Freedom means being exempt from the power and control of others.
Freedom means being exempt from slavery, servitude, confinement, oppression, and tyranny.

Take a look at our world and see if there are any nations that observe this meaning of freedom and make plans to go there to live.

You may not find one!

It is only Jehovah God who puts forth such freedom!

Laws of domination must be erased from the laws of this world!

God made His creation to be free with a simple obedience to the Word of God, a Theocracy!

Psa 124:7 Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.

So then where does bondage come from?

2Ti 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

It is the Devil who influences government leaders to take away our freedoms and he has succeeded in most all of them if not all!

God demands His people to be free!

God had been dealing with Moses about carrying His message of freedom to a wicked, Satan influenced Pharaoh, and had finally allowed Moses to go and his brother Aaron to be the spokesperson with Moses being as a god to this Pharaoh.

*Exo 5:1 And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

Freedom, liberty, and justice for all, is a theme of our Heavenly Father, yet the world would teach you a lie.

In fact, the United States of America came into existence with the declaration of freedom to live and to worship as we so choose, stating the Lord Jesus Christ by name.

Satan has trained his followers to take away our freedoms!

As we see this battle of the good versus the wicked, we can also see the history of deliverance of the soul by the “Grace” of God.

We must never fear what man can do to us!

Mat 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

We must always demand the right to worship the Lord our God!

We must never back down from this demand!

Even the Lord Jesus said we may one day have to defend this right given to us by our Heavenly Father!

Luk 22:35 And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing.
Luk 22:36 Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
Luk 22:37 For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end.

The Lord Jesus was speaking to His disciples in this passage.

If you love the Lord Jesus enough to accept Him and His ways, you can also be a disciple.

Notice it is disciple and not Apostle.

The message of freedom from sin is much too important than to just cease from it!

There is coming a time of extreme danger for all God’s children, and it already is in many places today!

Many a scholar will say to not take this scripture but I take all the Word of God literally and so should we all.

2Ti 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God”, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

And we are to always defend our families.

1Ti_5:8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, “and is worse than an infidel”.

An infidel is an unbeliever.

We will have a need to provide safety for our families!

This day may not be far off and obviously the Lord will be with us still!

This Pharaoh was a wicked and evil man who thought of his own self as a god, in fact the supreme god of Egypt.

Most of our politicians today have this same god syndrome!

The slaves of God stood before the Taskmasters of Egypt!

You will never find a place in the Bible where God gives total control of humans to Satan!

Lost or saved you belong to Jehovah God.

Those that turn to Satan just do not recognize this truth!

Satan has no power to take possession of the soul!

In this life we get the opportunity to give our flesh to the Lord’s use, or as Paul puts it, we must mortify the deeds of our flesh.

Rom_8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Col_3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

We are foolish not to seek the liberty that the Lord provides!

This Pharaoh was such a fool.

*Exo 5:2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

This Pharaoh begins by rejecting the “Will of God” for His people.

In verse one, it is written “the Lord God of Israel”.

This Pharaoh felt as if Moses and Aaron were just wasting his valuable time.

This Pharaoh felt that he had total and complete control over the lives of all the people of Israel.

I look at the news daily and see a government that wants complete and total control over all its people.

He may have been the most powerful leader that existed at this time in history, but he did not know the power of Jehovah!

Slaves could not and should not make such demands to such a great king as he was. This was his thinking!

The worst sin that can be committed today is to be ignorant of the Lord Jesus Christ!

This sin cannot be forgiven, and God has given us this time called the Church Age to repent and seek the Lord.

Today, no one has a legitimate excuse to not know at least something about the Lord Jesus Christ.

For this Pharaoh, he was ignorant of the “I AM”, Jehovah, but even this Pharaoh had no excuse.

2Pe 3:5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
2Pe 3:6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

All this Pharaoh had to do was open his eyes and see the great creations of our Heavenly Father!

It is the same for all those who do not know the Lord Jesus today!

We should realize that God will punish sin!

We should also realize that such a Creator would have some demands of us!

It is sometimes hard to comprehend the will of God for such men.

1Ti_2:4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

That truth is, we have a loving God rather than a god like this Pharaoh!

Some lessons must be learned the hard way.

*Exo 5:3 And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

Do not you just love the fact that the One True God of Heaven and Earth will stop what He is doing and come down and meet with you.

We should also understand that just because the message of God is forsaken, it does not relieve us of our duty to tell the world of the “Good News” of salvation.

We must remain as Ambassadors for Christ no matter what else is going on in this world!

The message of God is just too important to stop giving it to the lost!

The God of the Hebrew children had to be claimed by them and this Pharaoh must be rejected.

Again the truth comes out, the God of the Hebrews was indeed the God of all His creation, and He has total control of His creation.

Remember a pestilence is a plague as we have seen what this Covid-19 did to this entire planet, and it is not over yet and there will be others.

In fact we may not see the end of these plagues from this day forward.

This is the message Moses gave to this Pharaoh.

Moses said, “Pharaoh, you do not know who you are dealing with”.

Jehovah could also send a mighty army even one more mighty than the army of Pharaoh, which means God controls the thoughts of men and no one can defeat Jehovah God! (The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit)

Pharaoh said, “you are just interfering with the work of my slaves”.

*Exo 5:4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
Exo 5:5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

All those governments who try to stop God’s people from the worship of Him, need to all read these chapters in the Book of Exodus and know that Jehovah does not ever change.

God requires us to worship Him!

Joh_4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

God demands His people be free to worship!

Exo 10:9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD.

1Co 5:7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1Co 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

God expects all other things in our life to stop so we can worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

No matter what this world demands of us, our worship of our Savior must come first.

God demands that we accept His salvation plan, or the alternative is to spend eternity in Hell.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Moses was not interfering with the work that Pharaoh demanded, Moses was obeying God.

We can just imagine how much work 2 million people could do in one day.

We can also imagine just how much the Church could accomplish if each of us would do something for the Lord just once a month.

Pharaoh was a ruthless man but even he worshiped the many gods of Egypt and he considered himself a god, in fact the supreme god of Egypt.

For him to yield to Moses, he would have to acknowledge that the God of the people of Moses to be more powerful than he.

Pharaoh would not allow this to happen, and it cost him his life and his nation.

When a God called messenger brings God’s message, then we had better pay attention as His people and it would be best for the governments of the world to pay attention, it is Jehovah who placed them as leaders of their own nations.

Rom 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

God can replace any leader at any time He chooses.

We may not understand the why of these things, but we can accept it as the truth!

God was not testing Moses, God was evaluating this Pharaoh so when he died, he could only blame himself.

It is the same for every sinner who rejects the truth of God!

We can see that this Pharaoh was not so much concerned about the amount of work they did as he was of just pure punishment.

We can see the hatred he had for God’s people, even though it was Joseph who had once saved Egypt.

*Exo 5:6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
Exo 5:7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
Exo 5:8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

Pharaoh commanded every taskmaster to make it harder for God’s people to meet daily quota’s he had made himself.

Reminds us of government laws made by people who have never worked a day in their entire life.

The taskmasters were Egyptians, but it is probable that these officers were Israelites, and this was intended to cause strife within God’s people.

There is such a thing as demanding the impossible!

This is the tyranny of communist governments and other governments who treat their people as slaves such as China, but there are others.

None of us can work beyond our capabilities for awfully long!

Many of this new nation of Israel would have stayed in Egypt content, if not for these taskmasters and this Pharaoh treating them so badly.

Because the people complained, the work each of them had to do increased.

Here we can see a trait of Satan that has held true from the beginning.

Satan will do his worst when he is about to be removed from his control.

Rev 12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, “because he knoweth that he hath but a short time”.

When Satan senses a soul about to be saved, he will put forth greater effort to stop this.

Satan did not like the idea of Israel returning to the Lord!

We can also see these things as scenes from the rule of the Antichrist!

I can just hear him now saying:

*Exo 5:9 Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

The Word of God is not vain words!

Pharaoh had blamed Moses and Aaron for a work slowdown, but we do not know if this really happened.

We know Moses had spoken to the elders. Pharaoh was merciless but crafty, a true politician. A true demoncrat.

He did not care what his new orders would cost.

We especially see this later on when his nation is about destroyed, but he still refused the request of God through Moses.

Those that hate the Lord can say that the Word of God is vain, but they are just ignoring the truth and the truth will always be the truth.

The truth cannot be changed to some new truth as the world is trying to accomplish.

Zec 1:5 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?
Zec 1:6 But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.

God keeps track of those who love Him and those who do not!

Mal 3:14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?
Mal 3:15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
Mal 3:16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.

Pharaoh was digging him a hole too deep for him to climb out of.

*Exo 6:1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

Moses had some harsh words for God, but God was not intimidated by this Pharaoh, if fact if God was doing anything He was laughing at Him!

Psa_2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Psa 2:5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

We must understand Jehovah God knows what He is doing all the time!

Nothing takes God by surprise! God never second guesses Himself!

Moses was rejected again, but it would not last exceedingly long.

This Pharaoh was about to meet the true God!

We must understand that when we are hurt and broken the first place we should go is to the Lord!

We just do not spend enough time in prayer!

God just said to Moses, just watch now and see what happens to this wicked ruler.

As Christians, we have already been delivered, we have not been picked up yet, but our status will never change!

We are the “Redeemed” of the Lord!

This Pharaoh was going to release God’s people, it was just a matter of days, they were the delivered of the Lord.

2Ti 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

God told Moses that there is only One LORD. One Yahweh, One Jehovah, One Lord Jesus Christ!

No doubt Moses knew of Abraham and may even have known about the promises made to him.

Remember Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. The Holy Spirit was giving Moses a lot of information.

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Moses was a man of God!

God speaks again to Moses.

*Exo 6:2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
Exo 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.

We should understand that God cares for His people.

1Pe 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
1Pe 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

There is a relationship, a connection between God and man whom He created.

It exists, it is vital, and it is necessary on our part, and the Lord wants it to be this way.

God does not have this same relationship with the animal world!

Humanity is in fact created in the image of God though it does not mean the way we look.

God is in fact a Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Man has a body, a soul, and a spirit.

Add to this the heart, a conscience, a mind, and a will and we will see these things describe Jehovah all through the Bible.

The Bible teaches us that of all the creations of God it is the soul of man that He places the greatest value.

When God said, “I AM”, He is stating that He lives in that time period of eternity where time does not exist and it is the soul of man that was also created to exist in this timeless eternity.

Psa 102:12 But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations

All these things and more for us to realize our relationship with our Heavenly Father and expand upon it!

Psa 102:17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
Psa 102:18 This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the LORD.
Psa 102:19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;
Psa 102:20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
Psa 102:21 To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem;
Psa 102:22 When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.

As human we have a conflict with sin!

As Jehovah, the Lord is the answer to this sin problem because He has the answers to all human problems for those who love Him!

Jehovah is a covenant keeping God!

*Exo 6:4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
Exo 6:5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.

The covenant with Abraham promised this nation of Israel, the descendants of the 12 sons of Jacob, a promised land.

We should understand that all the covenants of the Old testament will culminate with the Millennial Rule of King Jesus.

The Abrahamic Covenant is where God began to deal with a special people who had specific purposes!

They had a promised land.
They had a promised Messiah.
They were to preserve the Word of God throughout all the ages.
There would be Spiritual Blessings that would involve Forgiveness.

The Old Testament is the Book where God deals with Israel to bring her to the place of blessing that occurs during the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ!

Israel is still the agent for God to bless the nations of this world!

God is Holy and all that enter into fellowship with Him must also be Holy!

This new nation of Israel was about to begin their pilgrimage from Egypt at this time that God heard their groaning.

We should understand that Jehovah hates all slavery and all bondage.

As Christians we get to see how all these things unfold and see how our Faithful God keeps His Word at all times.

We get to understand how He deals with people because He never changes.

God shares His compassion with those who love Him, whether they be Jew or Gentile.

God will care for you just as He cared for Moses.

No matter our pains and sorrows, No matter how crushed or broken, No matter how desperate we become, God is concerned for us and willing to help if we call upon Him with a sincere heart.

God has redeemed all those who have given their lives to Jesus Christ.
God will deliver all His people just as He has promised!

2Ti 4:18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Psa 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

God said: “just be my messenger Moses”.

*Exo 6:6 Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:
Exo 6:7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

The “I AM” God is now the “I Will” God.

God gets up close and personal. Why? Because Jehovah does not trust our deliverance to others. He will deliver us Himself!

This is why He poured Himself into a body of flesh.

Php 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Php 2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
Php 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Sure God could have ordered His angels to take care of all these things and they would have, but the Lord likes to be personal with those who love Him!

It is things like this that are encouraging when we realize just how much He loves us!

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

We would not have known any of these things if this new nation of Israel had not preserved the Word of God for us!

God deals in facts!
God deals in the truth!

We do not see much truth in our world today and not even from our own leaders.

God says: I will bring you out from under your burdens.
I will rid you of bondage.
I will redeem you with my great power.

God says I will make you, my people. This is adoption.
God says I will be your God so that you will know that He is the LORD, the Deliverer.
God says: I will bring you to the land I promised to your father Abraham! This is my guarantee to you!

*Exo 6:8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.

The fact of the matter is that the Lord is able to do all the things He has said He would do!

Eph_3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Php_3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Jud_1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

God is going to lead His people to the Promised Land and there is nothing this world can do about it, but to die trying to stop Him!

This promise was made to the Children of Israel.

There is also the promise that is made to the Church and the Lord begins by saying do not worry about it.

Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
Joh 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Joh 14:4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

These are promises that will not and cannot be broken.

We must remember, God did not deliver these Children of Israel because they were believers or because they were worthy nor because they were in bondage. Jehovah delivered Israel because He made a promise to Abraham, and He swore an oath to him.

*Exo 6:9 And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.

These people had become so burdened down with the life they now had they neglected the message of Moses no matter from whom it came.

They looked upon Pharaoh as just too powerful for anyone to overcome.

Many look at Satan, the same way today!

Many feel like, they are just too deep in sin to be forgiven.

Or they have become addicted to the sins of this world, but they believe they can overcome them themselves.

The idea of being set completely free was just too far-fetched for them.

They did not even know what being made free really encompassed!

They were so tired at the end of the day; they did not want to hear any words at all and they certainly did not want to take a chance on things being made worse.

It was now time for God to shake the timbers of Egypt and prove His power and it did not take much if you come to think about it.

It is the simple things we take for granted that God will use many times.

God did the same thing when the world refused to listen to the truth.

He just sent the Lord Jesus Christ to defeat Satan.

2Co_4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Joh 12:30 Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
Joh 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

Joh 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
Joh 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.

Joh 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Joh 16:9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
Joh 16:10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
Joh 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

The Lord Jesus Christ defeated Satan on the cross and Jehovah would take a mere man named Moses and show Pharaoh the truth of the true God!

Amen