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[0:00] Good morning, everybody. Starting the book of Exodus today. Turn your Bibles to Exodus chapter 1. You know, whenever we start a new book, I'm always a little nervous, because I think, I like when we're diving in it, just going verse by verse.

[0:13] But you think, okay, the intro, and what's happening, am I going to miss some major thing? You know, you do the book of Genesis, and you forget to tell people it's about creation, or you do Exodus, and you forget to tell them it's about God's people leaving, being delivered.

[0:26] But I'm excited. I'm excited. I've enjoyed going through this first chapter and just kind of looking ahead to see what's coming. So the title for today is Exodus, God's Promise Equals God's Deliverance.

[0:38] God's Promise Equals God's Deliverance. The word Exodus is just a Greek word, and if you can imagine what it might mean, it means exit, or departure, or going out.

[0:52] And that's what we're going to see here, that God's promise, the promise he gave Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, that promise will equal God's deliverance. Remember in Genesis 46, as Jacob was heading down into Egypt, God said to him, hey, don't be afraid to go down.

[1:10] I'm going to take you down, and I'm going to bring you up again. He said back to Abraham way back in Genesis 15. That was like years ago when we were in Genesis 15. He said, I'm going to make of you a great nation, and your people will serve in a land, a foreign land.

[1:26] And there they will be afflicted 400 years, but they shall come out again with great substance. I'm going to take them down, and I'm going to bring them up. God's promise equals God's deliverance. And then the theme verse kind of for Exodus, the whole book, is Exodus 6.6, where Moses is hearing from the Lord after the people have kind of rejected him, and the pharaohs put even heavier burdens on them.

[1:52] And the Lord says, 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 judgment.

[2:04] That's what we're going to see as we go through this book. God is saying, I will do this. Isaiah 43.11 and the beginning of 12 says, I, even I am the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior.

[2:16] I have declared and have saved. God's promise is God's deliverance. There are a couple other facts here. So there are 70 people we're going to see as we go in the beginning of Exodus here.

[2:29] Verse 5 tells us 70 people went down into Egypt. And we know that from the end of Genesis as well. By the time they come out, you have 600,000 men above the age of 20. So that makes 2 to 3 million people possibly between those under 20, and then women and children.

[2:46] During this time, when Israel is in Egypt, Egypt becomes a world superpower. Now, we just went through the end of Genesis. How did Egypt become a world superpower? They had all the food.

[2:58] Every nation is coming to them to buy food. They become this dominant, dominant force. And over the time that Israel is there in these hundreds of years, it continues to happen. God will in one night, once we eventually get to it, after looking at the 10 plagues, he will in one night deliver Israel out of Egypt.

[3:16] But it will take him 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel. The story of Moses begins in the book of Exodus. Moses is one-seventh of the entire Bible, is the story of Moses.

[3:30] That's two-thirds as large as the New Testament. Moses is a pretty important figure. Moses, as the deliverer, is also a type of Christ. We're going to see God's commission of Moses, the 10 plagues, the beginning of Passover, the opening of the Red Sea, the Ten Commandments, and then the instructions for the tabernacle as Exodus begins in gloom but ends in glory.

[3:57] So if you remember in chapter 20, I'm sorry, chapter 50, as we ended Genesis, in verse 24, Joseph said to his brethren, he says, Man, behold, I die.

[4:09] And God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land, unto the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. God is going to deliver you. It's been years since then.

[4:20] Hundreds of years between the end of Genesis, you flip this page, Genesis to Exodus, many have come and gone. Many have lived and died and have children, and they're living in Egypt.

[4:32] They're going to the supermarkets in Egypt, the children of Israel. They're going to their schools. They're participating in their Egyptian sports, you know, crocodile hunting. They're living there, and they're thriving.

[4:47] And so is Egypt as well. But there's a funny thing about deliverance. You don't need it. You don't need a deliverer unless you need deliverance. I'm sorry. You only need a deliverer if you first need deliverance.

[5:01] Only those in need of deliverance will need a deliverer. Israel doesn't need to be delivered when things are great, and things are going amazing, and then all of a sudden, things begin to change.

[5:13] Jesus says in Luke chapter 5, he's answering the Pharisees back who think that they are, they don't need any help. And he says, they that are whole do not need a physician, but they that are sick. Tell everybody that during COVID.

[5:25] I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. Only those in need of deliverance need a deliverer, right?

[5:36] Jesus said, you all need a deliverer, but only those who know it and are willing to receive it and come to me because of it will come to the deliverer. Let's jump into verse 1.

[5:50] And now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt. Every man in his household came with Jacob. And he's going to rehearse his sons. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

[6:06] And all the sons that came out of the loins of Jacob were 70 souls, for Joseph was already in Egypt. And so here you see Israel came into Egypt exactly according to God's word.

[6:17] God said, they're going to go down into Egypt. Well, guess what? They're going to leave by the exact same means. They're going to leave Egypt according to God's word. As we go into Exodus, we have a number of typologies to remember as we continue to go through it.

[6:30] The three main ones are Egypt is a type of the world. The world. You always go up to Jerusalem. You always go down to Egypt. Nobody goes up to Egypt. You always go down into Egypt.

[6:41] Egypt is a type of the world. Pharaoh is a type of what? The ruler of the world. Who's the prince in the power of this world? Satan, of our enemy. The enemy of our souls. And Hebrew means, if you remember from Genesis, it means one from beyond.

[6:56] That it's just a naming. They're not of us. They're not like us. They're from beyond, those Hebrews. And Joseph died in verse 6.

[7:06] And all his brethren and all that generation. If you remember, we looked at when we looked at some of the proof of was Israel in Egypt? And we'll be looking at more of that as we continue through Exodus. We saw how there was that one Egyptian historian from like 500 BC who claimed that after Joseph, Benjamin was made the Salit, the ruler of Egypt at that time.

[7:27] Which makes sense. If all of Egypt thinks that Joseph just saved them from this famine and then he dies and you look at the rest of his brothers, you're going to take Benjamin. But here we have all the generation is forgotten.

[7:39] Now does that just mean they don't remember? Like, Joseph, Joseph. Joseph who? Who was this Joseph guy? Israel, despite their assimilation into the Egyptian culture, still maintained their nationality.

[7:52] They are still known as Hebrews. Hebrews, as much as we may try to fit in with the world, as much as we may hope the world accepts us, they never will. We're still Hebrews. We're still those from beyond.

[8:05] So it wasn't that they just completely forgot about Joseph. I think it's kind of how we see in Romans. Where's that verse? Where God talks in Romans chapter 1 where he says that though they knew God, they chose not to worship him as God.

[8:23] Was it just that they forgot about God? No, they knew him as God but chose not to. So here Joseph dies and all his brethren and all that generation.

[8:37] And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceedingly mighty and the land was filled with them. So every man, even the best of men, are still just men and they die and they come to an end.

[8:49] But here we have in verse 7 the description of what's happened to Israel in the land of Egypt. A lot of words here meaning God has blessed them and blessed them abundantly. Fruitful.

[9:00] The children of Israel, fruitful. It means to blossom with fruit. They blossomed. They increased abundantly. That means to swarm or to team. It's the same word that's used in Genesis chapter 1 verse 20.

[9:11] When it says, God said, let the sea bring forth. Let it team forth with fish. He says, hey, man, Israel has teamed forth. They are swarming over Egypt.

[9:23] They multiplied. To multiply means to become many and great. They became a very great people. They were exceeding mighty, which means a great force. And they were, the land was filled with them.

[9:35] That's the same word in Genesis 1 verse 28, where God says to Adam and Eve, he says to be fruitful and multiply and fill, like to fill up like with a cup, to fill up to complete.

[9:46] There was a lot of Israeli people in Egypt. They had blossomed. They had grown. Was that a problem? Were they against the Egyptians?

[9:58] Were they so wicked and evil that, you know, the Egyptians were afraid to walk out of their door? Because you never know, Hebrew might be around the corner waiting to conk you on the head. No, not at all. The children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceeding mighty, and the land was filled with them.

[10:16] God's promise in God's time produces God's results. This was the result of God's promise in his time. Israel was obedient to go into the land. They were fruitful and they were under blessing because God said they would be.

[10:30] And the world hated them for that. The world hated them because God's blessing and God's favor was on their life and God's words at work in their life. Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

[10:45] And that's that word. I got a little ahead of myself that he knew not Joseph. In Romans 1.21, because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God. Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations.

[10:57] And their foolish heart was darkened. They knew God, but chose not to glorify him as God. Who's that talking about? Talking about every single man and woman who comes into the world. The creator put within his creation the ability to know him.

[11:12] So it's not, well, I don't know God. I've never heard about him. No, it's that you've chosen not to. You've chosen not to receive and believe the evidence that God has to show that you are his creature and he is the creator.

[11:24] And so Pharaoh now, he doesn't know anything about this Joseph or doesn't want to know. And in Egypt, we think, well, Egypt's full of what?

[11:36] Egyptians. But the Egyptian dynasties that lasted thousands of years, they weren't all the same people. They were conquered by different people groups. So they were all Egyptians.

[11:46] Well, at this time, so is the Israelites. They're Egyptians. If you met one of them, you'd be like, oh, an Egyptian, you know. So it was different people groups that would come in and would take over the different dynasties.

[11:58] And so here you have a Pharaoh who's coming in. And he's not looking at how Egypt got to where they are. He's not looking at why they've been blessed. What is the reason that this great country of Egypt has become what it is?

[12:12] And so he says unto his people in verse 9, and notice who he says it to, his people. Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.

[12:23] The word more there is chief, mightier more in power. He recognizes, man, we can't hold a candle to these people. These people, God has blessed them. Pharaoh was threatened by what he perceived as a problem.

[12:37] He said, this is a problem. What was it? Again, because they're going around conking Egyptians on the head? No, the problem was the fulfillment of God's word and the fruitfulness of God's people was evident in their lives.

[12:49] And he said, this is a problem. This is a problem. Come on and let us deal wisely with them. Lest they multiply and it come to pass when there falls out any war. That means a battle.

[13:00] That when there's a battle, they join also unto our enemies and fight against us and kill us all. Does it say that? What's it say? And so get them up out of the land.

[13:13] Oh, wait a minute, Pharaoh. What's your concern here? Well, see, the enemy, he doesn't want to get rid of God's people. Pharaoh doesn't want to lose God's people, but he does want absolute control over God's people.

[13:24] That's the issue. Oh, I want God's people, but I want to be able to control them. We live in a world today that is trying so hard, not just to control the actions and lives of men and women, but they want to control our minds.

[13:37] The world is working overtime to control our minds. What does scripture say? Say, be not conformed to this world, Romans chapter 12, but be you transformed by the renewing of your minds, that you may prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable work of God.

[13:51] The world is trying their best to control our minds and to control our hearts. And so Pharaoh says, boy, they are mightier than us. We have a problem here. Let us deal wisely.

[14:01] The enemy will not confront God's people head on, but how does he do it? Subtlety and craftiness. How did Satan confront God's people in the garden? Did he go to Adam and say, come on, Adam, let's fight it out?

[14:13] No, he went to Eve, and with craftiness and subtlety, he took her. But the Lord is greater than all that, isn't he? In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul writes in verse 19, for the wisdom of this world is just foolishness with God.

[14:29] For it is written, he takes the wise in their own craftiness. And we're going to see that with Pharaoh. God's going to take him in his own craftiness. God looks down at the wisdom of this world and goes, that's so foolish.

[14:40] Why would you even try that? God's will is not going to be thwarted. And also, the world knows that God's people will never fight their battles. Pharaoh's worried because he goes, if someone else comes, they're not going to fight our battles.

[14:53] We need to control them. What was God doing? God was using the political climate of the world to prepare his people for deliverance and for departure.

[15:05] Up until this point, if you went and you came and you came into Egypt, and man, they're just thriving and they're enjoying prosperity. And you said, let's get together, everybody.

[15:17] Let's get all of our stuff and let's leave Egypt and go out into the desert and to go to a land we don't know of. They're like, are you crazy? Are you out of your mind? Why would we want to do that? We're so blessed here.

[15:27] God has given us a home here. God used a righteous ruler to bring blessing on this nation. Why would we ever leave it? This is where God wants us. God had to change the climate of the world they were in to prepare them for deliverance and for departure.

[15:44] Therefore, in verse 11, they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens and they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Ramses.

[15:56] I probably pronounced that wrong. We have a resident archaeologist. You can ask her. But it's kind of sad how quickly the people of the world, the people of Egypt, just Pharaoh said, and they said over them taskmasters.

[16:08] They're like, oh, okay. So that person you go to the grocery store with, that other person in the PTA meeting with you, all of a sudden, they're your taskmaster. They're over you. It's just for the good of the economy.

[16:21] We have to do this for the economy. You know, just put the star on you. It's just for the economy. It's just because this is a good thing. You need to do this. To afflict is to weigh.

[16:32] They weigh them down with burdens. And I think it's interesting. The names of the cities here, Pithom, city of justice, Ramses, child of the sun. Ramses was their religious center. And here you kind of see this mockery. The world has a justice and the world has a religion.

[16:45] But what does it do to God's people? It just becomes a burden. And it just becomes bondage. The world is using all their efforts to redirect God's efforts I mean, sorry, to redirect God's people for the world's benefit.

[16:59] I think, Pharaoh, imagine if you put all that effort into building your own cities instead of all this effort trying to control God's people, making this whole system to do this. And they're redirecting the efforts of God's people for their own benefit.

[17:14] But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. God has blessed this nation. And there's nothing they can do to keep it down. And if you were a Hebrew at this time, if you were in Egypt and you were an Israelite, you'd be racking your brain.

[17:33] What is going on? Why are they treating us this way? Why are they turning on us? Why do they hate us? We've just tried to show them love. We've just tried to care for them. I mean, we've built Egyptian hospitals.

[17:45] We've partnered with them on so many things. We have the Egyptian purse that goes out when there's disasters, right? We have so much. Why do they hate us? But God continued to bless them as they were afflicted.

[17:59] And they grew. The word grow is to break forth, to burst. You know, I picture it like when a dam's about to burst. And you're trying to shore it up. And then all of a sudden, it's just like, and there it goes. That's what God's people were doing.

[18:11] And this became something that grieved Egypt. The word is to loathe. They loathed the people of God, of God's people. But in the midst of this, God's people experienced great growth.

[18:26] God's people experienced growth in the face of affliction, because affliction only gives a greater stage for God's glory. You see, remember in Job, when Satan comes before the Lord, and the Lord says, hey, have you considered my servant Job a perfect and upright man on all the earth?

[18:42] Blameless. And Satan's like, yeah, well, we know the only reason he does that is because the material benefits and blessing you give him. This is the mistake the enemy makes all through history.

[18:52] He thinks in terms of blessing has to do with material benefit, material gain. So he thinks if you just cursed him, if he suffered, well, then that would completely erode the love that he has for you and his commitment to you and his faithfulness.

[19:09] Well, he doesn't understand it's, man, greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world. We have an internal source of life, an eternal source of growth and blessing that he doesn't have any idea about.

[19:20] And so you see the same thing here. He thinks, okay, well, I'll afflict God's people. That'll surely do it. That'll either contain them or discourage them. And then his mind is blown when the blessing seems to be exponentially greater and in proportion to the affliction.

[19:35] Well, why is that? Well, one is because God's blessing has nothing to do with our outward circumstances. God's blessing has nothing to do whether I'm under suffering and affliction or whether I'm thriving materially.

[19:47] God's blessing in our lives is not about that. It has to do with a new heart. It has to do with being born again, a new life. That's what God's blessing is. So it looks so much greater when all of a sudden you are physically afflicted, but God's blessing is continuing in your life.

[20:04] And then the other thing is, man, God loves to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect towards him. He loves to show himself strong on those that are weak. He loves it when the enemy comes and presses in on his people.

[20:16] He's like, yes, this is a stage for my glory. Second Corinthians four, verse seven begins. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, the treasure, the excellency of the power of God, the new birth, the gospel.

[20:30] We have this excellency that the power may be of God and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken.

[20:40] Cast down, but not destroyed. We're always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. God has purposely put his treasure, his glory within us crackpots.

[20:55] And then he says, not only that, but hey, there's a constant trouble and distress and perplexion and despair. Our bodies seem to be dying so that Christ's life might be magnified even more.

[21:07] Second Corinthians 12, nine. And he said unto me, speaking to Paul, my grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

[21:23] If you meet a believer, a pastor, any Christian out there who's got it all together, they don't have sin, they're always walking in victory, they're always progressing forward, they're probably not honest.

[21:36] Paul, I mean, anybody here going to claim to have a higher standing than Paul? Paul, the greatest Christian, says, I'm going to glory in my weakness. I'm going to make sure my flaws and my weaknesses are on full display so you'll never look at me and think, well, it's because of his great gifts.

[21:52] It's because of, no, it's because of Jesus and only Jesus. And the Egyptians now, they made the children of Israel to serve with rigor. That means cruel tyranny. They're being tyrants to, I would say the Egyptians, but to the Hebrews, to God's people.

[22:10] And they made their lives bitter. The word bitter literally means to flow away. They made their lives just to flow away. Just empty them. They made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in brick and all manner of service in the field.

[22:27] They said, you are going to come and you are going to build our kingdom. We're not going to let you build God's kingdom. Brick by brick, you will build our kingdom. All their service wherein they made them serve was with rigor.

[22:38] That's that same word, again, we looked at before, meaning cruel tyranny. Service to the world is bitter, it's bondage, and it's brutal. At one time, they had peace with the world.

[22:52] What's going on? And then the world begins to say, hey, you're going to come and serve us. We're not going to let you serve your God anymore. And it's this bitter, bondage, brutal experience. Why would God allow the tyranny of the world to afflict his people?

[23:05] Why would he do that? Why would he allow the tyranny of the world to come down so hard on his people? You see, Israel needed to be delivered, but they didn't know it.

[23:17] And God needed them to bring them to a place where they realized they needed to be delivered. Israel needed to be delivered not just from the external bondage that they didn't realize they were under.

[23:27] As the world had a hold on them, well, the world began to take a hold in them as well. In Numbers chapter 11, which we'll get to a long, long time from now, but hopefully we'll be raptured first. It says, and the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting or desiring.

[23:42] But it also says, and the children of Israel. So we can't just blame this on the mixed multitude. And the children of Israel also wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? They're in the desert, wandering for 40 years, wondering, God, there's nothing here to eat except manna.

[23:57] We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely. The cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlics. Oh, we remember how good we had it. Egypt was still in them. And God had to work this out of them.

[24:09] Not only did they need to be delivered from Egypt, man, they needed Egypt delivered out of them. I like that word in there. It says, which we did eat in Egypt freely. Really? I don't know.

[24:20] I missed that part. Freely? Freely? You're under bondage. You're slaves. And you freely ate of it? 1 John 2.15 says, love not the world.

[24:32] Neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. It's essentially like what Jesus said. You cannot serve two masters. You either love the one and hate the other, or you'll hold the one and despise the other.

[24:44] You cannot serve God and money. You can't have two masters. You can't love the world, pursue the world, and desire to build the world. And then say, well, I'm also going to do that which is diametrically opposed to God.

[24:58] I'm also then going to do and go build God's kingdom. That doesn't mean we don't work in the world. We are in the world, but we're not of it. And the king of Egypt then speaks to the Hebrew wives, beginning in verse 15.

[25:11] So 1 through 14 was kind of just giving us this picture of what is happening now in the beginning of Exodus, hundreds of years after we flipped the page of Genesis. What's going on in Egypt and what's going on with God's people who've come down into Egypt?

[25:24] There's now a multitude of them. They've been super, super blessed, super blessed. And now the world's turning against them. Excuse me, their country's turning on them. The country they helped make great is now putting them in bondage and desiring to be tyrants over them.

[25:41] And nothing the world does or the enemy does is stopping their blessing. Amen? Amen. And so the king of Egypt, he's a smart, crafty guy, or so he thinks he is.

[25:55] He now goes to the most vulnerable. You know, if the enemy can't get you up here, man, he's going to try and get you down here. And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shipra, and the name of the other, Pua.

[26:08] Shipra means fair, and Pua means splendid. Isn't that awesome? God puts these women here, fair and splendid women. And he spake to them, and he said, When you do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools, they're birthing stools, if it be a son, you shall kill him.

[26:28] But if it be a daughter, then he shall live. Look at the callousness. Just like, just talking about like he's just choosing what shirt he wants to wear that day. Just the callousness of, hey, just go and do this.

[26:41] Pharaoh now initiates a new executive order regarding reproductive rights. He says, hey, I got something else we're going to do here. Which is an oxymoron, isn't it?

[26:52] Reproductive rights. Reproduction for who? We're killing a baby. There's no reproduction. Whose rights? That baby has no right to reproduce. You just killed it. That's what the world does.

[27:03] And so Pharaoh now says, hey, I've got this idea. And you know what? I don't want to create a stir. We'll just do it in private. We'll just do it quietly. We'll just do it when nobody's really looking.

[27:15] Nobody even needs to know. You can just say, well, just something going around. Must be COVID-17 or 25. Or it's just killing baby boys only.

[27:25] This is a disease that's targeting only the baby boys. And the girls are living, you know? Never believe that the enemy will be content with oppression.

[27:37] The enemy was oppressing God's people. That it wasn't enough, was it? Never believe the enemy will stop. Never compromise with the enemy. Never make deals with the enemy. Like, okay, okay, okay. Just remove this oppression.

[27:48] And all right, all right. I'll do whatever you want. Never believe he will be content. And Jesus says, the thief comes not but for to kill or to steal, to kill and destroy. But I am come that they may have life.

[28:00] They might have it more abundantly. The enemy hates God's people and he hates life. Life to the enemy has no intrinsic value. And so the enemy attacks God's people where they're most vulnerable.

[28:12] And what is he trying to prevent? He says, I'm preventing new birth. I don't want to see new birth among God's people. Jesus says to Nicodemus, truly, truly, I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

[28:26] And the enemy will do everything he can to prevent that, to prevent that new birth. He'll redirect our energies into something of this world. So we're wasting time there instead of building God's kingdom. And if that doesn't work, then it'll hit us where we're vulnerable so that we're not able to reproduce and have new birth.

[28:45] Egypt had abortion on demand. They were one of the cultures that did. And it wasn't very pretty to read about. Despite in our nation, the bans that have been placed on abortion, the number of abortions in the United States increased in 2023.

[29:00] They were the highest. Studies show that an estimated 1,037,000 abortions occurred in the formal health care system in 2023, outside the formal health care system.

[29:12] during the first full calendar year after the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. This represents a rate of 15.9 abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age, an 11% increase since 2020, the year for which the last time they took a comprehensive estimate.

[29:33] It is also the highest number and rate measured in the United States in over a decade. Over a decade. The enemy hates life.

[29:44] He hates God's people. And he sees no intrinsic value in life. You know, the world will attempt to pigeonhole us. The world and the enemy will attempt to limit our choices.

[29:57] Look what he did here to these women. Pharaoh says, hey, these are your options. This is it. You have no other options. Either do this or these are the consequences. The enemy will always attempt to limit our choices.

[30:10] He will put God and God's people in a box of false morality. But that false morality is just ultimatums, isn't it? You do this or else. You do that or else. You follow this morality or else.

[30:23] The enemy pressures us to do something now. You have to choose A or B, left or right, red or blue. You have another option. You must do this. That's what the world, the pressure they put on us.

[30:34] God tells us, instead of doing something, God says us to be. Tells us to be something. He says to be still and know that I am God. I'll be exalted among the heathen.

[30:45] I'll be exalted in the earth. When the enemy and the world pressures and said, you got to do something now. God says, no, you don't. Just be still. God says, I will be exalted in the earth.

[30:56] I will be exalted among the heathen. I'm not the one who has to do that, right? He can do that all on his own. In verse 17, the midwives feared God and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

[31:10] The word command means to declare, to tell them to do, but also has this idea of promise within it. So it's kind of this sick idea of Pharaoh telling him, you must do this. And we promise. I promise everything will turn out okay if you do.

[31:24] Interestingly, the midwives prevailed, not by what they chose to do, right? They didn't say, we're not going to do this. We're going to elect a new Pharaoh. We're going to go out and protest. We're going to go and we're going to march on the pyramids.

[31:36] It wasn't by what they chose to do, by what they chose not to do. Pharaoh said, you'll do this. And they just continued to do exactly what they were doing before and to follow the Lord.

[31:49] There's never a reason to be motivated by the enemy. There's never a reason to be motivated by fear or pressure. We never have to let the enemy motivate us into something that if it wasn't for that motivation, we wouldn't do anyways.

[32:01] We're just not going to do it. And then I love it here. The word saved, they saved them alive. It means to rescue, to protect, and to keep. And thank God for his people who desire to rescue and to protect and keep every birth.

[32:17] And the world turns truth on its head, doesn't it? Pharaoh's angry with them because they did wrong. Wait a minute, Pharaoh. Wait, wait. You are upset with me because we're not murdering children. Yes, you did wrong. You broke the law.

[32:28] The world turns everything on its head, don't they? Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.

[32:38] The world turns it on its head. Why? Because to the world, life is just a tool. It's just a tool for them to leverage. The enemy, he doesn't care about life.

[32:49] Neither does the world. Unfortunately, we see that all too often in our world today, that life has just become a tool to leverage someone's support or viewpoint.

[33:02] What does Jesus say? Jesus says in Matthew 19, 14, But Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

[33:14] Jesus said, I love those children. Every single one of those children. And guess what? Those kids that may be too loud, too noisy, too expensive, too inconvenient.

[33:26] God says, you better get used to them, because that's the kingdom of heaven. Of such are the kingdom of heaven. The fear of God led these fair and splendid women to act according to the heart of God.

[33:37] They feared God, and so they acted according to his heart. And so Pharaoh now says, Why have you done this? Why have you not obeyed my edict, my executive order?

[33:51] And the midwives said unto Pharaoh in verse 19, Well, because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively and are delivered before the midwives come in unto them. Okay, so they just made up this story in front of Pharaoh to try and get off the hook.

[34:05] I don't think so. I don't think they did. Jesus, in Matthew 10, says, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.

[34:17] Be therefore strong and fearsome. No, it doesn't say that. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Right? The serpent is very wise, but he ends up doing what?

[34:30] Injecting venom and death. We are to be wise, but we're not to end, our wisdom doesn't end in harm. But we're sheep in the midst of wolves. Shouldn't we maybe go wolf hunting and clear out some of those wolves? No.

[34:41] God just says, Hey, I send you forth in the midst of wolves. Recognize you're surrounded by wolves, but be wise. And I think these women were very wise. If you remember what Pharaoh said unto them, his exact words, he said, When you see them upon the stool.

[34:56] So I think these women said, Okay. We just won't see them on the stool. We'll wait till after they give birth. Or we'll train them. We'll start a new program to train the moms to know how to do this. Or we'll train other people.

[35:07] But we ourselves, we will not see them on the stool. He says, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women. I think that was true as well. These Hebrew women were some tough women.

[35:19] They were out building pyramids. And yet there is this massive baby boom taking place because God had blessed the people of Israel. He says, For they are lively. I love that word.

[35:29] It means full of life. These women are full of life. The quality of life that the Hebrews possessed was not the same as the Egyptians. It's what set them apart from the Egyptians. The midwives are like, There's a quality of life the Hebrews have that these Egyptians don't.

[35:43] And they're lively and are delivered. Or maybe God just did this. Maybe God stepped in and said, You know what? I got your backs. I got your backs. Every time we try and get there, they've already had their babies. Because God is doing this and having them deliver.

[35:56] The point is this. Righteousness will always prevail in every institution of this world. We never need to turn from righteousness. It may cost us our lives, our job, our position.

[36:08] It may cost us, but we never need to turn from righteousness. It will always prevail in every institution of this world. Proverbs 21.30, There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord.

[36:19] None. None whatsoever. The midwives were faithful to God, and God was faithful to them. Therefore, God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and waxed very mighty.

[36:33] It means vast. They became vast. Ephesians chapter 6. Paul says that, you know, though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal.

[36:44] I'm sorry that's not Ephesians 6. That's other scripture that we've quoted in the beginning. But in Ephesians 6, he says, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

[36:58] Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God. Be armored up. Be ready. It's not our battle. It's not our fight. But God gives us what we need to enter into his battle, into his fight.

[37:10] We do not wrestle against flesh and blood. These two amazing, fair, and beautiful women who stood for the vulnerable and stood for the lives of the unborn.

[37:22] God said, I got your back. You don't need to worry. Not even Pharaoh himself is going to be able to stand against you. The attack of the enemy did nothing to diminish the strength of God's people, but it in fact did the opposite.

[37:33] The more they pressed in, the more blessing was upon God's people. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. It doesn't mean he built them houses, like out of brick and mortar, but that they were blessed with children, with husbands, with family.

[37:50] God built the house of the midwives because they helped build his house. They said, man, God, we're going to stand in the gap for your people. And God said, I'm going to stand in the gap for you. And Pharaoh charged all his people.

[38:02] Here you see the mask comes off. The true nature of the enemy is not determined by the deeds, but by the motives. We're going to come back to that. Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, every son that is born, you shall cast into the river.

[38:14] Every daughter you shall save alive. Imagine your neighbors coming in to your home, taking your 15-month baby boy, walking out, and chucking him in the Catawba River.

[38:29] It's the law. We have to do it. We're allowed to do it. We're supposed to do it. It's the law. That just seems beyond our comprehension, doesn't it? Well, imagine your same neighbors taking someone to have a 15-month-old unborn child eliminated.

[38:49] What's the difference? It's the same motive. It doesn't matter if one party says, indiscriminately kill, and another party says, well, we'll do it quietly while they're on the stools.

[39:01] We'll do it in an out-of-way place. It's the same motive. There is no value for life. And we don't have to choose between death and death.

[39:12] We can continue to follow the Lord in righteousness. Don't let the enemy and don't let the world pigeonhole you into a position you would never take except they're pressuring you into that.

[39:24] Start with God's word. Never, ever bring anything of perspective, an idea to God's word. And don't let others tell you you have to. Start with God's word, and he will always lead you to truth.

[39:37] The world will always seek to limit the fruitfulness of God's people. And how will they do that? They'll dominate their time and energy. They'll put heavy burdens on them. They'll do it through affliction and bondage.

[39:47] And then they'll attack the vulnerable. God does not want us living lives where we are joining in a system where people are seeking to do that.

[39:59] We don't have to. We can be like those Hebrew women. Just fear the Lord and continue to follow him in righteousness. And then what did we see? We saw that both the righteous ruler and the unrighteous ruler, the righteous ruler Joseph, the unrighteous ruler Pharaoh, were what?

[40:15] Both appointed by God. Both appointed by God for a time of deliverance for his people. So you had where God delivered his people into Egypt, made Egypt a great nation to deliver his people.

[40:26] And now once again, he's going to deliver his people. But to do so, he's going to have to first prepare them to be ready to go. And lastly, and my favorite, as we kind of end this, what are they doing to the babies?

[40:42] As horrible as it is, they're throwing them in the river, right? Throwing them in the river. Satan thinks, I'm not taking a chance of a male child being God's deliverer. And yet the schemes of the enemy are simply a setup for God's deliverance.

[40:55] What baby is going to get floated out onto the river? That God's going to then take that child, bring it into Pharaoh's house, and be used, trained, raised, and sent out as God's deliverer. The schemes of the enemy are simply a setup for God's deliverance.

[41:12] Something as horrible as sin and death became a pathway to God's deliverer. When Satan had Jesus on the cross and he thought, I got him.

[41:23] I got him. I'm going to bring him into my domain. My domain is death, sin and death. He thought, I got him. It was simply a pathway for God's deliverance. And it's a pathway that's open for us.

[41:35] For he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. We are all under the condition of sin, right?

[41:46] We all have that same condition. And it brings us into Satan's domain. It brings us into that realm of death. But only those who acknowledge and understand their condition can know they need a deliverer.

[42:02] Only those who realize, man, I need a savior. I need someone who can save me from my sin and from separation from God. Only those who realize they need deliverance will seek a deliverer.

[42:18] And Jesus is that deliverer. Something so horrible as sin and death became a pathway to God's deliverance. How do we enter into that? Revelation 22, remember, we read this last, I think it was last week.

[42:31] The spirit of the bride say, come, and let him that hearsay come, and let him that has thirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely. It's free. Whosoever.

[42:42] Are you a whosoever? We're all whosoevers. But are you a whosoever who realizes you need a deliverer? You need a savior? The schemes of the enemy are simply a setup for God's deliverance.

[42:53] Listen, the world wants to bring us into bondage, and the world wants to force us into choosing its choices. It wants to put us in a place we would never be in just by walking with the Lord and walking in truth and righteousness.

[43:05] They want to force us to take sides on these issues. There should not even be issues. We don't have to. We have a side. It's right here. We have a side because his side was pierced.

[43:18] We have life because he went down into death for us. And we can stand in the gap. We don't have to go out and try and do something.

[43:29] We already are something in Christ. We're made new. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. You know, when the Philippian jailer said to Paul, he said, what must I do to be saved?

[43:42] How do I get what you got? He said, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe just means to assent. It's not an altar call. It's not a big prayer. It's just to assent. Say, I need a deliverer in Jesus.

[43:52] You're my deliverer. Father, we thank you this morning that our deliverance has been assured. Lord, as we've been buried into baptism, buried into death through baptism with you, Lord.

[44:09] And as a type. It doesn't mean we need to be baptized to be saved. It's saying that's the picture. As we've gone down with you, we recognize, Lord, that as you went down into death, we were there with you. It was our sin.

[44:20] It was my sin. To deliver me, Lord. So that as you came up into life, Lord, three days later, Lord. Man, it's your life that you give to me because it's my sin you took from me.

[44:34] And Lord, we're living in a world that at one time loved your people. At one time recognized that the prosperity they enjoy and the blessing they enjoy and the great nation they become were because of your people.

[44:48] But now we're living in a nation that hates your people. They no longer remember that generation or any of its people. And Lord, the temptation can be to despair or try to change things.

[45:01] But Lord, when we look up, what do you say? When all these things begin to come to pass, look up. Your redemption draws near. Lord, you're simply trying to prepare us for deliverance and departure.

[45:14] And our departure is very soon. And we are going to come and we are going to be with you, Lord, as you come to receive us. Lord, use us in this world to stand fast, fully armored up, wise as serpents but harmless as doves.

[45:28] Let the end be life, not harm. We don't play by the world's rules. New birth, Lord. Use us, Lord, to be a light to the lost, Lord.

[45:39] We love you and we thank you for the deliverance that you have given us. And you know, Lord, what it is in each of our hearts and minds this morning. But we need you to be deliverer again, Lord.

[45:52] We need you to step into that area and say, God, I can't. I can't carry this anymore. I can't take this. And, Lord, your word to us is just be still.

[46:04] Be still and know I am God in that area. Be still and know that I will exalt myself, yes, in even that area. Be still and know that even your worst sin and the strongest attack of the enemy is simply a platform for God's glory.

[46:20] We love you, Jesus. Amen. And as he stands in victory, sin's cursed, curse has lost its grip on me. For I am his and he is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.

[46:31] I hope you understand what that means in your life today. If you don't, you know, I'd love to talk with you, pray with you. But don't leave without realizing you've been delivered.

[46:44] Delivered from not just sin and death, but we've been delivered from the schemes of this world. I love that line. No power of hell, no scheme of man. Man, there's nothing that can ever, ever prevail against righteousness.

[46:58] Continue to walk in it. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you. The Lord be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace this week.