Introduction

In many ways, Genesis is a book of beginnings. From the creation to Joseph’s death, we see the story not of a great nation, but of individual families. We read of the way God dealt with them, either as whole families or as sons and daughters. When we get to Exodus, the ethos changes to something even grander.

Between the end of Genesis and the start of Exodus is a time-span of about 400 years. In that time a number of generations came into being; Joseph, Abraham, etc., were already historical figures, distant forefathers. Now, in Egypt, there were many thousands of Abraham’s descendants, if not close to a million souls. Exodus, then, in its most general form, is the account of a formal grouping of families into well-established tribes who, between them, formed an even bigger group – the Hebrews.

Still only a nation-in-waiting, and oblivious to the coming drama that would propel them into Middle Eastern, and eventually world, fame, these Hebrews knew only slavery. As tribes they had fallen from grandeur and dignity to the very bottom of the social ladder. How many of us, fallen on hard times, can imagine a sudden change so breathtaking, as experienced by these Hebrews? The account does not begin with the change, but gives the background to it, one so colourful and exciting that it continues to attract attention, even today…The birth, adulthood and ignominy of Moses. Hardly a promising start to what was to follow, and no hint of the godly and glorious role he was going to fulfil.

I usually give my overall thoughts as an introduction to a chapter. On this occasion these thoughts are contained in the text below. These are strange days.

Verses 1 - 4

1. “And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.

2. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

3. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.

4. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.”

In this chapter we find the Hebrews realising how terrible their position is, and so they cry out to God for help. And God helps them. Not straight away, but in the time that is good for His plan. That means, it is good for them, too.

Many years divided the time from when the Hebrews were enslaved to the time they were freed. No doubt those who genuinely worshipped God did not falter in their devotion to God. But, I also have no doubt that many of them, nevertheless, also felt as though they were in a very dark pit at times, when joy was far away. I know this is true, because it has happened to me. And if it has happened to me, it has happened to others! We are humans together.

It does not mean we stop what we do, when all sense of joy has been covered by immense pressures. We must continue what we have to do, whether we lay exhausted on our beds, or I drive onwards in ministry. There may not be the joy we sincerely desire, but to know we are doing the Lord’s work keeps us going.

This is what must have happened in Moses’ day. He was busy working hard for his father-in-law whilst, hundreds of miles away, his brethren were dying and slaving, waiting for the hand of God to overcome their captors. As they wait, they suffer and groan. They once knew fresh air, freedom and joy. Now they cry out in spiritual and physical pain. Have you felt like this? I have, and often still do. Dealing with evil, head-on, can affect Christians deeply. It can sap away their strength and joy, whether they want it to or not. Illness and intense, unrelenting pressure can do the same thing.

But, though they, and I, knew, or presently know, this lack of joy and deep grief, it does not make a difference to faith. Those who say that if we had faith we would know joy, have evidently not gone through the valley of death! These times come, but, more importantly, they also go again! It is yet another time of trial, given only to those whom God loves. For myself, I do not want this time, nor did I seek it. But God, in His divine will, has decided I need it. He was moulding the Hebrews, so that when the time came, they would be ready to do His bidding.

Are you in despair and think God has left you, because you have no joy? Do not succumb to fear or anxiety about it. Do not think you feel thus because of sin. If you know you have not deliberately disobeyed God, then accept this time as a trial.

A trial is to work through, not to fall by. The trial may even be extremely long in terms of time. But it is from God, for your good. We might not truly feel it to be so yet, but we know it is true! Love God and continue in faith, though you feel currently that you are lower than a worm. God is with you and will keep you. Right now, you feel as though you were left alone in a very dark mine, without lights. Or, that black clouds have destroyed the sun.

For now, accept that your joy, like the brilliant sunshine, is hidden behind a black cloud. It will return to you when God sees fit to release it again. Clouds do not destroy the sun – they just hide it for a while. Meanwhile, trust God and work through your pain and distress. Be dogged in your refusal to give in to sin or to despair. No doubt you will experience moments of that despair, but it will not last. The end result will be more than worth it.

Besides all else, Christ went through far more. We cannot succumb when what we go through, arduous though it might be, is of far less significance than what Christ endured. God bless you and I as we endure! Those who watch on should pray that if they are put to trial, they also will endure. Meanwhile, pray for those whose trials are long and hard. Bring them comfort and compassion.

Though necessary and good, it is relatively easy to comfort someone whose partner has died; or to give a bunch of flowers to someone in hospital for a brief time, or to clean someone’s home if they have a broken leg; but to give long-term support and care is quite another thing, because it means loss of your own benefits, time and sometimes money. Some have been on beds of sickness for many years. They tell me how they see no-one. God bless all who offer long-term care! I have no doubt it is a gift from God.

As a nurse, I have looked after people who have had limbs removed. The dressings have to be renewed, to keep the fresh wound clean. Sadly, some have become far worse and they die. I remember one foot that went from sound flesh to necrotic (dead) in less than one week, the flesh coming away in large pieces, revealing the bones. Despite amputation, the necrosis travelled upwards and the man was dead very quickly.

This is a gruesome way to begin a Bible study, but it portrays how men are weak vessels. In particular we are all weak spiritual vessels. We might begin with good intentions, but we so easily fail to notice the small signs of sin that creep into our lives. They lay deep in our souls. We fail to root them out. Suddenly, the sins erupt and become a danger to our Christian lives. Few sins are sudden and unannounced! They are usually left dormant.

The end result can be swift, or insidious, creeping through our lives like a death-stalker. Then it opens up and drags with it a whole host of other sins. Because we let it stay, it can overwhelm us and our tranquil lives become battle-grounds of faith. The answer is the sharp knife of the surgeon, every time a sin tries to take root.

Moses escaped his duties for maybe 60 or 70 years. He no doubt enjoyed his simple life as a shepherd. But then God came upon him. It was not a whim. This was the enacting of God’s will, a plan decided before the world began… only Moses was unaware of it. Like so many Christians today, he just ambled through life and never dreamt there would be such dramatic changes, changes he initially tried to resist.

When God calls us to action we must obey in spite of any fears we have. Why? Because the result to our lives of not doing God’s will are far worse than the results of doing the thing we fear the most!

Moses was commanded to do something few men of faith have ever done before or since. Noah would have understood. A man tending sheep was to lead a whole nation. Not only had he to get them out of captivity, but he then had to be their spiritual and physical leader for many years. A bit of a change!

This is why I say to all Christians, especially all those who, in mock-humility, say “I am not a Paul or a Peter. I am just a humble (??) Christian”… someone has to be a Paul and a Peter! None of us can tell who God will choose to be of similar type. We cannot be the first Apostles, but we can certainly be used mightily of God. How and when, we cannot tell. We must just be ready, and we must just obey when the call comes. I can tell you now, from experience, that you will probably fight God’s will, but you must then submit, for the good of your soul and in honour of the Lord Who calls you, whether or not you are fearful. Take it from one who quakes!

The recent tsunami (26 Dec 2004) struck on a lovely warm day, and it caused a death toll that shocked the world. Of course, everyone blamed God. No-one blamed the experts who saw it coming and could have warned the people! Many tragedies have similar stories – human beings cause a problem, but God gets the blame!

Or, other people are blamed. I once sent an old person to hospital as an emergency. It was our custom to check the person’s whole body before letting them go to hospital. The reason was simple – hospitals are not the best of places to go and still come out in one piece! They usually returned with at least MRSA and usually a few nasty bed sores. Bed sores are very easy to get, but take many months to get rid of.

Fortunately I had done this myself and wrote it all down on our forms. Also fortunately, someone assisted me and was able to sign the form as a witness. Later that evening my superior received a telephone call from a very irate emergency department doctor, complaining about the state in which we had sent the person into hospital. He said that the woman had bad pressure sores over both legs and hips! We were, of course, blamed.

I was furious that such a charge had been laid and showed my forms to my superior. Anyway, it turned out that the poor woman had been fixed onto the ambulance stretcher with fabric restraints, and laid in one position for about an hour on the way to hospital. Then, in hospital, she remained in the same position held by the restraints, for a further several hours until seen by the doctor!

Before we discovered this I went onto the internet to ask highly experienced experts about the case, and was told that pressure sores can arise and erupt within an hour or two, in frail people. And this is what had happened. By the time the lady returned we had months and months of treatment to give for severe pressure sores. Obviously, though nursing inspectors had to investigate, we were exonerated. But, you can see how human beings try to evade blame by pointing at someone else. In this chapter the Hebrews blamed not just Moses and Aaron, but God Himself.

Today, men live in a world made ugly by their own efforts, but they blame God for the suffering this causes! Even AIDS is blamed on God!! Suffering, whether individual or universal, is caused by human sin that effects us all, even if we do nothing to bring it about.

I still remember the war-cry from preachers I used to sit under long ago… stand firm! Fight the enemy! God is with us! But, I seem to remember that they were times of relative peace, with no formidable enemies on the horizon. I wonder how fast they would stand today?

I ask because when the charismatic ‘Toronto Blessing’ came, almost no Christian leader stood against it. Then, along came Muslim extremists, and still no stand. Now we have the hedonistic and far more serious threats coming from homosexuals. Again, very few make a stand. What a difference if all Christians stood as one against this tide of filth and evil!

Empty words? I hardly think so, for I have stood publicly against each of the above wicked movements, to my personal cost. And the costs keep on coming. Therefore, I am qualified to speak as I do, my spirit bearing many scars.

Is this arrogance? Hardly! I call for warriors of God to fight the enemy, and I am currently in the thick of battle. But I have no strength of which to boast. Any strength I have is of the Lord. It has to be because in my person I am scared witless by the sheer strength of those who hate the Lord! Though I face the enemy full-on, my body has gone to jelly. Mine is not an occasional signing of a petition, or a mumbled complaint in a corner, but a full-scale war. Almost no-one in my home town stands with me. Thank God, a few stand with me in the ministry itself. And I can tell you, the fight is indeed fearful, churning my stomach to nausea.

I feel no pride in this, for, as a person, I fail miserably. I should be far stronger than I am, for Christ is my Captain. Instead, I fear and I quake. Yes, I stand and fight, but I loathe the weakness of my human frame. Do you understand what I am saying?

In this chapter, God repeatedly commands Moses to do something. He assures him that divine power and authority will be his. Yet, he holds back. I understand his reaction, though I cannot approve of it, because I know what he is thinking and feeling! Can we hold back when God commands? Of course we can. I have just described my own reactions as proof.

In the past I have entered spiritual battle with guns blazing, and palpable power and godly authority. Yet, right now, things are different, and I feel a failure. Why? I do not know. I do know I am undergoing a severe trial and it is not yet over. Nor do I see the end of it. Therefore, I have to fight on, regardless of my fears and failures. This shows, I think, that every battle for the Lord is different. What applied then may not apply now. That is how it is. Do YOU fight for the Lord? Are you honest enough to admit personal failing? And yet, do you trust? God uses us all in a variety of ways… and our personal strength does not come into it. It is all of Him alone.

As a Christian I do not wish to talk about the greatest evil in the world today – homosexuality. But, I am called to do so. I wish to avoid it, but I cannot and must obey God. Those who think Islam is worse, should find out what is truly happening. Homosexual forces are successful, for now. They are getting all countries not only to bring about legislation to make people accept the vile sin, but they are set to take our children as their sex objects. In turn, this will produce even more homosexuals, all of whom are likely to die of vile diseases.

But it involves far more than that. The agenda is to crush all preaching of the true Gospel, and to eradicate Christians and their beliefs. They are pushing to have a completely hedonistic lifestyle, where literally ‘anything goes’. And there is more than that! This is why Christians must make a stand, not as effete smilers, but as battle-hardened soldiers of the Lord! There is an apt season for everything and all kinds of responses. Now is the season of battles. It is not a time to rest, as David did, thus losing his kingdom and reason.

Christians who try to hide from their responsibilities in this are indeed cowards. I know because, at times, I have been a coward, and may yet resort to it again! But, beware, for those who try to hide from the enemy will receive no quarter. A hardened enemy views cowards as nothing, and will strike them down with great ferocity, having no time for their fear. As I have always said, I would prefer to go down fighting than to hide and be discovered quaking, and to be hacked-down anyway!

What is this fight? In our case it is spiritual. We must stand firm in God, be filled with His knowledge and be strong in the Holy Spirit. There might be a time in the future when Christians will have to ‘go underground’ or even to fight in other ways, but for now we are called to stand firm and present a bold and godly front to all who despise us.

If any of the enemy wish to talk genuinely, we must do so. If any listen and come away to find salvation, then we must help. But their sins must be roundly condemned. We cannot condemn the sinners themselves, because that is up to God. But we must condemn what they do, without hesitation. Many today are joining the ranks of wicked men and women, as if to do so was a virtue. They even speak against those who stand firm. Thus, they, too, will suffer defeat when God acts against those they support. Make no mistake, for it will happen.

God judges people, as individuals and as nations. For example, in scripture we find a warning that has never been repealed; that if we allow a murderer to go unpunished by death, then the whole nation is deemed to be guilty of murder.

We can be guilty not just because we actually do something evil; we are equally guilty if we allow it to happen, or we are silent in the face of evil. Thus, when Hitler murdered millions, the whole people were also guilty, for allowing it, either by complicity or by silence out of fear.

In the UK and other countries where the death penalty for murder has been removed, the entire nation is guilty pf murder. That goes for wholesale abortion, too… calling the tiny babies ‘foetuses’ is a crafty way to avoid calling them human beings, but the people stand guilty. This is what scripture says.

I would dearly love to stop speaking and warning about homosexuality, but this great wickedness is so full-on we cannot escape it. Homosexuals were judged guilty and sent a plague, AIDS. of immense proportion. It has thus far killed many millions. Yet, homosexuals are prompted to carry on their evils. Not only that but they are deceiving others into accepting their behaviour. Vast numbers in society now accept homosexuality as ‘normal’ when it patently is not. Though the homosexual life is crammed to the brim with evil, violence, immorality and total intolerance of free speech, God and His people, people allow it to continue unchallenged. This is not just mere human stupidity. It is evidently irrational and Satanic. God has hardened their hearts and blinded their eyes, and the sin becomes even worse.

In all this, we should take heart from the time of Moses. The same thing occurred with Pharaoh, but at a certain point, God was seen to be behind the miraculous plagues. Then, later, the Israelites finally left Egypt. However, not learning from past experiences, pharaoh pursued them into the desert, and he and his soldiers were killed by God in the Red Sea.

God will one day likewise crush homosexuals in huge numbers. They will have no option but to cry out for help, but none will be given, such is their wickedness. In this way, they will follow their idols, the Sodomites, not only to an early grave, but to eternal hell. The rest will be dealt with on Judgment Day, to know the same fate. Pray for their downfall, as well as for the possible salvation of a few (for only a few will respond, by God’s mercy).

Previously, we saw that God could, in an instant, bring disaster to the Egyptians. He was proving to Pharaoh and to all mankind, that God is supreme and Whose word is absolute. We have seen how such a power is inflicted upon evil men even today. In this chapter we are reminded that God can and does separate His people from the rest of mankind, protecting them.

We even see that though the majority of the Hebrews were unconvinced and almost rebellious, God nevertheless saved them from their captors! This is a definite proof of predestination. Here is God giving immense blessings to His people even when they were not particularly holy or genuinely on God’s side. Think of this deeply, because how many of us have veered away from God, and yet He helps us?

The whole chapter shows us that even when we are not on God’s side, once He has decided to help His people, He will do so, regardless of our personal responses. This is a vital and wonderful lesson to us all, for most of us think we must ‘do’ something to earn God’s love and help! Far from it. He helps us because he wishes to, not because we do something for Him.

It is true that He rewards us when we commit our lives to Him and do whatever we can to obey, but it is not the obedience that brings His favours… it is His choice to help us that does so. Obedience is vital for so many reasons, but the ultimate factor that decides what God does, is His own choice, not our actions. That is why – surprise as it may be to many – that even our obedience is a gift of God. We cannot manufacture it, or work at it like a work-skill. We either have it, or we do not. It is an obedience based on the fact that God is our Lord and He demands it; it is a recognition of Who He is. Yes, he must give us the obedience, or the will to be obedient, but we must also take responsibility once we have the gift, and work at it, as He guides.

Meanwhile, do not expect the wicked to bow before God. Their sin dictates what their hearts and minds do. With very few exceptions, they will increase in their evils until the end, facing up to the Lord with a satanic defiance. They know they are finished, but they continue anyway, just like their father, the devil. He knows what his end place will be, yet he hates with a viciousness unsurpassed by any man! He only wishes to harm God and the saved… and even those who follow Satanic lives. Like Pharaoh, he will never know peace or have the ability to change.

But – be filled with joy, for God will protect and favour all who are His! Even if they go off the rails, or are not quite what they ought to be! That is predestination. We are called AND chosen, whereas most people are not. This is God’s prerogative; enjoy it.

There is much in life to bring us down, including very real enemies of the Lord. We know disease and suffering, and those with an open faith are persecuted. Yet, God is true and will not allow His people to suffer needlessly or beyond their ability to cope.

In this chapter we find Moses and Aaron repeating their challenges to Pharaoh. This ought to be our own stance. We should not just feebly quote scripture at sinners and then retreat. We must be bold and keep repeating them, plus genuine references to what happens to modern men. Otherwise we end up looking like relics, believing only in the past glories of famous preachers – a common activity for reformed Christians in particular.

We must remember that Christians have supernatural lives, even when still on this earth. This means we have the same authority and power promised at the time of Christ. Why, then, do we live like hermits, afraid to come out into the light?

Some of us experience very real suffering, and know intense trials put upon us by God. This can lead us to feel abandoned and frail, and, often, worthless. This is all to the good, for whilst we do not like the feelings, they serve a purpose. They prove that our own human emotions and frames are useless when living spiritual lives. We must learn to be strong in the Lord, not in ourselves. Then, just as the archangel dared not fight Satan himself, but relied only on God, so we will come to realise that only God gives us anything of worth. We cannot earn it, or demand it. It is given freely because He wishes to give it. Along the way He might test us so that our faith is proved. Then, when we obey and learn the lessons of the trial, we will emerge stronger than before, with deeper faith. Learn it, friends. Today it is more vital than ever.