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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
THE THEME OF EXODUS: Delivered from enemies (Redemption); Separated unto God (Relationship). PRINCIPAL TOPICS-—-Passover; Law; Tabernacle. THREE VIEWS OF ISRAEL— Enslaved; Redeemed; Con secrated. AUTHOR OF BOOK—Moses (Luke 24:27). (1 ) ISRAEL’S PROBLEM “Now there arose a new king, which knew not Joseph” 1:8. In spite of persecution, Israel prospered. God was with them. The king sought to exterminate the males by slay ing them at birth. The midwives refused to act as mur derers and the king then issued an edict that all male children should be slain. This introduces us to the story of the cradle of Moses. We have here some wonderful word pictures and sug gestive teaching in type; how by grace the Lord redeemed to Himself from fallen humanity a people through one apostle (Moses) and high priest (Aaron). We must bear in mind that God was under covenant relation with the descendants of Abraham, and we must not forget this in all of our. studies. Following Joseph’s death, we have a long period of which we have no record. Paul says in Gal. 3:17, that it was 430 years from the call of Abraham to the giving of the Law at Sinai. Israel lived in constant expectation of return to their own land. They are to be a great nation and are in God’s school. There are four words which express the purpose and object of God’s dealing with them: Isolation (separation from Egypt and the nations). Preservation (in a fruitful land, hemmed in and sus ceptible of great development.) Education (learning from the schools of Egypt; instruc tion in all the arts). Multiplication (in sufficient numbers to form a nation). The land was soon filled with the Israelites. They mul tiplied in numbers, increased in flocks and herds, accumu lated much wealth, waxed mighty—God’s blessing was upon them. (Gen. 46 :3 ). Egypt feared them lest they should ally themselves with enemies; or, living on the border, might easily remove. The Jewish people have always been a problem. The king used worldly wisdom in dealing with them, and subjected them to severe service. Taskmasters were put over them, and they were used to build cities in order to strengthen the kingdom. Through their prosperity the Israelites had backslidden in heart, as the church has today. Prosperity is always a snare. The corruption of Egypt had influenced them and they had become slaves to sin. God teaches through His Word, and also by experience. Tribulation worketh patience. God matures His saints through trials. Israel must be weaned from Egypt by learning to hate it, and learn to love and long for another land. Affliction bound them close to one another. There is no ripened fruit with out the sun, and no gold without a furnace. Egypt is a type of the world (1 John 5 :1 0 ); Hos. 11:1; Matt. 2:15) Pharaoh is a type of Satan. God takes His people out of the world (John 17:14 ). The contrast be tween Egypt and Canaan is found in Deut. 11:10-12. The life of believers is typed here. We know the terrors of the task, and the heat of the furnace,— but God is with us! (2) ISRAEL’S LEADER IN PREPARATION “And she ^.brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son.” 2:10. In the midst of the inhuman, brutal scenes in the land
of Pharaoh, a child was born who was destined to be come one of earth’s mightiest men, and his name was Moses. The king’s command to slay all the male children demanded his death, but—-led by the Lord— his mother took the risk of saving her son. He was cradled in secret. She hid him three months in the women’s department of the home. (Acts 7:20; Heb. 11:23 ). She knew that, sooner or later, the secret must be known. A mother’s heart is inventive. She no doubt sought wisdom from God (Jas. 1 :5 ). With firm faith in the purpose of God to spare her boy, she conceived a plan of bringing him to the notice of Pharaoh’s daughter whom tradition says was married, but childless. Her daily visit to the river to bathe offered the opportunity (Psa. 27:3). The plan worked. The king’s daughter took the child and' sent it-—all unwittingly|8-to the child’s mother to be cared for. “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages.” There was no more need of secrecy. Moses’ mother is the nurse and the king’s daughter pays the bills. How important for the coming days were those years in the home, with the godly mother as nurse and teacher. He must know the history of Israel, and must know Israel’s God; must be familiar with the names and history of the patriarchs and the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph pf-the stories recorded now in the Bible, which every boy and girl in our schools should know so that they might know and understand God and His dealing with men. Blessed be the boy with such a mother, environed in such a home. The young lad absorbed those great lessons of faith and confidence in God which enabled him to enter with keen interest and sympathy into the problems of his own enslaved people, and to rise to a higher ambition and prospect than the kingdom of Egypt. No parent should rob a child of the benefit of a godly example, the Bible and the family altar. First things should be put first. Moses was constituted a prince, “And he became her son.” When he was perhaps seven years he was taken to the palace of the king of the great nation and the book of Acts tells us the story of the days spent there (Acts 7:22) “And H o se s w a s lea rn ed In a ll th e w isd om o f th e E g y p t ia n s, an d w a s m ig h ty in w o rd s and d eed s. ” He had access to the great libraries of that day, and to the schools and teachers. All that a king’s son could have, was his. Moses was consecrated to his people, “Moses looked upon their burdens.” The effect of his mother’s training was manifested in his heart-longing for his people. He looked upon their burdens as we should look upon the burden of sin borne by young and old. His impetuous nature is shown in his fiery protest against wrong (Acts 7:23-29). He did not know that knowledge of the blow would reach Pharaoh, hut it did. But his mistake was overruled for God’s glory. When we look upon the burdens of men, we should strike and fight that they might know the Burden- bearer, Jesus Christ. (4) ISRAEL’S LEADER PROCLAIMED, A Trumpet Call to a Tremendous Task, “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you.” The third and fourth chapters of Exodus give the details of the call from God to Moses. He has been in the wilder ness for forty years toi unlearn some of the Egyptian lore and to learn to know God. A call to God’s service must have Divine authority. It was God’s voice that spake There was a Divine providence. God Himself was there.
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