I Bore You on Eagles' Wings, Part 1

Right now we're past the days of Unleavened Bread, and we're looking forward to Pentecost, as Mr. Olson was announcing there and getting a show of hands for in the announcements, because that is to be coming up not too far off towards the end of May. And we are now in that countdown period. In Leviticus 23, verses 15 to 16, we are told to count 50 days from the day after the Sabbath, the wave sheaf was offered, to the day of Pentecost. In fact, Leviticus 23, verses 16 specifically says this, it's count 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Now, some people look at that a little differently, count seven weeks, but I'm not going to get into that. This isn't about that. But the way it's translated in our Bible is it counts 50 days to the day after the seventh Sabbath.

But we are, at any rate, now in that 50-day countdown period, and it was during the time of that very time that ancient Israel then, after being delivered out of Egypt, completed their journey from Goshen and the land of Egypt to Mount Sinai to meet with God.

And that was to receive, of course, the Ten Commandments. And that was quite a journey they made. It was a journey from slavery to freedom. And, of course, you also probably realize that number 50 in the Bible can be symbolic of freedom, as indicated by Leviticus 25.10, which is talking about the Jubilee year. And it says, and you shall count, Leviticus 25.10 says, and you shall consecrate the 50th year, meaning the Jubilee year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. So the number 50 then, by that verse, kind of symbolic of liberty. And, of course, the latter part of that verse, latter part of Leviticus 25.10, where it says, proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. That is actually inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and which was rung for the first time on July 8, 1776, after the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. Now, the last sermon I gave here, back on the last day of 11 bread, I showed that God's ways are not our ways. I want to expand on that today, go into some other lessons, but expand on that in more detail. Today I want to actually begin a journey that we can go on with Israel as they were delivered out of Egypt to meet with God at Mount Sinai, because that is quite a journey. So we'll begin to go on that today to see some of the lessons that we can learn as God formulated a plan to make the sins of Abraham and Sarah into his holy nation, his holy people. And the journey, of course, was a delivery from from slavery to freedom.

And that journey, as we look at it in more detail, we can learn many lessons from that and lessons that apply to all of us spiritually, since we are a spiritual descendants of Israel, with a spiritual house of Israel, if you will, today. And we are basically on a very similar journey that they were on in a spiritual sense. So today we're going to begin to relive that journey so we can understand some of the lessons from that and how they can apply to our lives today.

So we're going to begin this journey to see how God formulated a plan to establish and deliver his nation of Israel out of Egypt. Again, like I say, also not only many lessons, but there are many ironies in that story of how God delivered Israel out of Egypt. There's many things that, on the surface, you look at and they just don't seem to make a whole lot of sense.

And many things that are kind of the opposite of what we'd expect and what we'd anticipate.

And many things which are would be contradictions as to the way we would think it should be done, the way it would logically be done. But from that, those things are also many, many lessons that we can learn. They're very valuable, but sometimes difficult to learn and sometimes even more difficult to apply in our lives. So today as we begin this journey, and this is actually the beginning of a three-part series of sermons to cover all the aspects of it, but as we begin this journey today, we're going to look at how God conceived Israel and then formulated a plan to deliver them out of Egypt. I want to begin, even before I give you the title, first let's look at Scripture in Exodus 19. Because Exodus 19 is just as at the end of that journey as Israel had gotten out of Egypt now, they're right at Mount Sinai, they're about to meet with God, and God gives some instructions to Moses to give to Israel as recorded in Exodus 19. I'm going to set this as kind of the theme for this three-part series of sermons. Just look at two verses here in Exodus 19. Exodus 19 beginning in verse 3, it says, Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and the children of Israel. He says, You see what I did to the Egyptians as I delivered you out of Egypt to bring you here to Mount Sinai to meet with God. You see what I've done to the Egyptians, and now I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. That's kind of the theme, I bore you on eagle's wings, and that is in fact the title of my sermon, the series of sermons, actually. So my title is, I bore you on eagle's wings, part one. And in part one, we're going to look at Israel's conception as a nation. I bore you on eagle's wings, part one, Israel's conception. But I want to actually go back to several hundred years before Israel was actually delivered out of Egypt to kind of bring, because a lot of these things tie into this story. And I want to begin by asking a question that has a very interesting answer. How did Israel end up in Egypt in the first place? They had to be delivered out of Egypt. We all know that. But how did they end up in Egypt in the first place? It's a very interesting question to ask, and it leads to an apparent enigma, to something that would seem to be very difficult to explain and to understand. It doesn't make any sense. As we all know, the Israelites were descendants of Jacob, who was a grandson of Abraham, and his name was changed from Jacob to Israel by God himself. God changed his name. And there was a particular incident in which God didn't change Jacob's name to Israel. It was changed by God after Jacob had wrestled with God and prevailed. Let's look at that. That's recorded for us in Genesis 32. So let's turn to Genesis 32 and begin in verse 24. Genesis 32 verse 24.

It says, Jacob was left alone, and a man, and man is capitalized in my Bible because this man is God. It's actually the one who became Jesus Christ. Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him into the breaking of day. And I'm going to substitute God and Jacob, where it says he here, because in my Bible it's capital H, where it's referring to God, and a small h, where it's referring to Jacob. But just so you can understand what it's saying. It's quite interesting how this is worded here. Verse 25, now when he, when God, saw that God did not prevail against Jacob, small h, then he, God, touched the socket of Jacob's hip, and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint as God wrestled with Jacob. And God said, let me go for the day breaks. But Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. So God said to Jacob, verse 27, what is your name? And he said, Jacob. And then God said, verse 28, your name shall no longer be Jacob but Israel, for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.

So God was wrestling with Jacob, and God is not prevailing. That's interesting.

And so what God does in, he takes Jacob's hip and puts it out of joint.

But Jacob, in great pain, hangs on and keeps wrestling with God and refuses to let go until God blesses him.

And though in great pain, then, Jacob prevailed in his struggle with God.

And you know, sometimes we struggle with God, don't we, in a symbolic way, in different ways, various ways. We struggle in prayer. We struggle with trials we're going through. We struggle with trying to understand things, why things God allows certain things to happen in our lives. We struggle with God all the time. So the question is, will you and I do the same as Jacob did, and our struggle with God through our trials? Will we prevail? Will we hang on and refuse to let go until God gives us that ultimate blessing of his kingdom, regardless of how difficult it is, how much pain we go through?

So Jacob's name was then changed by God from Jacob, which means supplanter. It was changed to Israel, which actually, interestingly, means God strives. It could be something for a good sermonette there. And shortly after this, God reveals his plan to Jacob, or Israel, and his descendants. Let's read that, Genesis chapter 35, beginning in verse 9, where it says, Then God appeared to Jacob again when he came from Padan Aram and blessed him.

And God said to him, He said to Jacob, Your name is Jacob, your name shall not be called Jacob anymore. From now on, Israel shall be your name. You're going to be called Israel. So he called his name Israel. And also God said to him, verse 11, I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply, because a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.

And the land, verse 12, which I gave Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you, and to your descendants after you I give this land. So God had a plan for Israel, and God also had a rather strange plan for carrying out that plan.

As we know, Jacob, or Israel, his name was changed to here, had 12 sons, one of which was Joseph.

And it was through Joseph that God would then fulfill this promise he makes here to Jacob, to become a nation and a company of nations. And that was to be fulfilled through Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as prophesied in Genesis 48, verses 14 to 20. And it was prophesied to be fulfilled ultimately, the ultimate fulfillment was prophesied for the last days, as it tells us in Genesis 49, verse 1. But Jacob's descendants, the Israelites, they did become a formidable nation just a few hundred years after this promise here was made, and his name was changed from Jacob to Israel. But here then, in Genesis 35.10, we have God's plan for Israel. And we might say here we have the plan for Israel's conception to be a great nation occurs here in Genesis 35.10, at least in the mind of God, with his name being changed to Israel.

The actual conception of Israel as a nation actually takes place in Egypt.

But the gestation period from conception to birth, that's going to be a very long, difficult, and rather strange pregnancy period, if you will, before the nation of Israel was actually born out of Egypt. It is noteworthy that the Hebrew word for Egypt, when you look into it, some of the words connected with Egypt can be associated with meaning a narrow place.

Now, if you go back and you look at next in part two, I'm actually going to show you a map. I'm going to have it projected here on the screen, hopefully, of Egypt. And we'll go through it a little bit. But when you look at Egypt, even a modern-day Egypt, most of the populace is right along the Nile River. It's a big nation, but most of it is very sparsely populated. Almost all the population is right along the Nile River. That very narrow corridor, if you will.

It's a very north-south, very narrow corridor adjacent to the Nile River. That's where everybody lived. And in a sense, and you look at it, especially if you look at it on a map too, you can see where it could be likened to the womb of a mother, in a sense. The Nile River provided the nourishment which sustained the life of Egypt, still does today. In fact, 98% of the people in Egypt live along the Nile River. But if it's a mother's womb, also it's a very narrow place.

It offers warmth, sustenance, nourishment, protection for a newly conceived fetus. So Egypt is that way, portrayed that way as well, as being kind of like a womb. And the Nile River, being that narrow place that provided the nourishment and the sustenance to stay in the life of the people who live in Egypt. Of course, the mother's womb is very comfortable for the first, it provides nourishment and so on for about the first seven or eight months. But as that baby grows in there, it becomes pretty crowded. And by the eighth, ninth month, it's pretty crowded in there.

And the baby's looking for a way out. It's not so comfortable anymore. And the same thing happened with Israel and Egypt as they grew.

Egypt also became a situation where it wasn't very comfortable anymore.

But how did Jacob or Israel end up in Egypt in the first place? This is an interesting question to pursue. Jacob's son Joseph was sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites. You can read that in Genesis 37 verses 27 and 28. Well, who were the Ishmaelites?

Well, Ishmael was the son of Abraham and Hagar, which of course was Hagar, was Sarah's handmaid.

And Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Hagar, Sarah's handmaid. Because God had promised Abraham that his descendants would become a great nation. But then God closed Sarah's womb. She couldn't conceive. Her womb was closed. She couldn't conceive. And when she then finally became too old to conceive, why did she say to Abraham? She said, See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing. Please go into my maid. Perhaps I shall obtain children by her. And then it says, Abraham heated the voice of Sarah. That's recorded in Genesis 16 verse 2. Thus Abraham and Sarah decided to try to work things out on their own. It didn't work out too well. They worked things out, but it didn't have a great result because it wasn't the way God intended. The result of working things out their own way, of course, was the birth of Ishmael by Hagar. And of course that resulted in the descendants of Ishmael, who became known as the Ishmaelites. But here's a very interesting part of that story. Who was Hagar? What nationality was she? Well, it tells us in Genesis 16. Let's turn to Genesis 16 because it tells us what her nationality was. And this is an interesting part of this whole story. Genesis chapter 16 verse 1. Now Sarah, Abram's wife, before their names were changed, now Sarah, Abram's wife, had borne him no children, but she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. Interestingly, Hagar was an Egyptian. She's from Egypt. Verse 2, So Sarah, I said to Abram, See now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing children. Please go into my maid. Perhaps I shall obtain children by her. And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. Going down to verse 15.

So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore Ishmael.

And Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.

So Ishmael then had a Hebrew father, Abraham, and an Egyptian mother. So Ishmael was half Egyptian.

But God's covenant promise was not with Abraham and Hagar, it was with Abraham and Sarah.

Now 13 years later, right here in the same section of Scripture, 13 years later, God appears to Abram again. Chapter 17 of Genesis, verse 1. When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am Almighty God, walk before me and be blameless.

Dropping down to verse 5, he said, he changes Abram's name here. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall now be called Abraham, which means the father of a multitude. For I have made you a father of many nations. You're going to become a father of a multitude through Sarah.

So then he changes Sarah, Sarah's name as well in verse 15 of Genesis 17.

Then God said to Abraham, for Sarah your wife, as for Sarah your wife, you shall not call her name Sarah, but Sarah shall her name be. And Sarah means princess.

And then in verse 16, God tells them, and I will bless her and also give you a son by her.

And then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations, and kings of people shall be from her. She's going to be a genuine princess, and kings, and queens, and other princes and princesses are going to be born from her.

Dropping down to verse 17, continuing, then Abraham fell on his face and laughed.

And he said in his heart, shall a child be born to a man who's a hundred years old?

That doesn't make any sense. And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old by now, bear a son?

And then Abraham said to God in verse 18, oh, that Ishmael might live before you. Hey, we have a son. He's 13 years old, or close to 13. Why don't you just make the promise through him?

But God said in verse 19, no, I'm not going to do that. No, Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac, which means laughter, interestingly.

And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly, and he shall beget twelve princes, and I'll also make him a great nation. But my covenant, verse 21, I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year. Now, I'm sure Ishmael, who was actually being the firstborn son, as well as he would look at it, of Abraham, undoubtedly felt he should have been the one to receive the covenant blessing. But that was not to be. God had other plans. The covenant blessing would be through Isaac and his son Jacob. Ironically, however, Egypt was to have a very important role to play in God's plan for establishing Jacob's descendants as a great nation.

And Egypt would also become the womb from which the nation of Israel would be born.

Now, as we know, Isaac's son Jacob had twelve sons, and one of Jacob's twelve sons was Joseph. Who was Joseph sold to? You know, Joseph, his brothers got jealous of him, and they sold him. Who did they sell him to? Let's pick up the story in Genesis 37, which answers that for us. All these things kind of tie together very interestingly. Genesis 37, beginning in verse 23.

That's interesting.

So then Judah said to his brothers, he said, well, you know, what prophets are going to be if we kill him? Because they were thinking about killing him and concealing it. What prophet is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Instead of that, he says, verse 27, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh.

And the other brothers listened to him, to Judah. Then Midianite traders passed by, verse 28, so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and they sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they, the Ishmaelites, took Joseph to Egypt.

So, Joseph now is going to go to Egypt. So, Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites, the sons of Abraham and Hagar, who were half Egyptians, since Hagar wasn't Egyptian.

And they took Joseph to Egypt and sold him into slavery in Egypt.

So, it becomes evident then from all this that Egypt and slavery play very important roles in God's plan for his nation of Israel. Why? Why is that an important part of God's plan?

Why did God choose to carry out his plan in that particular manner?

And does the way God carried out his plan in that particular manner have anything to do with God's spiritual people that he is working with and calling today, like all of us? What does that have to do with all of us? What lessons can we learn? How does this apply to us? But the development of the nation of Israel after conception would now begin through Joseph in the womb of Egypt, as indicated by what we just read in Genesis 37-28, and they took Joseph to Egypt. So, it's going to begin in Egypt.

Now, as we know, in the case of a mother, a baby is conceived by a single seed that is planted in the mother's womb, a very small seed that then slowly begins to grow and multiply and develop.

And that was also how the nation of Israel was conceived in Egypt. With the planting in Egypt, of just one individual, one individual, Joseph, a very small seed, one person, Joseph, being planted in Egypt. Now, what happened after this initial conception, if you will, took place? What happened after Joseph was planted in Egypt, or in the womb of Egypt, if you will? Well, Joseph became the servant or the slave of Potiphar, who was an officer of Pharaoh. As we know, then he was imprisoned. After that, he was a servant for a while for a couple of three years, and then he was falsely accused. And after he was falsely accused, he was thrown in prison in the very prime of his life, in his 20s, probably all throughout his 20s. He became imprisoned in Egypt after being, you know, accused and convicted of false charges. And he suffered wrongfully for 10 long years during the very prime time of his life. Of course, then, as we know, and I'm going to go through all the details of the story, but God delivered Joseph and brought him to Pharaoh himself because Pharaoh had this dream. They said, well, we don't know somebody who can interpret dreams. And he brought Joseph to Pharaoh to interpret Pharaoh's very troubling dream.

Well, then Joseph interprets that dream. And Joseph then told Pharaoh, he says, look, here's what this dream means. You're going to have seven years of plenty. But those seven years of plenty are going to be followed by seven years of severe famine. So you better start preparing during these seven years of plenty. You better lay up store for yourself for the seven years of famine. That was the advice that Joseph gave to Pharaoh. And this Pharaoh, and remarkably, actually believed Joseph and heeded his advice. Let's go to Genesis 41.

Genesis 41, beginning in verse 37. So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all of his servants. Pharaoh said to his servants, can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God? He's got the wisdom of God. That's quite a statement for Pharaoh to make.

If somebody just took out of prison. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you, so you should be over my house and over all my people, and all my people should be ruled according to your word. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, see, I've set you over all the land of Egypt. And then Pharaoh took a signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph's hand, and he clothed him in garments of fine linen, and put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him right in the second chariot, which he had, and they cried out before him, bow the knee. So Pharaoh set Joseph over all the land of Egypt. What a change! What a turnaround! It's also noteworthy, if you just go drop down, I'm not going to read it, but if you drop down to verse 43, it's noteworthy that Pharaoh then gave Asenoth, if you're pronouncing that right, the daughter of an Egyptian priest to be his wife. Verse 45. So Joseph marries an Egyptian wife, and she becomes a mother of Ephraim and Manasseh, as we record in Genesis 46.20. So Joseph had an Egyptian wife, and even Manasseh then were half Egyptian. They have an Egyptian mother. Interesting.

Egypt plays a really important role in all this, doesn't it?

Egypt plays a very major role in God's plan for Israel. You have to ask, why is that? And what does it have to do with all of us? Is there a spiritual lesson there for us? There's a reason why God did it that way. Obviously, there is. Now, in the seven days of famine, Egypt became the only remaining sanctuary to go to for food.

Egypt was the only place people could go for food and nourishment and protection from the famine.

So, in other words, Egypt then became, in a sense, a womb of nourishment, comfort, and protection from the severe famine that God brought on the land. And when Joseph's brothers, of course, then that forced Joseph's brothers, because after two years of the severe famine, they were forced to go to Egypt to try to get some food and some grain in order to survive. And they go to Egypt, and what did they discover? They had to go before Joseph. He's in control. He's got the control of the whole of his grain. And when they discover the only one that can save them from this famine is their brother Joseph, who may have betrayed and sold into slavery, they became pretty worried.

They thought their goose was cooked, and they became so afraid, because they were afraid, wow, now the table's turned. What's Joseph going to do? Is he going to want to get retribution?

Are we going to be thrown in prison or worse?

Is he going to seek to even the score? Because that's not only what happens.

But instead, Joseph told them that it was all by God's design and according to God's will. Let's read that in Genesis 45.

I think this is an extremely inspiring part of the story.

Genesis 45, beginning in verse 1.

Here's the brothers appearing before Joseph, and he hasn't revealed himself yet.

Of course, Joseph knows these are his brothers. Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, Make everyone go out for me. So he had all the Egyptians leave.

So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. He couldn't wait any longer. And he wept aloud.

He wasn't feeling revenge. He was feeling tremendous love to have his brothers there, to be reunited with him. This is an amazing attitude Joseph had.

And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard it. And then Joseph said to his brothers, verse 3, he said, I am Joseph.

Does my father still live?

But his brothers couldn't answer him. They were just in shock.

And they were dismayed. They thought, boy, the gig is up. Now the tables are turned.

Hear our brother that we sold into slavery and betrayed, and we're going to kill.

Now he's got power over us. What's going to happen next?

He says, this can't be good.

And Joseph said to his brothers, please come near to me.

So they came near. And then he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Well, now they're waiting for the axe to fall. But notice what Joseph says next.

He says, verse 5, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. Let that sink in. God sent me before you to preserve life.

You know, I have to stop here and just think of this for a minute, because we go through a lot of trials and difficulties, and we can see our relatives, our family in the world, and what they're going through and what they're going to be going through. You think maybe God's doing the same with us, that he called us ahead of time, so that we could be in a position in the future to preserve and save the lives of our family and the people of the world, just like he did with Joseph. He's planning us ahead of time to be prepared for that. I'd say that's the case. Verse 6, for these two years of famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest, but God sent me before you to preserve a prosperity for you and the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. Someday God is going to use us to do the same thing for our families and for the people of the world, just like he did for Joseph. So don't become dismayed because things are tough, because you're going through a lot of trials, because God has a plan. There's a reason that we go through these trials now.

In verse 8, so now it was not you who sent me here ahead of time, but it was God.

And he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. So Israel was conceived in Egypt by God's design, by God's plan and purpose, and according to God's will. And therein that womb of Egypt, if you will, the embryonic nation of Israel received warmth and nourishment and protection, just like an embryo in its mother's womb would. And therein the womb of Egypt, Israel, began to multiply and to grow and to nourish and to prosper. They were given the best of the land, the land of Goshen, and they were thriving there for a while. But then came the time to be born.

And of course, before a baby is born, it becomes a time of travail.

Israel, so let's now look at the time of travail for Israel. Israel continued to grow and develop in the womb of Egypt until the time of travail came. And as Israel grew in the womb of Egypt, it then began to crowd that womb, if you will, and it became very uncomfortable for the Egyptians.

Let's look at that in Exodus 1.

Exodus 1 will begin in verse 6. And Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation, but the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly. They were continued to grow in the womb of Egypt. And they multiplied, and they grew exceedingly mighty, and the land became filled with them. They began crowding the land. If it was a baby, it crowds the womb as it develops and gets big, gets ready to be born. And there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come, let us deal with them, let us multiply, and it happened in the event of war that they join our enemies and fight against us and then go up out of the land. Therefore, they set task-maskers over them to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for the feral supply cities, Python and Ramses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew, and they became in dread of the children of Israel. So the Egyptians then made the children of Israel serve with rigor, and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, in brick, in all manner of service in the field, and all their service with which they made them serve was with rigor. So Israel was now growing to where she is nearing her time of birth, and the womb of Egypt is no longer a warm, comfortable place. Instead, it's now becoming a narrow, confining, and restricting place. Just as the Hebrew word for Egypt can imply a narrow place. The actual Hebrew word for Egypt is misre'im, which is associated with two other Hebrew words, which mean limiting and narrow. Thus, the implication of Egypt being a limited and narrow place. And if you, again, look at a map of Egypt, you see where everybody's situated along a very narrow north-south corridor along the Nile River. You can see it is a very narrow place where most people can live. There was much travail then leading up to the birth of Israel. Great deal of travail. The Israelites had become slaves. They became such a very hard bondage for at least 80 years or more, because Moses is born during this time of great travail, and Moses is 80 years old before God intervenes to deliver them out of that travail. So they had a good 80 years or more of very, very hard bondage or hard travail. Now, remember what Joseph told his brothers.

He told them it was all by God's doing. He said, God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you and the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

Now, why did God choose to do it the way he did? Why did God choose slavery as a means by which he would lead Israel to freedom? He's going to lead them to freedom, but why would he choose slavery as a means to do that? Does that tie into anything in the way that God works with us?

See, why was Israel born out of slavery? Why was that a part of God's design for Israel?

And why did God deliberately lead them into Egypt? Think about this. Why did God deliberately lead them into Egypt just to turn around and have to lead them out of Egypt a couple hundred years later?

That doesn't make sense.

Now, think about it. Where was the Promised Land?

The Promised Land, as we know, was the land of Canaan.

Where was Israel prior to going into Egypt? They were in the land of Canaan.

They were in the land of Canaan. So why would God take him to Egypt to take him to Canaan? Now, that's just leave him in Canaan. Let him multiply there.

See, why would God force the descendants of Israel to go to Egypt so he could then deliver them out of Egypt to the land of Canaan when they were already in the land of Canaan to begin with? Why would God do it that way? That doesn't make sense.

Wouldn't it have been much easier to just allow them to grow and develop in the land of Canaan all along? Let's go back and look at that. It's worth looking at and reading and seeing that for ourselves because it raises an enigma and it can teach us some very valuable lessons. Genesis 12, verse 1. Go back to the promise that God made to Abram when he was 75 years old. Genesis 12, verse 1. Now the Lord has said to Abram, Get out of your country and from your family and from your father's house and go to a land that I'm going to show you. And I'm going to make you a great nation and I'm going to bless you and make your name great and you should be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you and in you all the families of the earth are going to be blessed.

Verse 4. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him and Lot went with him. And Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son in all their possessions that they had gathered and the people whom they had acquired in Haran.

And they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan, which is the Promised Land. God promised Abraham the land of Canaan and now Abraham goes to the land of Canaan. Didn't take him very long. Why didn't God bless him right there and then fulfill his promise to Abraham right there in the land of Canaan?

I mean, I'm sure Abraham, when he found out this is the land he's going to give him, he said, well, that wasn't a bad trip. That wasn't too bad. I mean, there's one problem now. My wife doesn't have any children, but she still still, yeah, she still can have children. She's still not too old for children yet, that particular time in their society. So all I need now is a son. That shouldn't be too hard for God. But then what does God do?

What does God do almost immediately after Abraham arrives in the land of Canaan?

He not only, he just barely arrives in the land of Canaan, and what does God do? He brings a famine on the land of Canaan to force Abraham to go out of the land of Canaan. And guess where Abraham is forced to go? If you guessed Egypt, you win. Genesis 12 verse 10. There was a famine in the land in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. This then is where Abraham's trials and struggles begin in Egypt. Then what did God do?

Now let's go back to Genesis 16 again. Genesis 16 verse 1.

Now Sarah, Abraham's wife, had borne him no children, and she had an Egyptian maid server whose name was Hagar. And she said to Abram, See, now the Lord has restrained me from bearing children.

Please go to my maid. Perhaps I should be obtained children by her.

Because by now, Sarah was past the time of being able to bear children. She says, Well, it's not going to be fulfilled through me. I see if we can't fulfill the promise through Hagar.

And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai.

So God closed Sarah's womb so she couldn't conceive, not until she was 90 years old and well past childbearing years.

So then she could only conceive by a miracle from God.

At the time Sarah finally conceived, Abraham and Sarah were back in the land of Canaan.

You can read that in Genesis 13-12.

Which God promised to Abraham in his descendants, as it says in Genesis 17-8. He says, I promise you the land of Canaan is a never-lasting possession. Genesis 17 verse 8. Then in Genesis 18, God appears to Abraham and Sarah to tell them they're going to have a son. Let's go to Genesis 18 and pick up the story there. Genesis 18 beginning in verse 11. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age, and Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. It doesn't have any children. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure with pleasure, my Lord being old also?

And the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh? Saying, Shall I surely bear a child since I'm old?

Verse 14. Is anything too hard for the Eternal?

Just because it's impossible from your viewpoint does make it impossible for God.

At the appointed time, God tells them, I will return to you according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. And of course that happened. Genesis 21 verse 1. And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. Verse 2. Verse 3. And Abraham called the name of his son, who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, called him Isaac.

Or laughter. Because they laughed. They didn't think God could fulfill the promise of Sarah.

But God could. And he did.

Then when Isaac becomes, maybe in his late teens or early twenties, becomes of age, what does God tell Abraham to do?

Genesis 22 verse 1. It came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. And then God said, verse 2, Take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love. And go to the land of Moriah. To a particular place I'm going to show you, a particular mountain. There's a whole sermon right there, as to why God chose that mountain.

Of course, that mountain is in Jerusalem today.

Go to the land of Moriah and offer in there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will show you. Offerings a burnt offering. Does any of this make any sense?

Why would God remove Abraham from the land of Canaan to give him the land of Canaan?

Why would God close Sarah's womb in order to make Abraham's descendants into a great nation?

That all doesn't make any sense to me. Why would God give Abraham a son in his old age and ask him to take his son's life? Why would God force Israel into Egypt in order to have to deliver them out of Egypt?

Why did God allow the Israelites to become slaves in order to give them freedom?

See, does any of that make any sense? Why did God do it that way?

What does God want all of us to learn from this? God had this all planned out.

He knew exactly how he wanted to carry this whole plan out. Like I said, he had a plan for carrying out his plan. And he had a reason for doing it. Because extremely valuable lessons you'd learn this way. He wouldn't learn any other way. Let's go to Genesis 23 verse 1 again.

Sarah lived 127 years, and these were all the years of the life of Sarah.

So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba, that is in Hebron, in the land of Canaan. And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. And then dropping down to verse 19 in Genesis 23. After this, Abraham buried Sarah, his wife, in the cave of Machapila before Malmari, that is in Hebron, in the land of Canaan. So Sarah is now buried in the land of Canaan. He obtained a cave for that. So the field in the cave that is in it were adhered to Abraham by the sons of Hath as property for a burial place for Sarah. So now then we come to the time of Moses. The sons of Israel are now back in the land of Egypt as slaves by the time of Moses, we know. And Moses is 80 years old when God appears to him in the burning bush and sends him to Pharaoh to deliver Israel. So the nation of Israel could finally come to the time of its birth out of the womb of Egypt. So the nation of Israel could be born. And then after 10 devastating plagues, we won't go through those, but 10 devastating plagues, which I guess you could liken to maybe 10 severe contractions in order to bring Israel to birth, with the last contraction being the major one when all the firstborn had to die.

The time of Israel to be born as the nation finally comes. But there's even an enigma to that.

There's something very puzzling even there that doesn't make sense if it's correct the way it's written here in the New King James. Some look at it a little differently, but let's look at it anyway.

There's something happens here because God sends Moses to Pharaoh to get Pharaoh to let Israel go.

But then what is it in our Bibles at least was to say that God did.

Not just once, but several times. Let's go to Exodus chapter 4.

Exodus chapter 4 in first first instance where this is recorded is in Exodus 4 verse 21. And the Lord said to Moses, When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I put in your hand, but I will harden his heart so he will not let the people go. Go do these wonders, but I'm going to harden his heart so it's not going to let him go.

Now some have looked at all these sisworks says that were I because I gave this last week some came to me and told me this is if you look in the actual Hebrew and so on it doesn't have to mean that God actually hardened his heart that maybe if Pharaoh's heart was already hardened and it's kind of the maybe the plague started to soften him but then he hardened it again well I don't know I'm not going to argue that I don't know Hebrew but it says here God hardened his heart but at any rate I would say this that God had it planned so it was going to take the 10th plague before Israel would be let go whether it was God that hardened his heart or Pharaoh hardened his own heart or it was a combination of both either way but here it says God hardened his heart let's go to justice 5 verse 22 most returned to the turn to the eternal and said Lord why have you brought people excuse me why have you brought trouble on this people why is it you've sent me to Pharaoh for since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name he has done evil to this people neither has have you delivered your people at all we're told by this time they've already gone through several places nothing's happening why you keep sending me to Pharaoh he's not responding let's go to Exodus chapter 9 verse 12 but the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and did not heed them just as the Lord had spoken to Moses Exodus 10 verse 20 but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart he did not let the children of Israel go verse 27 but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart he would not let them go and finally Exodus 11 verse 10 so Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh and the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land so however this is played out but why did God keep sending Moses to Pharaoh with all these miracles and things that he did and these wonders to only harden Pharaoh's heart or allow Pharaoh's heart to continue to be hardened so he would refuse to let Israel go until he took the that last major contraction came if you will or that mass major plague of the death of the firstborn Jesus say that make any sense why would God continue doing all these things and still make work have a workout so that Israel could not be let go until he gone through all 10 of these plagues why did God let it come about that way why was that important part of God's plan for bringing about the birth of Israel as this holy nation let's go to Exodus 12 verse 29 came to pass at midnight the eternal struck all the firstborn of the land of Egypt from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captives who was in the dungeon and all the firstborn of livestock so the Pharaoh rose in the night and he and all his servants and all the Egyptians there was a great cry in Egypt for there's not a house where there wasn't someone who was dead and then he called for Moses and Aaron by night and he said arise and go out from all my people both you and the children of Israel and go serve the Lord as you have said and take your flocks and your herds and be gone and bless me too because we're having problems here in Egypt I need a blessing Egypt was devastated by this time and the Egyptians verse 33 urged the people that they might send them out of the land in haste where they said we're all going to be dead of course then at the time of the Passover and the first day of unleavened bread Israel began its passage out of the womb of Egypt so it could finally be born as a nation and God finally begins delivering them out of Egypt not of slavery out of the very slavery he allowed them to go into to begin with and that is when Israel's 50-day countdown to Pentecost begins as he begins not to deliver them out of Egypt and that is when in essence God begins to bear them on eagles wings to bring them to the mountain of God to bring them to himself and there are a number of puzzling questions in that story as well which we'll look at next time in part two if I bore you on eagles wings when we'll look at Israel's birth and deliverance but in conclusion here I want to leave you with one final thought as we conclude part one was it difficult for God to work things out the way he did a strange way he did it was it difficult for God to work things out or was it just difficult for Israel to believe God yeah faith that God was going to fulfill the promise that he made seeing this entire process was there anything was there any aspect of Israel's deliverance that was difficult for God now when you stop and analyze you think about it the answer might surprise you because there was one thing that was difficult for God wasn't difficult for God to give Israel a child in their old age wasn't difficult for any of these things that opened the Red Sea all these things that God did were easy for God to do there was one thing though that was difficult it wasn't difficult for God to deliver Israel out of Egypt or out of slavery but there was something that was difficult for God back then and still difficult for God today in working with all of us but we'll end there for now and we'll continue our journey next time