Let My People Go

Now, brethren, there's a particular phrase in the biblical account of the deliverance of God's children, the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt, that's always stood out to me. Perhaps it has to you as well. It's a very meaningful phrase that's used several times in the Exodus account. Perhaps it could be even thought of as a battle cry of the Exodus, or perhaps marching orders for the Exodus. So what phrase do you think I'm talking about? Well, let me give you some hints regarding this phrase. It's used nine times in the Bible, all of them in the book of Exodus. It was spoken first by Moses and Aaron to the Pharaoh of Egypt. They were actually quoting the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when speaking to Pharaoh. The phrase is just four words long. Only one of the four words is longer than three letters. There are only 13 letters in the entire four-word phrase. Any guesses? Let my people go! Exactly. Not all that hard, but the phrase is, let my people go. Why did God want Israel to let His people go? In what manner did God let Israel go? What does the Passover have to do with Pharaoh letting God's people go? How did the children of Israel react to being let go from Egypt? Is God still in the process of telling an evil spiritual Pharaoh to let my people go? And what were the children of Israel to do upon being let go from Egypt? I'd like to answer those questions today in the sermon. So let's start with this question. Why did God want Pharaoh to let his people go? Why did God say, let my people go? Why did He want them to come out of Egypt? Well, let's go to Exodus chapter 1, where we'll see that Israel was in bondage to the Egyptians. You remember that Joseph had come to Egypt and had actually delivered the Egyptians from a great famine. God, of course, directing him. And all of Joseph's family had moved into Egypt. And Joseph had been promoted to second in command just under Pharaoh. So he was very prominent, and his family was prominent for a time. But then after quite a few years, Israel became in bondage to Egypt. They became jealous of the Israelites who were multiplying, who were gaining in strength, and they were afraid that they might actually fight against their enemies if their enemies would come in to Egypt, that the Israelites might join them. So they began to put them into bondage and into forced labor. So let's notice Exodus chapter 1 verse 11. Therefore, they set task masters over them, over the children of Israel, to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, pythom and ramses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel, these people that were living in their own land. They became in dread of them. So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor or with harshness. And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor or harshness. And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives. And the midwives, actually, they wanted the midwives to kill all of the sons of the Israelites. But of course, the midwives feared God, and they didn't do as the king of Egypt commanded them. But they saved the children alive. In fact, Moses was one of those that was saved alive.

So we see again that the Israelites are now in bondage in Egypt. And they begin to cry out to God for deliverance. Let's notice Exodus 2, verse 23. Now, it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out.

And their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them. God had made a covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

His children were crying out to him in bondage in Egypt. And so God begins to act on their behalf.

Let's notice in chapter 3 that there was a burning bush incident. Moses was there at the burning bush. In verse 6, moreover, God said to Moses, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. Now, obviously, this was the one who became Jesus Christ. Verse 7, it says, And the Lord said, I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So God was concerned about the children of Israel. They were now in bondage. They were crying out to him for deliverance. He loved them. He was concerned for them, and so he's going to begin to move in their favor. Verse 8, So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and a large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites, Amorites, Parazites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppressed them.

So again, God was concerned about the oppression, the bondage. Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. So God sent Moses, and Moses was a bit reluctant, but obviously Moses finally got sold on the idea.

Now let's go to Exodus 5, where we find the first place. This phrase that I mentioned earlier, this battle cry, let my people go is mentioned. Exodus chapter 5.

This is an account of the first time that they go to Pharaoh. So Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is this Lord, this eternal, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I do not know the eternal, nor will I let Israel go.

So they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence and with a sword. Then the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor. So Pharaoh decides he's going to turn the table on these rebellious people who are trying to get out of working. That's how he looked at it. Pharaoh said, Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor. He was interested in what he could get from the children of Israel. So the same day, Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick. So now it's going to be even harder. They're going to serve with greater harshness and rigor now, because they no longer have straw. They have to go out and gather the straw themselves. And they were expected to produce just as much without the straw being supplied for them. So things were tougher, not better at the very first. God did want Pharaoh to let his children go because he loved them. He did not want them to suffer under the hands of the Egyptians. Now, brethren, that is certainly true for all of us whom God has called out of the world. You know, we have cried out to him in a sense, haven't we? I know I did when I was being called. I cried out to God to deliver me from my own carnal nature, from Satan the devil, and to show me a better way.

And I'm sure that we've all done that to some degree. We've called out to God. We've cried out to him. And God certainly does love us, and he's called us out of this world. And so we should be grateful for that. We should see the parallel in God calling the children of Israel out of Egypt, and God calling you and me out of sin. He wanted us to know a better way.

God loves us. He does not want us to continue in bondage.

Sin certainly caused suffering, and ultimately it causes destruction and death. The wages of sin is death. So God wants all of his people to come out of sin. But he's not calling everyone right now. He's only calling a small number of people, those who are to be the first fruits at this time.

Christ, of course, was the first of the first fruits, and then he's calling others out of sin at this point. Now, most people are in darkness when it comes to sin. They don't even know what sin is. They couldn't tell you what the definition of sin is. You know, if you ask them what sin is, you know, they'd hem-haul around a lot and not really give you a very good answer.

Now, of course, some people know the Bible, and they could give you that answer, but then they don't really fully comprehend what it all means, because a lot of people are sinning and think they're doing God a service as they continue to sin. So God wants His people to be free from sin, and that's why He called you and me out of Egypt, so to speak. He wants us to set another a different example. He wants us to follow His Son's example. Jesus Christ, who was perfect.

Christ is the example, as Mr. Ervin was saying. We don't compare ourselves with others.

When it comes to examining ourselves before the Passover, we examine ourselves and we see very clearly that we fall short. You know, we fall short of God's glory, because we are to become like God. We are to become like Christ, and that's not easy. In fact, it's virtually impossible to become fully like Christ, you know, perfect in this life. But we can make progress. We can be overcomers, and we are called to be overcomers. We are called to put sin out of our lives. We are called to change. We are called to be different. So let's ask another question now. In what manner did God let Israel go? What was the manner in which God let Israel go? Well, let's look in the scriptures and see. Let's go to Exodus chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3 verse 16.

Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared to me, saying, I have surely visited you and seen what is done to you in Egypt. And I have said I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites and the Hittites and so forth to a land flowing with milk and honey, a promised land. Then they will heed your voice and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the King of Egypt. And you shall say to him, the Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us.

And now please let us go three days' journey into the wilderness that we might sacrifice to the Lord our God. But I am sure that the King of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and I will strike Egypt with all my wonders, which I will do in its midst, and after that I will let you go. And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it shall be, when you go out, that you will not go out empty-handed. But every woman shall ask of his neighbor, her neighbor, namely of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, of clothing, and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters, so you shall plunder the Egyptians.

So God was going to lead them out with a high hand, you know, a miraculous hand. God was going to do great wonders and signs as he let the children of Israel go. In fact, he knew that's what it would take to ever convince Pharaoh to let the children of Israel go, because Pharaoh was a very stubborn person. Of course, the Bible says that God also hardened his heart, and he was not quick at letting Israel go. So it was with miraculous intervention on God's part that the children of Israel were delivered. And I must say, it is also with miraculous intervention that you and I are able to escape the clutches of Satan the devil.

In fact, Satan still tries to put us in his clutches, doesn't he? You know, he still tries to cause us to sin, he will tempt us to sin, and then if and when we do, he will accuse us. He will go before God and accuse us. He's an accuser of the brethren, so he's certainly diabolical in his techniques, his tactics, his strategy. He will try to tempt us, and then he will accuse us before God.

So it is with a great hand that we come out of bondage to Satan the devil. You know, God is the one that's performing a miracle in our hearts and in our minds, and he's leading us out. Now, getting back to the physical deliverance, let's look at some of the miraculous intervention of God Almighty. First of all, in Exodus 7, verse 14, So the eternal said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hard, hard, he refuses to let the people go. So go to the Pharaoh in the morning when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him, and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take it in your hand, and you shall say to him, the eternal God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness, but indeed until now you would not hear.

Thus says the Lord, by this you shall know that I am the eternal. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. And every fish, and all the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river. So the eternal spoke to Moses, and that's exactly what happened.

The fish died, the river stank, they couldn't drink the water in the river. But notice verse 22, the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them. Satan, of course, is the God of this world. Satan was the God of Egypt, and Satan has his cohorts or sorcerers or magicians, and they are allowed to do certain things.

And even in the last days, it speaks of a false prophet who will do wonders and signs by the power of Satan, the devil, by the power of the dragon. So this is what was happening then, and they were able to basically duplicate that particular plague.

Then the second plague, it goes on to say that there was a second plague, this time a plague of frogs. Now, I might say that when I was a young boy, there was a plague of frogs in Ohio, one particular summer. It was unlike any other summer I had ever seen.

We had a creek about a half a mile from our home, and this particular summer, it was completely infested with frogs. I had never seen so many frogs. It was wonderful. I loved it. As a child, it was great, catching all these frogs. They weren't in our house. They weren't all over like this plague in Egypt, but there were a lot of frogs. So it's just a little slight tiny taste, very small, of what it might have been like in Egypt. It was much worse in Egypt. Let's read here in chapter 8. Again, God says, let my people go that they may serve me in verse 1, but you refuse to let them go. Behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs.

Now, you might think, well, what's the big deal with frogs? Well, if it would have just been like it was back when I was a child, it wouldn't have been so bad, but this was much worse. So, the river will bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. Now, I don't recall my mother ever finding a frog in her kneading bowl.

This was much worse. The frogs were everywhere. They were even in the sheets, in bed, and the frogs shall come up on you, your people and all your servants. And the Lord spoke to Moses, say to Aaron, stretch out your streams over the rivers, over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt. So Aaron stressed out his hand, and the frogs came up, and they covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments and brought up frogs also on the land of Egypt. Wasn't it bad enough? Now the Pharaoh's magicians bring more frogs. So Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, and treat the Lord that he may take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord. Of course, he was lying.

He did not let the people go.

So they gather up all the frogs, and they had quite a pile of them, quite a heap of frogs, and they stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, in verse 15, he hardened his heart, and he would not let God's people go. So God sends another plague, this one, lice. Have any of you ever, you don't have to answer that question, have you ever? You know, I don't think I ever had lice, but I think one of my brothers had lice once, and I remember my mom, or was it school or something? I don't know. I remember that stuff they'd make you shampoo your hair with, trying to kill the lice. And also, when I was working in the schools for a time, and I remember coming into a couple schools where there was a lice infestation, and they had kids in there, checking their heads for lice. So it wouldn't be much fun having lice, from what I've gathered. Very itchy. So there was a lot of lice throughout the land of Egypt. Aaron stretched out his hand in verse 17, and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice. Man, that was a lot of lice. It's a lot of dust on the earth. It became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. The magicians worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. For some reason, they were not able to make lice. And I can make frogs, but no lice. Then the Egyptians, in verse 19, said to Pharaoh, this is the finger of God. God is certainly more powerful than Satan is. Satan can't keep up with God. Satan can try to duplicate and counterfeit some things, but God is all-powerful, almighty. Satan is not.

Pharaoh's heart drew hard. He did not heed them, just as the Lord had said. He would not let the people go. So then a fourth plague comes upon them. This time flies. Now, I must say that I bought a house in Michigan, and as we were moving in, there was a tremendous infestation of flies.

In the garage, I've never seen so many flies before. Thankfully, they didn't last long. I think the wind blew them in and the wind blew them out, because they weren't around very long. But there were a lot of flies. Swarms of flies, not nearly as bad as the flies that came upon Egypt. There were swarms of flies everywhere in verse 21.

In that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there. So God is beginning to make a difference. Before this, God had allowed these plagues even to come upon the children of Israel. But now the land of Goshen is protected.

That's where the children of Israel dwelt. He says, I will make a difference between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall be. And the Lord did so. Thick swarms of flies came into the house of Pharaoh. The land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies. Pharaoh called Moses and he said, go sacrifice to your God in the land. He didn't want them leaving the land. He wanted them to sacrifice right there. He was afraid they would take off. He didn't want to let them go.

He said, it is not right to do so, for we would be sacrificing the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God. If we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then they will will they not stone us. So Moses wasn't buying that. We will go three days journey into the wilderness and sacrifice the Lord our God as he will command us. So Pharaoh said, I will let you go that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness only you shall not go very far away.

Still he's not wanting to let them go three days journey. So this was the fourth plague. And by the way, these plagues were representative of Egyptian gods as well. There were certain gods of the flies and the frogs and I guess even the lice.

From what I've read, some commentaries say that there were corresponding gods in Egypt that went along with these flies. I mean with all these plagues, not just the flies, but they had all kinds of different types of gods that they worship very pagan people.

Chapter 9 talks about the fifth plague. This is the livestock that become diseased. Again, there was a difference between the children of Israel and the Egyptian flocks. The livestock was dying in Egypt, but not in Israel. God was protecting the Israelite livestock.

The sixth plague is boils.

Eternal said to Moses and Aaron, take for yourselves handfuls of ashes from a furnace and let Moses scatter it toward the heavens in the sight of Pharaoh. These are miraculous things that God is allowing to happen or making happen here. It will become fine dust in all the land of Egypt and it will cause boils that break out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt. So they took ashes from the furnace and they stood before Pharaoh and they scattered them toward heaven and they caused boils that broke out in sores on man and beast. People were miserable because of the boils that they had. The boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.

The magicians could not stand before Moses because of all the boils they were experiencing.

And the eternal hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not heed them just as the Lord had spoken to Moses. So he would not let them go even after a plague of boils.

So then God sends hail, the seventh plague. Have you ever had the hail strike you?

Have you ever been outside when hail? That happened to me once when I was a child.

It really wasn't a plague of hail, but it seemed pretty scary for a short time. I was out in the field or out out in the front yard, I think, not too far away. And this hail started beating down. I remember putting my hands up trying to keep it from hitting my head. I don't think they were that big, but you know there have been stories of hail that was golf ball size or even softball size in some cases. Imagine what that would do to you. The Bible talks about hail that will strike the earth in the last days that will be much larger, I mean huge, gigantic, hell stones.

So the seventh plague was that of hail, and it destroyed the crops. And yet still, God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let the children of Israel go.

He would not let God's people go. The eighth plague is in chapter 10. This is a plague of locusts.

God sent just swarms and swarms of locusts. Now, I've been around a lot of grasshoppers, but never anything like this. This was a plague, unlike any other plague of locusts. And there had been huge swarms of locusts in history. If you'll check that out, I can't remember exactly, but I know there were just some gigantic swarms of locusts in the Sudan and in various places that just could have been very similar to this. I know back, I forget exactly what year it was, 17 or 1800s, there was a swarm like that in the Sudan. But you can read about these plagues. The ninth plague is a plague of darkness, and of course the tenth plague was the death of the firstborn. The most devastating plague of all, because it touched every home in Egypt. There was a firstborn. So how many of you are firstborns in this room? I'm not a firstborn, but I see several that are. My mother was a firstborn. My sister, of course, was a firstborn, my oldest sister. So it would have affected every home to some degree or another, every family. So those are the ten plagues that God poured out, and God did this miraculously because He protected the children of Israel. Do you remember how He protected the children of Israel when it came to the death of the firstborn? It's where we get the word Passover, isn't it? Because they put blood on the lentils and on the doorposts of all the Israelite homes. And God passed over, the death angel passed over those homes. And no one died in those particular homes, but in Egypt, where there was no blood, they did not pass over. They exacted a death of every firstborn in those homes. So that was a devastating plague because Pharaoh had a firstborn son that died. The heir to the throne died. And a horrible plague upon Pharaoh himself. Finally, he allows God's people to go, but it took ten plagues and the death of his own son before he would allow the children of Israel to go. It does show that Satan does not let go easily. Satan hasn't let go of any of us fully. He tries to make inroads with us.

Satan the devil is a powerful spirit being, not nearly as powerful as God, of course.

But nevertheless, he does try to affect us spiritually. He tries to get inside our heads.

He tries to discourage us. That's one of Satan's biggest tools. And it's not all that difficult to get discouraged these days. There's a lot of things happening in the world and even in the church that are at times discouraging. Satan uses these things to affect us, to cause us to doubt, to cause a lack of faith. So we have to resist Satan the devil. That's what the book of James tells us, doesn't it? Resist Satan and he will flee from you. But brethren, if you don't resist Satan, he's not going anywhere. He's going to be right there trying to tempt you further.

Even with Jesus Christ, it's said that he left looking for an opportune time to come back.

You know, even with Christ in the book of Luke, it talks about the temptation of Christ and that Satan left, but he was looking for an opportune time. And that's what Satan looks for with us. He looks for our weaknesses. He looks for times when we're weak, when we haven't been praying, and we haven't been drawing close to God, when we've been letting down spiritually.

It's easy for him to tempt us to sin at those times. So it is important that we resist Satan. And as we approach the Passover, we should ask ourselves, have we really been resisting Satan the devil? Or have we been playing into his hand? Have we made it easy for him to tempt us?

Because there's a part of us that wants to do these things. And instead of making no provision for the flesh, we make provision for the flesh. Now, we provide things that make it easy for us to give in to certain temptations. So, brethren, we really do need to do a better job of resisting Satan. We need to be careful about our environment. What are you doing to make your environment more wholesome, more pure? Those are the things that we should do. And sometimes those are hard decisions to make. Because especially the world's entertainment, they want to get as much of our time as they can.

And there's a lot of time wasters out there. And let's face it, Satan's a master at getting us to waste time. We need to resist Satan by using our time effectively. Redeeming the time, as it says in Ephesians, we're supposed to redeem the time. We're supposed to use the time wisely and effectively. So, we need to draw near to God, as it says, and He will draw near to us and God will give us strength to overcome and to resist Satan. So, there were signs and wonders that were sending a clear message to Pharaoh that God was on the side of the Israelites and that God was going to deliver them. You know, God will deliver us and He will send some signs and wonders that will convince Satan at times to leave us alone. If we draw near to God, God will draw near to us. If we resist Satan, He will flee from us. So, God will fight your battles, but you have to engage yourself. You know, you have to actively engage by drawing near to God.

Now, I find it interesting in Exodus 13, where God is miraculously leading the children of Israel out of Egypt. Finally, the Pharaoh decides to let him go, right? He's completely defeated. His country is in ruins. Ten plagues have devastated the country. The cattle are dead.

The crops are dead. You know, just the whole country is decimated. And His Son is dead.

And Pharaoh is completely beaten and gives up completely, right? And He shrinks away and never... No. That's not what happens. We know that Satan, in the form of the Pharaoh, that evil Pharaoh, comes after them. Even after allowing them to go, He comes after them again. And He wants to destroy them, and He marches after them with the most powerful nation or the most powerful army on earth. And He wants to do His dirty work. So, let's notice here in chapter 13, verse 21, that God is working miraculously with the children of Israel. Verse 21, And the Lord went before them, before the children of Israel, by day, in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and also to give them some comfort or some relief from the hot sun, cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people. So the people could see that God was with them. God was giving them a sign, a daily sign, that He was with them to take care of them. Now, in chapter 14, in verse 4, God says, I will harden Pharaoh's heart so He will pursue them. And I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all of his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the Eternal, and they did so. Now, it was told that the king of Egypt, the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people, and they said, why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us? That's often what happens when someone out of duress makes a decision.

They second-guess that decision. You know, they want to go back and get whatever it is they've lost.

So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him, and he took 600 choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and he went after them with, again, the most powerful nation, the most powerful army on earth. And God did harden the heart of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel. And the Egyptians pursued them, and the horses, and the chariots, and so forth overtook them as they were camping by the sea. And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they saw the cloud, and they saw the fire by night, and they didn't worry at all, did they?

No, they became afraid. That's what happened. The children of Israel were afraid when they saw Moses coming after them. You know, they weren't too sure of all this in the first place. A lot of them weren't. They were kind of going along with Moses and with everything that was happening and, you know, they were going out of Egypt, but not all of them were sold on the idea completely. And in verse 11, they said to Moses, because there was no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us to bring us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness. So they lost whatever faith they might have had. I don't think they really had much faith in the first place. So Moses said to the people, do not be afraid. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Now, Moses was a lot more convinced. He had seen the burning bush. He had talked to God. He had seen God intervene in all these plagues. And Moses was faithful and convinced that God would deliver them. So he says, don't be afraid. Stand still. See the Lord. Stand still. Stand see the salvation of the Lord. You don't have to do anything. Just sit by. Stand here and wait on the Lord.

Because he will accomplish for you today, for the Egyptians, you will see what he will accomplish.

Your salvation, it says, the salvation of the Eternal. For the Egyptians, for the Egyptians, whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace.

Now, I find it very interesting that, you know, Moses, I can understand why he would tell him to do that. Just stand still. God will fight your battles. God will take care of everything.

But is that exactly how God saw it? It's not exactly how God saw it. Notice the next part.

And the Eternal said to Moses, why do you cry to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.

God wants us to go forward. You know, God doesn't want us to just stand still and do nothing.

Yes, God will fight our battles, but we have to be actively engaged ourselves.

That's what I get from this. We have to do our part.

So the Lord will fight for you. And the Eternal said, go forward. Tell the children to get moving. Lift up your rod, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it. And the children of Israel will go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. Another miracle. And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will follow them. They will follow into this river, into the sea, and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all of his army and his chariots. And you know the rest of the story. They went after the children of Israel. They went right into the sea. It was parted on both sides, and the Israelites were going across on dry ground. But then all of a sudden, the Egyptians come in, and their chariots get bogged down in the mud.

It's no longer dry ground. You know, God's allowing the water to start seeping in.

And the children of Israel are moving forward on dry ground. Why the, why the Israelites, or the Egyptians who have come in behind them, are now beginning to experience some real trouble.

Because God was fighting their battles, and God was protecting them, and God was delivering them, and God was doing it miraculously. So God is working miraculously in your life as well. You know, we need to always understand that. Even though there may not be a cloud by day or a fire by night, God is there just as surely as he was back at that time. So we do need to have faith in God. We do need to claim the promises that God will never leave us.

God will never forsake us. God will always be here for us. God will never allow us to go through something that he won't give us the strength to endure. Those are the promises that we always need to keep in mind, and that we always need to remember, no matter what happens. In John 6.44, we know that the Bible says that no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him. That is a miracle. God is drawing us out of this world. God is drawing us out of Egypt. He's drawing us out of bondage, and it's been a rough ride these last 34 years for me, personally. Or is it 34? It's longer than that, isn't it? I've been married almost 34.

Now, there was no intention there, but it's been longer than that. It's 1974 for me, so it's been almost 40 years. Close to 40 years for me since God began to call me. It's been kind of a rough road along the way, in some respects, although God has been so gracious and merciful and wonderful. I haven't always done my best. I'll be honest about that. I've fallen short. I've done things that I've been ashamed of, things that I wouldn't want you people to know about, because I'm still in the flesh. I'm still a human being, but God is delivering me, and I'm grateful for that. It is a miracle, because I certainly couldn't do this without God's help.

Staying faithful all these years, in spite of my shortcomings and my sins, I give God all the credit for that. I'm just grateful that I'm still here today, and glad to be here, and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

But God is calling us, and He is drawing us, and that's a miracle in itself.

So how is God leading us out of Egypt? He's doing it with a high hand. He's doing it with His hand, so we need to grab a hold of His hand and let Him take us with Him.

Another question. What does the Passover have to do with Pharaoh letting God's people go?

I think we can already see what the Passover has to do with Pharaoh letting God's people go.

It was the Passover. It was the 10th plague. It was the one in conjunction with the Passover that finally convinced Pharaoh to let God's people go. There is no other name by which we may be saved. This is Acts 4, verse 12. It says, there is no other name by which we may be saved, only through Jesus Christ that we are saved. Now, Christ is the Passover Lamb. Jesus Christ is the Passover Lamb.

He's the one that was sacrificed for us. The blood that was put on the lintels and on the doorpost, that blood was symbolic of Christ's sacrifice. That is what's allowing us to come out of Egypt. It's the blood of Jesus Christ. It's not because of anything we've done. It's not because of our goodness by any means. It's because of the blood of Jesus Christ. It's the blood of the Lamb.

That's what's saving us. Christ is our Passover Lamb. He is the one who shed his blood for us.

Of course, we must accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. Now, if we're to keep the Passover, we are to be baptized members to keep the Passover. People who have made a commitment, people who have accepted Christ as their Savior, people who have repented of their sins, have admitted their sins, have admitted their weaknesses, their frailties, their shortcomings, have admitted that they need those sins washed away. They need those sins just taken away through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Now, in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7, it does speak of Christ as our Passover. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, this is a very familiar verse to all of us who have been keeping God's holy days for any length of time. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7, therefore purge out the old leaven, and of course, leaven is symbolic of sin. 11 puffs up. Sin is also an agent. Oftentimes, it's anchored in pride and in vanity.

So purge out the old leaven that you may be a new lump since you truly are unleavened, for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us. Christ our Passover lamb was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast, this feast that's coming upon us, this feast of unleavened bread, not with old leaven, because we've gotten the leaven out. We put the leaven out of our homes, and that's something that we'll all begin to do. We'll put the leaven out of our homes because leaven is symbolic of sin, and we're coming out of sin.

So let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

So these days are certainly rich in meaning, and of course, this is written in the context of sexual immorality that had defiled the church. There are things that go on in our lives that defile us.

Sin defiles us. There was a horrible thing that was going on within this church in Corinth that was defiling the church there because they were allowing certain things to go on that they shouldn't allow to go on. There was blatant sexual immorality that was being accepted, which should never have been accepted. It's in this context that Paul is telling us to become unleavened, to put out the old leaven that sin that pulls us down, hurts us.

So the Passover has everything to do with this. Now, let's ask another question now. How did the children of Israel react to being let go from Egypt?

Well, we already read that they became afraid. They didn't trust God fully, of course.

Now, they weren't converted people that were coming out of Egypt. They were not converted, and they were lacking faith. The Bible says in Hebrews that it was because of their unbelief, because they didn't have faith. That's why they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

They didn't trust God. They didn't have faith. They didn't go into the promised land. They listened to those 10 spies who lied to them and basically said, we can't go in. We can't go in and take the land because the people there are giants. Joshua and Caleb told them the truth. They said, God is on our side, and he's much stronger than any giant in the land. But instead of listening to Joshua and Caleb, they clung to their unbelief. And so they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.

So, brethren, we need to step out in faith because God is letting us go. God has let you go. He's allowing you to go. But you have to have faith in Him. You have to trust in Him. You have to cling to Him. That's why it says, draw near to God. He will draw near to you. Cling to Him and allow Him to deliver you. Because if you go back, if you want to go back to Egypt, that's where you'll that's where you'll end up. You'll end up back in Egypt. You'll end up back in sin. So you have to fight the good fight and continue to battle against your own carnal nature, against Satan's temptations. The Bible says, only He who overcomes will I grant to sit with Me on My throne. So we have to be overcoming. We have to be making progress. So we should never take sin lightly.

You know, sin is not something we should take lightly. We should examine ourselves and admit where we sinned. Admit where our problems lie in terms of sinful behavior. Admit what we've done and ask God to forgive us and also give us strength to put that out of our lives. To put it behind us.

So how have you been reacting from your deliverance from sin? You know, are you staying away from Egypt or are you taking side trips back to Egypt every now and then or a lot more frequently than you should? Are you giving in easily? Are you allowing Satan to tempt you too easily? Or are you truly resisting Satan the devil? Because Satan is still wanting to bring you into bondage and he will bring you into bondage unless you fight back. So do you ever show signs of returning to Egypt? Do you show signs of going back into Egypt, going back into sin?

Or are you faithfully fighting the good fight? Faithfully fighting the good fight?

That's what we all have to do. Remember the incident of the golden calf. It wasn't long and they were back into their idolatry and their sexual immorality. You know, that's what Satan would love to see us do. So we have to trust God and have faith and react in a proper way. If God's letting us go, then let's cling to him and move forward with him. You know, move forward out of Egypt. Is God still in the process of telling a spiritual Pharaoh, let my people go? You know, is God still telling Satan to let you go? Pharaoh is clearly symbolic of Satan the devil. God is still in the process of calling people to him. God's still calling people. I had a guy call me last night. Actually, he emailed me and I called him last night and he didn't answer and then he called me today. His name is Julio and he hopefully is attending Oklahoma City today for the very first time. You know, he just moved to Oklahoma City. He got a job and as far as I know, he's never attended the Church of God. In fact, he was actually referred to me by the Church of the Great God.

They didn't have a church in the area, so they'd given him my name and my email address. So he contacted me and he's wanting to get baptized. I mean, I don't know how far along this man is. I haven't talked to him much, but God is calling people today. He's still calling people out.

Pharaoh is still clinging tightly to those who have been serving him by following his example and his way that leads to death. Satan is still clinging tightly. He doesn't want anyone to get away. So those of us who have gotten away, we are still targets for Satan the devil. He still would love to bring us back into bondage. Just because we've escaped doesn't mean Satan's given up on trying to bring us back into bondage. I think we all understand that. I've mentioned James 4 verses 7 and 8, resist the devil. He will flee from you, draw near to God. He will draw near to you.

So if we resist the devil, he will flee from us and he will leave us alone, but only for a time.

He'll come back at an opportune time when he sees that we are weak and we are vulnerable.

That's when Satan will try to tempt us and get the upper hand with us.

If that happens, then sometimes it will because we're flesh. Because we're flesh. That's when it says, come boldly before the throne of grace.

You've got to go to God and ask for forgiveness. You've got to admit your sin, admit what you've done, and just ask God to bring you under the blood of his son.

Wash away that sin once again. Satan would love you to get discouraged because of your sins. I've been in the church a long time and if I let my sins discourage me, I wouldn't be around today.

I wouldn't be here. If I let them discourage me to the point of giving up, I wouldn't be here.

You have to have faith that God will forgive you if you sinned.

What other choice do you have? What other choice do you have?

If you sinned, you sinned. You've got to ask for forgiveness.

You've got to have faith that God will forgive you and you've got to try harder.

Not play games with God because God's not going to play games with you forever.

In John 10 verse 28, it says, My sheep hear my voice, this is Christ speaking, he is the Good Shepherd.

My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.

And I give them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.

So even though Satan the devil is certainly trying to snatch you out of Christ's hand, if you will listen to the shepherd, if you will listen to the Good Shepherd, if you'll trust in him, if you'll have faith in him, if you'll go to him when you sinned, if you'll let him be your intercessor, because Christ is your intercessor. Christ died for you. He knows your weaknesses. He knows your frailties. He knows your sins. If you go to Christ in faith, if you hear his voice and you go to him, he will intercede on your behalf. You will be forgiven your sins. And that's where it doesn't get better than that, to know that you will be forgiven your sins. And Satan will not snatch you out of Christ's hand.

Christ will give you deliverance. Remember what Paul said? Who will deliver me from this body of death in Romans chapter 7 verses 23 through 25? Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ. You know, he said, O wretched man that I am. This was long after he was baptized.

O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Jesus Christ is our Savior. Jesus Christ is the Messiah.

Christ is the Son of God who died for you, who laid his life down. We should never take that sacrifice lightly. That's what the Passover is all about. We commemorate the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ. So we should examine ourselves.

We should be honest with ourselves. We should come clean with God and admit where we sinned.

And we should have faith that God will forgive us.

One last question. What were the children of Israel to do upon being let go from Egypt? What were they to do? Were they not to go and serve God? Was that not the purpose?

They were to go and serve God. One last scripture, Romans 6. Romans 6, verse 16.

Let's read this together. Romans 6, verse 16.

Well, we might read verse 15 along with it. What then shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?

Just because you're under grace, does that mean does that give you license to sin?

Because we are all under grace. You know, we've all blown it. We all deserve death.

The wages of sin is death. We're all sinners.

Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? The answer is certainly not.

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one slaves whom you obey, whether of sin, leading to death, or of obedience, leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered or to which you were entrusted? And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. He says, I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness and of lawlessness, leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. So come out of sin. Come out of Egypt. Come out of bondage. Stop sinning because that's what puts you in bondage. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. In other words, you weren't doing righteousness. You were stuck in sin. You were a slave to sin. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now, having been set free from sin and having become slaves of God and have your fruit to holiness, we are to produce the fruit of God's Spirit, are we not? Love and joy and peace and patience and goodness and gentleness and kindness and self-control, faithfulness. These are the fruits of God's Spirit. These are the things that we should be doing now that we've been caught out of the world, producing the fruit of God's Spirit. Your fruit to holiness in the end is everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is a gift that God gives us, a gift of eternal life, because frankly, we're all pathetic in many ways. We're all sinners. The Bible says, if you think you have no sin, you are a liar and the truth is not in you.

So anyone that thinks they've somehow reached perfection in the flesh, the Bible says you're a liar. The truth isn't in you. You don't see yourself because you have a heart that's deceitful.

It's desperately wicked. You can't know your heart. You can't know the depth of your heart.

Sometimes we see just how depraved and evil our hearts are. When we think or do things that we know we shouldn't, we know are wrong. So we should be becoming slaves of God now, becoming living sacrifices. That's our reasonable service to become a living sacrifice.

So, brethren, we ought to rejoice that we are now slaves of God, not slaves of sin, because by being a slave of God, we are truly set free, for the truth of God will make us free indeed. And we are now to go forward living by every word of God. God has surely made the prevailing battle cry of the exodus come true. He has given us our marching orders.

God has indeed let my people go. God has done that. So, brethren, let's go forward.

Let us keep the Passover this year, especially because we see we are sinners.

We do need the Passover. We do need those sins washed away again in the blood of Christ. And, of course, we can go before that throne daily as we need to for help. So, brethren, it is a wonderful calling that we have. We are all in this together. We have been called by God. God expects more of us. So, let's be grateful for our calling. And let's, as the Bible says, go and sin no more. You know, that's our goal, isn't it? To go and sin no more. That's what we should strive to do. If we fall short, then thankfully we have a faithful high priest that we can go before the one who shed his blood for us.