Exodus 7-14: Never, Never, Never Give Up!

Today we have experienced one of the greatest epic adventures ever recorded in the history of the world. In these chapters we find the record of the exodus of the Jews from Egyptian bondage through an unmatched display of divine power on their behalf. This is typical or symbolic of the deliverance that God provides for every person that is born again through repentance and belief of the Gospel.

Let's have a short class on typology. Typology is a doctrine of theological types; especially : one holding that things in Christian belief are prefigured or symbolized by things in the Old Testament. This simply means that the interaction of God with Israel in the Old Testament are symbolic of the spiritual interaction of God with all of humanity. Now with that being said, there are certain people and places that universally symbolize certain spiritual truths. For instance, Egypt is symbolic of the world. By world, I mean the system of living that man has developed outside of the authority of God and His word. So this encompasses all of the lost people of the world and all of the cultures of the world. Israel, on the other hand, is typically a picture of those who have been converted by grace through faith. Israel is representative of all of those who have placed their lives under the authority of God and His word for all matters. So now the exodus of Israel takes on new light as we see it picturing God's deliverance of the redeemed from the bondage of the world and its rebellion against the authority of God. Pharaoh sums up this rebellion with the words of Exodus 5:2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

Now I would like to draw your attention to a lesson on compromise couched in this narrative. Three times the world attempts to get God's people to compromise with them. We can learn from their suggested compromises and the response of Moses how the world will tempt us to compromise and how God would have us overcome the temptation.
Compromise #1: Serve God in the World
Exodus 8:25-28 And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. 26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? 27 We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us. 28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me.
Response #1: Moses points out that they cannot worship God in the midst of the wickedness of Egypt. He gives as his reason the fact that the abominations or gods of Egypt such as calves and sheep and goats would be their sacrifices to the true God and they would not like it. We too are called to come out of the world (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) after salvation. We too have to realize that many of the things such as educations and material possessions that the world places a high premium on are to be counted as nothing when they interfere with service to God and we are to give these things in service to God. The lifestyle of a Christian will simply point out the sinfulness of such lifestyle choices as homosexuality, drunkenness, atheism, etc.

Compromise #2: Give Your Children to the World
Exodus 10:8-11 And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the LORD your God: but who are they that shall go? 9 And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the LORD. 10 And he said unto them, Let the LORD be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you. 11 Not so: go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD; for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
Response #2: No Way! Moses explains to Pharaoh when he says they should leave their children that they will take their children with them. I have been amazed at the number of people that try to convince Christians that they should not teach their religious views to their children. The world cries out for us to, "Just let the children form their own opinions". I wonder why they do not follow this philosophy when it comes to sports teams. I have seen many a parent with just a toddler dressed in LSU gear from head to toe. I wonder why they don't take this philosophy of withholding information from the youth when it comes to illicit sex? Schools abound with sex education classes so that children can make "informed decisions", but the world says to us to let our children make uninformed decisions about God or better yet let them teach them. We need to take seriously the admonition of Deuteronomy 6 and make our homes a Bible College for Children. Each parent must take seriously their God-given responsibility to teach the truths of God to their children. This is not a guarantee of salvation but it is the proper response of parents who desire to see God save their children and use them for His glory.
Compromise #3: Leave Your Material and Financial Resources in the World
Exodus 10:24-26 And Pharaoh called unto Moses, and said, Go ye, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be stayed: let your little ones also go with you. 25 And Moses said, Thou must give us also sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice unto the LORD our God. 26 Our cattle also shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind; for thereof must we take to serve the LORD our God; and we know not with what we must serve the LORD, until we come thither.
Response #3: It All Belongs To God! Pharaoh wanted Moses and the people to leave their resources in Egypt while they serve God but they refused. Moses wisely said they did not know what God would require of them and they must have something of value to offer God. I have often been amazed at the people who decry tithing as a throwback to the Old Testament law and feel that giving under grace should be at the discretion of the individual. I have noticed that unlike the Lord's treatment of the law in the Sermon on the Mount where the requirement under law was increased under grace, these people seem to always decrease the giving requirement. God teaches us with Moses' response here that our spending and giving should reflect the level of our commitment to the Lord and His work in this world through the churches. We have to face the challenge to lavish spending on ourselves in an effort to keep pace with the world and thereby find ourselves unable to give to the Lord's work systematically and generously. I have not been able to discern the effects of the economic downturn upon the living of professing Christians, just their giving. No second and third vehicles have been sold to finance increased evangelism and missions; no savings accounts have been hacked into to provide for the hurting in the congregations; no pensions have been depleted to prevent the facilities from becoming dilapidated; etc. You at Grace do a great job at giving, but generally American Christians are not giving to God but leaving their resources in the world.

Let us remember the words of Winston Churchill when the world attempts to get us to compromise, "Never, Never, Never Give Up"!

Daily Devotional: 1 Samuel 8 The People Demand a King