What Couldn’t Be Done in Egypt!
Exodus 3:7-12
Sermon #151
By Robert L. Cheek Jr.
I will be reading my text shortly, but first let me give you a little bit of history to open up the message this morning. When Jacob and his sons came into Egypt in the days of Joseph, God used the land of Egypt to deliver his people from the terrible famine of the land. Joseph told his brothers that though they had sold him into slavery, yet God meant it for good.
Genesis 45:5 Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life.
Genesis 45:6 For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.
Genesis 45:7 And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
The children of Israel stayed in the land of Egypt exactly 430 years according to Exodus 12:41. During this time, the Bible says they multiplied so great that they were more numerous than the Egyptians. This made Pharaoh very nervous, so he decided to make the Hebrews slaves in Egypt.
Exodus 1:8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.
Exodus 1:9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
Exodus 1:10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
Exodus 1:11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
Exodus 1:12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
Pharaoh tried his best to beat down the children of Israel so that they would never be a threat to his kingdom. It was in this state of servitude and despair that Moses was born. Having been found by Pharaoh’s daughter, he grew to become a powerful man. But because he was also a godly man, the Bible says he chose to suffer affliction with his people.
Hebrews 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
Hebrews 11:25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
Moses eventually fled Egypt and came to live in Midian. There he married and had children. But the children of Israel were still in bondage in Egypt.
Exodus 2:23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
Exodus 2:24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
Exodus 2:25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.
This brings us to our text in Exodus chapter three. God appeared to Moses and chose him to lead His people out of Egypt.
Exodus 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
Exodus 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Exodus 3:9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
Exodus 3:10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
Exodus 3:11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?
Exodus 3:12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
All of these things are a picture of the Christian life.
Egypt is a type of the world.
Pharaoh is a type of Satan.
Israel is a type of the Christian.
Moses is a type of Christ.
Aaron is a type of the Holy Spirit.
The rod of Moses is a type of the Word of God.
There are so many types in the story of the Exodus.
The typology is there for our admonition and learning.
God told Moses to deliver His people from Egypt. There are many reasons why God wanted Israel to leave Egypt. It is for those same reasons that God wants His children today to flee Egypt. I am going to give you three of those reasons this morning. They all have to do with things that could not be done in Egypt. That’s what I want to preach on this morning, “What Couldn’t Be Done in Egypt!”.
1. They Couldn’t Suspend Their Bondage in Egypt
Exodus 3:7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;
Exodus 3:9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.
Israel was under severe bondage when God told Moses to return to Egypt. But when Moses got there and told Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, that only made their lives more miserable than before.
Exodus 5:4 And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.
Exodus 5:5 And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.
Exodus 5:6 And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
Exodus 5:7 Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.
Exodus 5:8 And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.
God wanted His children to be free from the burdens of Egypt, but that didn’t matter to Pharaoh. He added unto their burdens and made their lives more miserable than before. There was no way for the children of Israel to suspend the bondage in Egypt. So long as they were in Egypt, they were destined to bondage.
There is one thing that every Christian needs to consider before they decide to stay in Egypt. If they are going to choose to stay in Egypt, they better get use to bondage, because that is all that Egypt will give them.
Exodus 1:14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
A Christian that lives his or her life in the world will face hard bondage. The Pridigal son thought he could live in the world, and for a while things looked pretty good. But the end result was bondage for him.
Luke 15:15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Luke 15:16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Things are no better for you and me than for the prodigal son. The world is only interested in what it can get from us. Once it has all that you and I can give, it will leave us in a state of servitude every single time. The only way to be free from bondage is to get out of Egypt. Jesus said:
Matthew 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Show me a Christian that is flirting with the world and I will show you a Christian who is laboring under a heavy burden. So many Christians today are like Demas. They have traded the Lord for a little bit of the world and have gotten the short end of the stick.
Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Matthew 11:30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
The Lord’s yoke is easy but the world’s yoke is hard. The Lord’s burden is light but the world’s is heavy.
Recently I was told about a young preacher who took a missionary trip to China. When he came back, he mysteriously quit on God and went back into the world. I don’t know what he saw over there in China. I don’t know what he experienced while he was there. But I do know it wasn’t worth it.
Galatians 4:3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:
Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Galatians 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Galatians 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
Galatians 4:7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Galatians 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Galatians 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Verse 9 is a question that ought to be asked to every Christian in love with this world. How can you turn back to a life that did nothing for you but make you weak and beggarly? Why would you want to be under bondage again? Who knows, but many do. And they try to live in the world without being in bondage, but it cannot happen.
Israel could not suspend their bondage. It just could not be done in Egypt. That is why God wanted them out. He doesn’t want us to be in bondage either. That is why God wants us out of Egypt.
2. They Couldn’t Serve Their God in Egypt
Exodus 3:12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
Notice the pattern here in this verse. First, the people had to be brought forth out of Egypt. Then, they would serve God on the mountain. The order cannot be changed.
We don’t have time to go into all the compromises that Pharaoh offered to Moses. Here is just one of several:
Exodus 10:9 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.
Exodus 10:10 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.
Exodus 10:11 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.
Pharaoh said that the men could go, but their families could not. However, God told Moses that every man, woman, boy and girl as well as everything they owned must leave Egypt if they were to serve Him. God was not in the mood to bargain with Pharaoh.
The truth is, we can only serve God when we serve Him with all that we have. Some Christians have the idea that if they just go to church on Sunday, they can do whatever they want during the week and they think God is pleased with them and God accepts their service.
How would you feel if someone invited you for dinner and when you arrived, the table had already been set, the family had already eaten and they told you to sit down at an empty table and eat the leftovers? That’s how God feels when so-called Christians try to serve Him on Sunday and Wednesday.
Let me tell you a little secret. Those that only serve God on Sunday and Wednesday do not serve God at all! It is impossible.
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
God did not give a single option to Moses for Israel serving Him in Egypt. There was absolutely no way they could do it. They had to leave Egypt to serve God.
Exodus 10:9 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.
If you are going to serve God, you must serve Him with your whole heart, your whole family, your whole house, your whole life. Nothing can be left in Egypt if you intend to serve God.
They couldn’t suspend their bondage in Egypt.
They couldn’t serve their God in Egypt.
3. They Couldn’t See Their Inheritance in Egypt
Exodus 3:8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Back in the days of Moses, the Israelites couldn’t turn on the television and get a glimpse of Canaan. They couldn’t log on to the internet and go to Canaan’s Website. They couldn’t sit down and watch a slide presentation of the land flowing with milk and honey. They only way they were going to be able to see the inheritance was for them to get up and get out of Egypt.
Christian, you will never see your inheritance if you stay in Egypt. It just can’t be done. I’ll tell you something else. You can’t pretend to leave Egypt and still have Egypt in your heart and hope to see the inheritance. That’s what happened to that older generation. Yes, they left Egypt, but Egypt never left them.
Every now and then you run into Christians that seem to love God and love church, but for the life of them they don’t hate the world. They still love the things of the world and the ways of the world.
1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
If you can be around lost people and feel right at home, you are either living in Egypt or you are lost.
John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
John 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Either way, you won’t see your inheritance if you don’t forsake Egypt.
When Moses first came to them and Pharaoh made them search for straw to make bricks, all they could think of was getting back to the way it use to be in Egypt when the taskmasters brought them their hay! But what they did not see, nor could see, what that God had a wonderful inheritance waiting for the children of Israel.
Isaiah 64:4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
If God would open up heaven and time to show us the kingdom that He is going to set up; If we could just see the blessings that await us on the other side, we would never again think about the straw and the mortar in Egypt.
It’s interesting that Israel missed the straw they were given to make the bricks. God says that one day our works will be tried, and all of the wood, hay (that’s straw) and stubble will be burned up. What is left will be our reward. I wonder how many Christians who lived for the world, loved the world and served the world, will be on their hands and knees feeling around that burn pile for just a little piece of gold and silver, or maybe one or two precious stones.
They couldn’t suspend their bondage in Egypt.
They couldn’t serve their God in Egypt.
They couldn’t see their inheritance in Egypt.
These things couldn’t be done in Egypt!
(If this message has been a blessing to you, please feel free to post a comment.)
