Free To Leave At Last

 Moses had told the Israelites God was going to free them, and had gone to Pharaoh asking him to set them free.  As a result, Pharaoh made things much worse, and despite repeated actions by god, Pharaoh remained adamant that he would not free them.  Now God says the next plague will result in the freedom.  Why should they believe it?  We have heard for years that the Lord is coming back yet things continue to get worse.  Why should we believe God? 

 

If we look back in the story, we see that time after time God told them that these plagues would happen, but that Pharaoh would not let them go. Each time everything happened exactly as he said it would so there is every reason for believing this next plague would happen just as he said, and that the results would be what he said. 

 

The disciples asked Jesus what sign would signal the Lord’s return.   He warned them not to be misled by claims that certain events were evidence of the Lord’s imminent return, in Matthew 24:3-8.  “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

 

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.  And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.”

 

All of the plagues in Egypt were just showing the Egyptians who God is.   In the same way, the signs that preachers and evangelists have pointed to are just reminders of God’s power, and tell us nothing about when the Lorde will return.  

 

Before God set the Israelites free there was something they needed to do, as described in Exodus 12:1-13.  “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

 

And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.  Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.  And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.  And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover.   For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”

 

Like the Israelites, we have been given a job to do before the Lord comes back, as Matthew 24:9-14 describes.  “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.  And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.  And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”  Our job is to remain faithful until the Lord comes back despite the false teachings and constant exposure to sin.  Those who remain faithful shall be saved just as surely as those who sacrificed the lamb and applied the blood were to be saved. 

 

God fulfilled his promise to set Israel free, as Exodus 12:29-38 describes.  “And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.  And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

 

And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD, as ye have said.  Also take your flocks and your herds, as ye have said, and be gone; and bless me also.  And the Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that they might send them out of the land in haste; for they said, We be all dead men.

 

And the people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneadingtroughs being bound up in their clothes upon their shoulders.  And the children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they borrowed of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.”  When God’s purpose was finished, Israel was free, just as God had promised. 

 

Israel was still there when the death angel smote the Egyptians.  They had themselves felt the effects of some of the plagues God brought on Egypt, although God had protected them from the worst of them.   Throughout history, God has allowed his people to go through many of the same struggles and suffering other people go through, although he protects and empowers them to withstand it, as I Corinthians 10:13 tells us.  “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 

 

No matter how hopeless it may seem, we will never face a situation others have not also faced and overcome.  When it becomes more than we can deal with, we can count on God to provide a way to overcome the problems if we will just trust him and follow his leadership.  That is his promise, and God cannot lie.