Exodus 1:1 Now these are the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.
6 And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation.
7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
The nation of Israel is the most important nation on earth. Other nations have come and gone. They do not exist any longer. Israel has faced some severe challenges throughout her history, but she will never be destroyed. God recorded much history of the nation of Israel in the Scriptures. He began by telling us of the origins of the nation through one man, Abram, and his wife Sarai. God demonstrated His authority over them in several ways, one of which was to change their names to Abraham and Sarah.
We have noted before that God designed the world to be governed by Himself and He chose to create man to be under His authority and to give leadership to the woman and the children that would be born to them as a couple. We call that a patriarchal society. For a long time now we have witnessed the failure of men to be men and thus they have allowed aggressive women to dominate. God never intended for the woman to hold the lead role in society.
When the fear of the Lord is missing in mankind, things get way out of order. The result is a society that does not know right from wrong and does not know how to function properly.
We are going to do a study of the book of Exodus and see how God continued to develop the nation of Israel and the blessings that come from submitting to His leadership. We will also see the trouble that comes when His leadership is rejected.
God directed Moses to begin the book of Exodus by reminding us of the small number of people that made up the nation of Israel as they entered Egypt. Jacob was the patriarch at that time. He had twelve sons. Eleven of those sons married women from the land of Canaan. One of them, Joseph entered Egypt prior to the rest of Jacob’s family. He was sold as a slave by his jealous brothers.
We see that if it was not for God’s design, the nation would likely have disappeared just as other nations have. They did not walk in the fear of the Lord. There were problems among Jacob’s sons. In verse 5 we read that seventy souls came with Jacob into Egypt. As we already noted, Joseph was already in Egypt. Joseph would marry an Egyptian woman and they would have two sons together.
In verse 6 we read that Joseph died as did his brethren and that entire generation of people. It is common for man to die. Prior to the flood, we know that men lived to be hundreds of years old. After the flood, things changed and the life expectancy was under two hundred years and it continued to be shortened to the average age today being seventy years and sometimes eighty. That is the general age. Of course we know that some people live longer than that.
Regardless of the length of time God gives you as a person, the important factor is to come to know the true God and serve Him faithfully. There is a need for godly fathers and grandfathers who can testify to the goodness of God. Godly mothers and grandmothers are also important. God directed Solomon to warn the sons to listen to the instruction of both father and mother. The assumption is that the father and mother will be God-fearing individuals.
In verse 7 we read that the nation of Israel was fruitful. God designed man to procreate. God designed Israel to be a light to the nations around them. The world has been impacted by Israel, even though the nation is not a God-fearing nation. Jesus Christ came into the world as a Jew, born of a Jewish woman. He is the Messiah, the Saviour of mankind. God’s design was for the Messiah to come from the nation of Israel. The nation of Israel was to live in such a way as to influence the world for good.
God does not need a majority of people to do His Work. He does not need anyone, but He has chosen to work through people to show His greatness and His mercy to mankind. We have witnessed what is classified as a major disaster in Texas, in the past few days. The rains came suddenly and the river level rose quickly and caught many people by surprise. Some have tried to blame the tragedy on Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump is not in charge of the weather. God is in charge of the weather. Some of those hit by this event, were attending what has been reported as a “Christian” camp. That camp is called “Camp Mystic”. Just the name of that camp should send off alarm bells. A Christian camp is not a mystic camp. A little research reveals that that camp was not a Christian camp. It was designed for the elite to send their girls to and where they could be encouraged to develop character that would enhance their “self-esteem”. Self esteem is just another name for pride. Girls do not need more pride in their lives. They do not need to learn how to be assertive. They need to learn the fear of the Lord. There are many parents and others who are grieving the loss of their children due to this flooding. It is important for some true Christians to be there to help those who are grieving to see the importance of knowing the true God and making wise decisions in life.
The nation of Israel is not the largest nation in the world. However they have had a large impact on world history, not because they are so good, but because God has chosen to reveal Himself to the world through the nation of Israel.
Since the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ and Israel’s rejection of Jesus Christ as their Messiah, God has set the nation aside and He is building true local churches to be a light to the world. God has not replaced Israel with local churches. The root of Israel is God. The root is still there and true local churches are graffed into that root. There are many churches today that are not graffed into that root. They are just social clubs that are there to entertain the lost.
By God’s choice, He wants godly people to be directed by Him to impact the world for His glory. In verse 7 we read that Israel grew mightily as a nation. They filled the land. The land of Goshen was populated by Jews. God would demonstrate His authority and power to Egypt through the Jews who were living in that part of Egypt at that time. He would choose Moses as His human representative and Aaron as His mouth piece to show the Pharaoh and the nation of Egypt the necessity of knowing the true God. He would also show the nation of Israel the importance of trusting in Him and the blessing of doing so.
Today, we need to learn the importance of knowing the true God and serving Him faithfully. God does not need numbers. He seeks for faithfulness. One true Christian can have a great impact on his neighbours and co-workers. One individual who knows the true God and refuses to be swept up with the compromises of the world, will stand out. The world will hate that person, but God will be pleased with that person. He will give that person opportunity to impact others for His glory. In the end, that one person is of much greater significance than the thousands who reject the truth.
Be wise and choose to know the true God today. Serve Him and let Him direct you so that you can be a godly influence to your family and others around you.
Pastor Bartel
