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Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part Two Isaiah 53
Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part Two Isaiah 53
The Signs of Christmas
Sermon Series
Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part Two
Isaiah 53
Introduction
- The Promised King Would Be Rejected (vv. 1-2)
- The promised king is rejected because He enters the world in a quiet way.
- The promised king is rejected because of how he looked.
- The promised king is rejected because He takes on himself the pain and “suffering” of the world.
“It was May 21, 1946. The place – Los Alamos. A young and daring scientist was carrying out a necessary experiment in preparation for the atomic test to be conducted in the waters of the South Pacific at Bikini.
He had successfully performed such an experiment many times before. In his effort to determine the amount of U-235 necessary for a chain reaction–scientists call it the critical mass–he would push two hemispheres of uranium together. Then, just as the mass became critical, he would push them apart with his screwdriver, thus instantly stopping the chain reaction. But that day, just as the material became critical, the screwdriver slipped! The hemispheres of uranium came too close together. Instantly the room was filled with a dazzling bluish haze. Young Louis Slotin, instead of ducking and thereby possibly saving himself, tore the two hemispheres apart with his hands and thus interrupted the chain reaction.
“By this instant, self-forgetful daring, he saved the lives of the seven other persons in the room. . . (A)s he waited. . for the car that was to take him to the hospital, he said quietly to his companion, ‘You’ll come through all right. But I haven’t the faintest chance myself’ It was only too true. Nine days later he died in agony.
“Nineteen centuries ago the Son of the living God walked directly into sin’s most concentrated radiation, allowed Himself to be touched by its curse, and let it take His life . . . But by that act He broke the chain reaction. He broke the power of sin.”[1]
The Promised King Would Save Us From Our Sins (vv. 4-12)
As A Substitute (vv. 4-6)
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
(v. 5) “There is one emphatic subject in verse 5, he, and this initial stress is reflected in what follows: he was crushed, . . . upon him . . . his wounds. While he thus deals with our moral and spiritual needs and our broken personhood we are not even mentioned except as contributors of the sin which caused his pain.”[2] (v. 6) is focused on us, “we are like sheep, we have turned away from God, it is our iniquity that was laid upon Jesus.
The Promised One would be a man who would suffer because of what we have done. When we discover Christ, we find a Savior who was born into the world with the purpose to die for it. But when this Savior arrives, when the world sees him, “we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” They mistook his suffering and being punishment from God – which is true, but it was not for his own sins He was suffering, it was for the ungodly.
(v. 4-5) Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We did not understand this, and we did not cooperate with God in this. God even while we were still opposing Him and rebelling against Him – Christ died for us.
This is the heart of the gospel of Jesus – substitution. Instead of collapsing in grief over our rejection, he bears our grief. Instead of increasing our sorrows as we deserve, he carries our sorrows. Instead of avenging our transgressions he is pierced for them in our place.
Instead of crushing us for our iniquities he is crushed for them as our substitute. And all the chastisement and whipping that belongs to us for our rebellion he takes on himself in order that we might have peace and be healed.
(v. 6) “We all, like sheep, have gone astray” – another way of saying this is “we all have sinned, and fallen short of the requirement to gain entrance into heaven.” and Isaiah specifically adds, “we have turned—every one—to his own way” “We all and every one expresses both common culpability and individual responsibility. We cannot blame a ‘herd instinct’ even though we are all alike implicated.”[3]
God knew that we would never be able to be without sin, so he sent His Son to take our place. And Jesus’ death “brought us peace” (shalom) – this peace is with God. God’s wrath is what awaits anyone who is not at peace with God. But The Promised One would act as a sacrifice for anyone who desired to accept this gift of God.
“His suffering was actually intended to effect the will of God. Gods’ will is no less that that all men should possess the full life in a covenant of peace (Num. 25:12; Ezek. 37:26; see 54:10), and so be healed of all their diseases (Ex. 15:26; Ps. 103:3).”[4]
As a Sacrifice (vv. 7-9)
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”
(v. 7) Matthew 27:12-14 “But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.” The lamb is blindly led to the slaughter; Jesus, however, went knowing full well what was ahead, He even sweated drops of blood in anguish of what was coming (see Matthew 26:38-39).
As the disciples sat around the table for the last supper, Jesus says, “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28. And when Simon Peter drew his sword and cut off the high priests servant’s ear in the garden before his arrest, look at Jesus’ comment to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11). Jesus knows that God the Father is sending Him to the cross, and He is going willingly.
Jesus was not just led to the slaughter, he was slaughtered as a sin offering. And like all the other lambs of the Passover or the sin offerings of Israel, he was slaughtered not for his own transgressions. He was slaughtered for the transgressions of his people. (v. 7) John 1:29 “The next day he (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”[5]
One commentator said, “Now, however. We stand on a very sacred spot indeed, within the Servant’s own consciousness, and we see him, not caught in a web of events, but masterfully deciding, accepting and submitting.”
The Promised One would sacrifice himself, He would be without sin in anyway – He never did, said, or even thought anything wrong. It was because of this that he was able to be a substitute and an acceptable sacrifice for our sin. “It is the very heart of our sinfulness that we sin because we want to. We do not want ‘this man to reign over us’ (Luke 19:14). Because of this, no animal can do more that picture substitution: only a person can substitute for a person; only a consenting will can substitute for a rebellious will.”[6]
(v. 9) Matthew 27:57-60 in discussing Jesus’ burial, “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.”
His body would be placed among the wicked and the rich when he died (just as God said). The Creator of all that exists was born as a man in a manger among the stench of animals, and he would die and was buried as a common man.
As a Complete Satisfaction (vv. 10-12)
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,10 and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,11 because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
In these final verses we see why this servant of God has suffered. They were not accidental; they were intended.
(v. 10) “when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring;” When Jesus makes this sacrificial and substitutional gift of his life that satisfies the wrath of God, who are the offspring that Jesus will see? Those who would believe in Him, and place their faith on His gift of salvation. We stray away as sheep, but return as children.
God will pour out His wrath upon this Promised One and he will be all that we will ever need for salvation. We know that He has the power over sin and death because it says “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied.”
All of the punishment man deserves was placed upon Christ – and he satisfied God’s justice for all of mankind’s sin – past present and future. He was numbered as one of us, he interceded for us, he bore all of our sin – and now Christ sits at the right hand of the Father.
(v. 12) “the work of the Servant is explained as a great victory. When Christ prevailed in death, He triumphed over Satan and earned the spoils of a victor. What seemed like a pitiful display of weakness turned out to be a victory of massive proportions.”[7]
Conclusion
“During the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, sentenced a soldier to be shot for his crimes. The execution was to take place at the ringing of the evening curfew bell. However, the bell did not sound. The soldier’s fiancé had climbed into the belfry and clung to the great clapper of the bell to prevent it from striking. When she was summoned by Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept as she showed him her bruised and bleeding hands. Cromwell’s heart was touched and he said, “Your lover shall live because of your sacrifice. Curfew shall not ring tonight!”[8]
___________________
[1] https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/substitution.htm
[2] Motyer, 429.
[3] Motyer, 431.
[4] George A. F. Knight, Deutero-Isaiah, A Theological Commentary on Isaiah 4-55 (New York, New York; Abingdon Press, 1965) 235.
[5] (v. 7) 1 Peter 1:18-19 “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
[6] Motyer, 433.
[7] Wolf, 219.
[8] https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/substitution.htm
Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part One Isaiah 53
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“The Trinity Helps Us Understand Forgiveness” Romans 5:1-11
The Trinity; Father, Son, & Holy Spirit
A Sermon Series
“The Trinity Helps Us Understand Forgiveness”
Romans 5:1-11
Introduction
Prayer
God’s Gifts of Justification
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the previous chapters Paul has laid out his argument and addressed any arguments against how we are justified (made right) with God by faith in Jesus. Notice that it is a past action (you have already been justified); when a person places their faith in Jesus they are immediately made right with God. You don’t have to wait until some future day to see if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds – by placing your faith in Christ that issue has already been resolved.
When I asked Kimberly to marry me, I had to travel from Alabama to Maryland where she was living. After my arrival I told her I had a gift for her and that I wanted her to open it where we first went on our first date (the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland). We sat down on the boardwalk and I handed her a large wrapped gift – that when it was opened was another smaller wrapped box – which progressively got smaller and smaller until there was a ring box, and by the time she got to that one I was on one knee ready to propose.
With God’s gift of justification, it is like my gift to Kimberly, one gift leads to another gift, and leads to another gift – but where Kimberly had worthless empty boxes until the end, each of God’s gifts are incredibly important.
The Gift of Peace with God (1b)
“we have peace with God.”
Now, he transitions, “therefore” – there is something that results from a person having placed their faith in Jesus, “we have peace with God.” In this world peace in only temporary.
As Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain is remembered for his support for the policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler over the annexation of Czechoslovakia and the signing Munich Agreement on 29 September 1938. Returning from Munich, Chamberlain delivered his “Peace with Honor – Peace for Our Time” speech. While he was holding up the paper Hitler was planning to invade more countries. In this world rarely is there peace, World War 1 led to World War 2, then Korea, then the Cold War, then Vietnam, then, and on we go, and on we go.
“This is why the central motif of the gospel in the New Testament is reconciliation. What is a necessary condition for reconciliation to take place? The most important – and necessary – ingredient for reconciliation is estrangement. Where there is no estrangement, there is no need for reconciliation. The New Testament repeatedly described the ministry of Jesus as a work of mediation, because the God-Man came into a hostile world estranged from God. The work of Christ is that of a mediator to bring the estranged parties together. He is the Prince of Peace, who came to end the warfare that is so real.”[1]
Jesus knowing that He is about to leave has no earthly possessions to give to the disciples (no houses, no lands, no earthly wealth). But look what He gives them, John 14:26-27 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” Peace is a cessation of fighting, freedom from hostilities – our fight with God is over.[2]
The Gift of Access to God (v. 2a)
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand,
In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve had unlimited access to God, and they would run to Him when He would appear. But once sin came into the world when He would come to them, they ran away and hid because they were aware of their nakedness and were filled with shame. An angel with a flaming sword was placed at the entrance of the garden keeping them out. And since then, as Adam’s children, if our sin is not removed, and our shame taken away, we cannot be anything but rebels in God’s creation.
Later God introduced ways for His people to have access to Him. With the tabernacle God’s people encamped in a circle around it so no one tribe had more access to God than another. He would appear in a pillar of smoke and fire and would settle above the Tabernacle showing that He was among His people. But only on the Day of Atonement could one priest, the high priest, enter the Holy of Holies and perform the rites of purification. His presence was among them people, but the people could not have direct access to God Himself.
Then we fast forward to Jesus dying on the cross and we see these events happening while He is dying, Matthew 27:50-51 “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.” God the Father, gave His one and only Son to pay the penalty so that humanity may have direct access to God once more, and “no longer was there to be incense and ritual but now simple worship from the human heart, in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24).”[3]
“in which we stand,” When the law was given at Mt. Siani God’s people trembled with fear, and earth shook, and there were terrifying lightening strikes, and commands were given, “don’t touch the mountain!” Is this how we approach our God when we gather in worship?
Hebrews 12:22-24 “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.”
“We come to the presence of God. We have access to his presence. There is no more veil. The angel’s sword of flame has been doused with the blood of Christ, and God welcomes us into his presence.”[4]
The Gift of Hope that Leads to Rejoicing (2b)
“and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
If someone were to ask you, “do you think the Titans will win today?” Someone may say, “I hope so.” This is an answer where the person desires for the event to happen, but they are not certain that it will happen. This is not true for the promises of God – We have stability in this world of war; we have an anchor that helps us to stand in the face of difficulty. Hebrews 6:19 “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,” People want an anchor to hold them, and hope gives them purpose and value.
The words faith and hope are very similar in the New Testament – Faith looks at something that has already taken place, and we put our trust in it. Hope is merely faith looking forward. We rejoice in the sure reality that one day we will enter into the glory of God – we will see Him, and experience Him in all of His glory. Hope is the belief that God is going to do what He said He would do.
The Gift of Suffering that Leads to Rejoicing (vv. 3-5)
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Paul is not someone who enjoys pain and suffering. Instead, he knows that because of our relationship with God, our suffering produces something within us. This suffering will cause us to grow as a person. Christians build strength when they endure sufferings. Sufferings also cause us to look beyond our present situation of distress to God and His promises.
James 1:2-4 says something similar, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
One of the works of the Holy Spirit is to pour (not drip) God’s love into the Christian’s heart. When they are experiencing sufferings, and they are trying to endure, and hope – the Holy Spirit confirms with our spirit that God loves us. “That is what fuels our hope and gives us confidence that we will not be ashamed. It is what enables us to persevere and endure trials and tribulations.”[5]
God’s Timing of Justification (vv. 6-8)
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(v. 6) In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and all of humanity fell into sin. This is what we call “original sin.” But the discussion throughout the ages is how much did sin affect humanity? Original sin does not refer to the sin committed by Adam and Eve, but to the consequences of the sin – how far and how deep did the corruption affect the entire human race.
Paul in this Romans passage refers to this corruption as a degree of strength. We are described as being “weak” and “still sinners.” “We have been plunged so deeply into sin that we do not have moral capacity to incline ourselves in any way to the things of God.”[6] We are totally depraved.[7]
Apart from Christ, “we are unable to understand spiritual things (1 Cor. 2:14). We were unable to see the kingdom of God or enter it (John 3:3,5). We were unable to seek God (Rom. 3:11).”[8] Paul later uses another image to explain this idea, Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” We are spiritually dead in our trespasses and totally moral corrupt that we will never choose God over the world – so the Holy Spirit moves in our souls and draws us to God.
We have rebelled and sinned against a holy God who is our Creator. This Father God, in His Love, Sent His One and Only Son (who also is God) to pay the price for our sin, to make the relationship right again. Then God the Holy Spirit in our complete moral depravity and spiritual death, allows us to be able to choose Jesus’ gift of salvation and to follow God. The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit are essential to our justification before God.
(v. 6) “Christ died for the ungodly,” and “while we were still sinners,” – The law of the OT was given to show us one thing (honor your father and mother, have no other gods before God, do not covet, etc.) All the festivals, celebrations, special meals, all should show us one thing – You cannot keep all the laws all the requirements – you cannot be perfect before God. The law was designed by God to alert people to their need for grace and a Savior.
Look what Jesus says on this topic, Matthew 5:17-18 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” The law pointed to the need for a Savior, Jesus fulfills the Scriptures by being that He died for the ungodly.
God’s Wrath and Our Reconciliation (vv. 9-10)[9]
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Jesus, the Son, acted as our mediator between God and Us – He reconciled us back to God the Father, and Paul reminds us that because of that free gift of grace, we are avoiding the wrath of God. The wrath of God is His hatred of sin. The wrath of God is not just an OT teaching, John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” Ephesians 2:3 talks about those apart from a relationship with God, “and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
Why would God pour out His wrath upon humanity? “God is sovereign, but the lost oppose him – they do not want anyone to rule over them. God is holy, yet they oppose his holiness. They do not accept His righteous moral standards; they do not want their sinful acts and desires to be called into question. God is omniscient, yet they are angry because God knows them perfectly, nothing is hidden from His sight.”[10] Humans oppose God, we are enemies of God.
God’s attribute of wrath and hatred of sin shows another reason why we should praise and worship Him. Imagine a god that did not hate the evils of this world, injustice and instead delighted in wrong doing, or was just tolerant of sin. A god who does not hate sin, is not worthy of worship, or honor, or praise. But humans do sin, we rebel against our Creator, we do not follow His ways. So, His wrath is justly aimed at everyone, and especially those who reject His Son as the only means of salvation.
Romans 3:25 uses the word propitiation with regards to Jesus; it is a word that means, “a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath to the end and in so doing changes God’s wrath toward us into favor.”[11] To propitiate is to make someone favorable toward you – What is required to make a holy God favorable toward a sinful mankind? His sin has to be dealt with – someone had to bear the full weight of God’s hated of sin. Once that was done, God no longer holds anything against the believer. The believer is seen by God as being as perfect as Jesus. We are accepted as Jesus is accepted.
But even with all that hatred toward sin, He is still patient and longsuffering toward sinners. But don’t think His mercy will he held out forever, 2 Peter 3:9-10 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, . . .” The Lord delays His wrath because He wants as many people to be saved, by faith in His Son, as possible before His return.
“God has made peace, and no other peace can be made except that which He has already made. To talk about making our peace with God is to reject His peace . . . If a man rejects the peace which God has provided through the Lord Jesus Christ, he remains at enmity with God.”[12]
11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
The result of these gifts from God (peace with God, access to God, a hope of being with God in glory, how we grow as a person in this life), how God came to us when we never would have chosen to do so, how we escaped the wrath of God, and Paul says, “more than that,” is joy, unspeakable joy. The Christian life, is meant to be a life of joy. We have so much to be happy about!
“We contemplate our state of affairs in this world and we see our bank accounts sliping away, our homes destroyed, our jobs lost, and our bodies torn by disease, and we have every reason to complain, whine, and weep. But if we lifted our eyes for one second to the cross and the resurrection, we see that Lord God omnipotent, who is too holy even to look at us, now looks at us and embraces us and adopts us as his children because he has reconciled us.”[13] This should bring us nothing but joy!
___________________
[1] RC Sproul, The Righteous Shall Live By Faith, Romans, St. Andrews Expositional Commentary (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2009) 141.
[2] See also Matthew 11:28-30, with the fighting being over, now our soul can rest.
[3] Donald Grey Barnhouse, God’s River, Expositions of Bible Doctrines Taking the Epistle to the Romans as a Point of Departure, Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1973) 38.
[4] Sproul, 145.
[5] Sproul, 152.
[6] Sproul, 154.
[7] Here is a helpful video on the topic of Calvinism v. Arminianism, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q4Z66lF2CA
[8] James Montgomery Boice, Romans, Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1992) 537.
[9] Just as an aside, if a person doesn’t choose Christ, and they go to hell where there is torment and anguish – why is it eternal? Why after a period of time of this punishment would their sins not be paid for (by their suffering), eventually? Apart from Christ, there is no way for a person to be rid of their sin; they would eternally be sinful. It is their nature. So hypothetically if they paid for their sin from when they were on earth, they still would have continued to be under God’s wrath because they are “dead in their trespasses and sin.,” They have no way of giving themselves spiritual life again. Apart from Christ and the Holy Spirit, you have no way of changing your depraved nature. You are a sinner, and will eternally exist that way apart from salvation in Christ.
[10] Boice, 537.
[11] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1994) 575.
[12] Barnhouse, 22. See also Hebrews 10:29.
[13] Sproul, 166.
“The Purpose of God’s Family” Exodus 1
“Into the Wilderness”
A Sermon Series in the Book of Exodus
“The Purpose of God’s Family”
Exodus 1
Introduction
The book of Genesis ends with the Hebrew word for “in Egypt.” Genesis 50: “So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.” And by the time we get to the book of Exodus 400 years have passed where they have been enslaved. “This slavery fulfills the prophecy God gave in Genesis 15:13, which says, ‘Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.’”[1] There was already a promise of going out of the land, where they would be “servants there.”
The Hebrew title for the book of Exodus comes from two Hebrew words in the text, which are translated as, “And these are the names of . . .” There is a flow from Genesis leaving off being in Egypt and what happened to the descendants of Jacob (and Joseph).[2] Genesis leaves them “in the best of the land” Goshen (Gen. 47:6). The book of Exodus is God keeping his promise – Egypt’s time of judgment has arrived. The desert sand in the hour glass have dropped for four hundred years, and now the last grain of sand has fallen. God always keeps His word.
There is also throughout this book a comparison of the Hebrew God (the Creator God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) against the world’s gods – specifically Egypt’s gods. The pharaoh’s name is never given, because he represents all of Egypt. In these opening verses, the pharaoh who experienced the salvation that came through Joseph’s dreams and the great famine (the skinny cows that devoured the fat cows) were well over four generations ago. The world needs to be reminded (pharaoh thought he was the incarnate Son of Re – the sun god), and God’s people need to be reminded of who the one true God is, and what he is capable of.
Also, Pharoah and Egypt were fooled by Satan into thinking that they were gods, that they ruled the world, but it was Satan behind the scenes. The Hebrew people were Yahweh’s chosen people, they were promised a land of milk and honey, and they were going to multiply and increase. So, Pharoah says, no, I am god, you will serve me not Him, and you aren’t going anywhere – you will be mine.
Prayer
One Family Can Change the World (vv. 1-7)
(And) These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, 4 Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. 5 All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.
The world was built around a family (Adam and Eve). So when Satan attacked God’s creation, he attacked the created order. Satan went to Eve, insinuated that Adam had lied to her (“Did God really say, . . .”). Satan’s goal was to destroy the family because it is the basic building block of humanity. Here in Exodus, we see another attack against God’s plan, here the plan is for the redemption of mankind through a family.
In Genesis 12:2-3 God promises that Abraham and his descendants would become a great nation, and the Savior promised in Genesis 3 would come through his family, “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
The Israelites were increasing in number because God was blessing them. Where it says, “they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.” It’s the same word used in Genesis to describe hordes of marine or animal life (Gen. 1:20, 7:21).[3] He was blessing them because they played a major role in the redemption of mankind. They were increasing at an amazing, miraculous number.
The family grew from one man and his wife (Jacob/Israel), to their sons and families (the twelve tribes), and an initial family of seventy persons. From this group now, when we arrive in Exodus, are over a million – it is a nation. God has blessed Abraham and has kept His promise to make him a great nation. But will they bless the entire world with a Savior – that has not happened yet (in the story), and for Satan that has to be stopped.
The story moves from a mentioning a family to now referring to them as a nation. But also, “Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation.” – all the previous generation and even the great leader and dreamer Joseph were gone . . . “The writer is somewhat emphatic to show the Israelites that “who you are now” must be understood in connection with “who came before you and who they were.”[4]
Isaac, Jacob, Abraham, Esther, Ruth, Noah, Peter, Paul, John, Matthew – these are not just stories – these were people of faith that have passed down God’s Word and what it means to be a follower of the One true God – the same God is with us now, as was with them centuries ago. And we will pass it on to the next generation.
The purpose of God’s Family is to remain faithful to God (despite circumstances),
and to pass on His truth to the next generation.
The Worse Things Get, the Stronger God’s Family Becomes (1:8-22)
Slavery
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.[5] 9 And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. 10 Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and lRaamses. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. 13 So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves 14 and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.
(v. 8) “Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” – another way to translate this verse is to say, “who chose not to know about Joseph.”[6] It is in the historical record, carved in hieroglyphs – but he chose not to take history into account. The new generation chose not to take into account the historical knowledge of the previous generations. That pride would lead to the deaths of countless people.
The new pharaoh is trying to control the Hebrew people, because he is concerned that if their number become too great, then they will “fight against us and escape from the land” – the fear is not that they will take over; they have a prophecy of a promised land, and they have made it known that want to leave.
The Egyptians don’t want to lose their slave labor force. So, to keep them from rebelling, conspiring, and multiplying, they afflicted them with heavy burdens as slaves. Again, there is God blessing the Israelites and them becoming a nation, But “under a regime of slavery, subjects become objects. The Hebrews, who have been identified as a people, are in the process of losing their identity.”[7]
The Egyptians in their attempt to deal shrewdly with God’s people, and they came up with a plan to keep them from multiplying by enslaving them. Like the crack of a whip, we see these words through text, afflict them, heavy burdens, oppressed, ruthlessly, slaves, bitter, hard service, work in the field, crack, crack, crack. The goal of slavery was to “bend them down, . . .to crush their spirit, so as to banish their very wish for liberty.”[8] But the harder they oppressed, the more they increased.
Psalm 105:25 “Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. 24 And the LORD made his people very fruitful and made them stronger than their foes. 25 He turned their hearts to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.”
Why would God allow His people to go through such a horrific and difficult time? God would show His power and might in the chapters to come, surely He had the power to stop it. Why slavery? God intentionally turned the Egyptians against the Israelites.
(1) To Keep Them Detached. Look what happens in the later books about God’s people: When left on their own, when warned not to marry foreign women, or take on the cultures of the people around them, when warned by prophet after prophet to keep God’s ways, they again and again go away from God.
(2) To Keep Them Distinct. They could not be God’s distinct people, if they took on the ways of the Egyptians – which they would have, if left on their own.[9] Before we get onto the OT believers, the church has a tendency to do the same thing. When Christians are left alone, when they are not persecuted and oppressed – they don’t read their Bibles, they don’t share their faith, they tend to overlook sin and eventually whole countries which were previously devout Christian nations now are some the most lost places in the world. But when the church is persecuted, it flourishes; it becomes doctrinally sound, and believers take their faith very seriously.
(3) To Keep Them Wanting to Depart. Also, another reason for their suffering was if they had simply blended in with the Egyptian culture, worked alongside of them, raised their families as neighbors, would they have ever desired to leave Egypt? If things are wonderful why do we need God? Suffering drove them to realize their need for a Savior, a Deliverer. The hardest people to reach with the gospel are the rich and worldly successful – because they don’t believe they need anything.
Even with the incredible suffering, it doesn’t take very long of being free before the people, say “we want to go back.” Slavery forced them to stay together and isolated long enough to grow into a great nation, and suffering pushed them to leave. If we never suffer, we will never long to see heaven or be with the Lord.
(4) To Give Others A Chance to Repent. We also get a clue in Genesis 15:16 where God was promising Abraham that he would be a great nation, and they would have a land flowing with milk and honey, but they will have to be in bondage “And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” God has a plan for everyone, and in this instance the Israelites had to wait because there was something else going on with another group.[10] The Amorites had four hundred years to turn to the one true God, but there was a limit – God’s grace was being given.
(5) So that God’s people can identify with those who have been enslaved and experience death, “The recalling of oppression is to lead to an identification with those who suffer.”
There are many reasons why God allowed the Hebrew people to suffer, some we will never know, but what we see is that God uses suffering, it has a purpose. For His people it is always redemptive. Also, the pharaoh said, “Come, let us deal shrewdly with them,” the wisdom of this world, is fooled into thinking that it can stop the plans of the Lord, 1 Corinthians 3:19 “For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.”
Suffering pushes us away from the world and toward God’s plan.
Then things got much worse . . .
Genocide
15 Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”
When slavery didn’t work to control the population size, pharaoh turned to slaughter. His first attempt is to have the midwives secretly kill the boys as they are being delivered. But the midwives, refuse to do it. When asked about when they were not following the orders, they lied – “they always give birth before the midwife can arrive (so they can’t secretly kill them as they are being delivered.) The irony of their response to pharaoh is that the women are in such good shape, that when it’s time for delivery, they have the baby so fast, they push the child out like an Olympic athlete – how are they in such good shape? They carry bricks all day.
The midwives did what they could to protect innocent life. “So God dealt well with the midwives.” (vv. 17, 21) “But the midwives feared God . . . And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.” – The midwives were commanded to destroy life, they honored God above all other authorities and so were rewarded with a family. God gave them what they were unwilling to take from someone else. They refused to take the life of an innocent, so they were rewarded with the gift they knew was worthy of fighting for. “Their reverence for life reflected a reverence for God.”[11] That reverence for God resulted in their being a house of Shiphrah and a house of
So when secret killing doesn’t work – Pharaoh then gives the order for open genocide, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile.” Why males and not females if the goal is population control? Genesis 3:15 “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Pharoah doesn’t understand how he is being manipulated, but Satan knows that the redeemer is through this chosen people’s bloodline. His goal is to keep them from being what God has designed them to be.
“Such noncompliance with the law on humanitarian grounds is rooted in a creation theology.”[12] When you don’t have a God of creation theology, then to flinging babies into a river becomes much easier – they are subhuman, slaves, cattle. They are not like us.
“Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile. ” “All Egypt has been recruited to destroy the population explosion of the enemy.”[13] The Egyptian people had to go along with this order, for it to be accepted. The nation went along with a genocide of countless babies – did they believe that there would not come a day of reckoning.
Exodus 12:29-30 “At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 30 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 someone was not dead.” The Egyptians were made to suffer in the same way that the Israelites had suffered.
There are two enemies of God’s people bondage (sin) and death. Once we are captured, bound in sin, it will always lead to death. What God’s people needed was a savior, to free them from their bondage and live. John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” That sin that we are slaves to results in death, Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Satan attacks two big things in the opening chapter of Exodus, the family,
and God’s people fulfilling their purpose.
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[1] John D. Curid, A Biblical-Theological Introduction to the Old Testament (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2016) 69.
[2] Hebrews 11:22 “By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.” Joseph showed faith by giving directions to take his bones with the people when leave at the Exodus. He knew God would keep his promise, and he wanted to be buried with his people.
[3] F. B. Huey Jr., A Study Guide Commentary, Exodus (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1977) 20.
[4] Peter Enns, The NIV Application Commentary, Exodus (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing House, 2000) 45.
[5] Similar to our remembering things from 1624.
[6] Brevard S. Childs, The Old Testament Library, The Book of Exodus, A Critical Commentary (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The Westminter Press, 1974) 5.
[7] Terence E. Fretheim, Interpretation, A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, Exodus (Louisville, Kentucky; John Knox Press, 1991) 29.
[8] C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes, Volume 1 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1985) 422.
[9] Philip Graham Ryken, Preaching the Word, Exodus, Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2015) 32.
[10] Arthur W. Pink, Gleanings in Exodus (Chicago, Illinois; Moody Press, 1977) 11. see also1 Thess. 2:16
[11] Frank E. Gaebelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Volume 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1990) 306.
[12] Fretheim, 32.
[13] Childs, 17.
