Free at Last

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:04] Speaker B: Welcome to Hope for Today, a weekly Bible teaching program that will bring you hope for every day. Hello and welcome. Thanks for joining us. As we continue our study in Exodus, it is encouraging to hear from God and learn more about him in the Bible. This happens no matter which book of the Bible we are focusing on. This is an amazing aspect of the Bible. This is not just a book. It is alive. And in every section of the Bible there is more for us to learn. Looking at the children of Israel, we can see how God directed and led them from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the promised land. And really that is what God longs to do for each of us. He has provided the way for us to go from slavery to freedom. We can be free from the slavery of sin and experience true freedom by following Jesus and living according to the commands Jesus gave us. And think about Pharaoh. He is an example of someone who, despite all the evidence and proof for God, rejects God and continues in his own way. Time after time. God reveals his power. And each time Pharaoh's heart becomes harder and harder. This pattern has been repeated by many men down through the ages. God, in his mercy, shows himself alive and real in many incredible ways. But this turns some hard hearts even harder. Exactly what Pharaoh was doing. We look forward to what J. Mark will teach us from Exodus and how these truths will teach us more about God and how we can live for Him. Let's give our attention to J. Mark now. [00:02:00] Speaker A: You know, people all over the world long for freedom. They long for independence. They hope someday to be able to throw off the yoke of bondage because they want to be free. But we must understand that bondage comes in a variety of forms. Some people are bound by physical illness. Some are bound by their political situation. And others feel bound by economic conditions. And many more are bound in their spirit. They are controlled by their own selfish desires and their appetites. Of all these bondages, to be under the bondage of the spirit is the most serious. But I'm happy to tell you that you can be like the people of ancient Israel. You can be free at last. Yes, there is freedom for you and me, but there's only one way to achieve it. And God's word gives us the path to freedom today. Exodus chapter 12, verses 29 to 42 is the basis of our meditation on freedom. Listen, as I read, that's Exodus 12 beginning with verse 29. 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 to the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the 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 Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, rise up and get you forth from among my people, both you and the children of Israel, and go serve the Lord as you have said. And also take your flocks and herds as you 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 kneading troughs 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 clothing. And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required, and. And they spoiled. The Egyptians and the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to succoth, about 600,000 on foot that were men besides children. And a mixed multitude went up also with them, and flocks and herds, even very many cattle. And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they had brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened because they were thrust out of Egypt and and could not tarry. Neither had they prepared for themselves any victuals. Now, the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was 430 years. And it came to pass at the end of the 430 years, even the selfsame day, it came to pass that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations. The stages to achieve freedom are demonstrated in this scripture. And they are available to you and to me. Let me point you to them. The first stage was for Egypt. In our study, from the previous chapters of Exodus, we have emphasized the judgment of God upon the land of Egypt. And here it is again. The Bible tells us that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. So there was this total involvement. The firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne died, just as did the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon. Even the firstborn of cattle died. And so the judgment of Egypt was complete. It was total. And as we read, a great cry went up throughout the land of Egypt because there was not a house where there was not one that had died. Freedom demands the judgment of the oppressor. In this case, Egypt was the oppressor. And because God was concerned about the oppressed, he judged the people of Egypt. The stages to achieve freedom are demonstrated in this experience. In the first stage, there must be judgment of the oppressor. And God has done that. Judgment to achieve freedom is by the hand of God. It must come from the Lord. He has exercised judgment upon the oppressor of our spirit, that great arch enemy of God, the devil. God has exercised a judgment against him. And now you and I can be free if we accept the judgment God has made. The second stage was for Israel. It was emancipation. Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and issued an emancipation proclamation. For the people of Israel. It was Pharaoh's command. If you'll recall, before, he always said, no, I will not let you go. But now, in the middle of the night, he calls Moses and Aaron and he issues a command to them. He said, rise up and get you forth. Go and serve the Lord and take everything with you and begone. He issued this demand for departure and emancipation of deliverance to freedom. The Egyptians urged the people and said, go, go, because otherwise we're all going to be dead men. Try to imagine what the conditions must have been like in that land where every house had at least one dead person and one dead among their cattle. No wonder they were insistent that the people of Israel get out. Freedom demands emancipation of the oppressed. Remember, the people of Israel were slaves. They were oppressed in Egypt. They were forced to serve with harshness. They were beaten by their taskmasters. But God brought them emancipation or freedom by the proclamation of Pharaoh. Now, emancipation, that is true. Emancipation from the bondage of the spirit must come from the Lord. He has promised you and me that he will free us from the bondage of the spirit. But only when the Lord takes over can you have emancipation and freedom from the bondage in your spirit. When Jesus was here on earth, he made this. If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. You see, Satan wants to keep you in bondage. And so he tells you lies. And he urges you to believe those lies. But Jesus wants you and Me to be free to serve him. And we can do that when we embrace the truth in our text. The Lord moved Pharaoh the oppressor to issue a command of emancipation. These oppressed people of Israel. You know, it really is no secret what God can do. He can emancipate your soul and your spirit right now if you will surrender to him. And then there's a third stage, which is emigration. So the children of Israel left Egypt, and they left behind the land of their bondage. There were 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children, and a mixed multitude. And so it must have been quite a large number, well over a million people, or maybe as many as 2 or 3 million. And besides that, they took all their flocks and herds along with them. And we read that they had very many cattle. They also took along the bowls or troughs in which they mixed the ingredients for their bread. They didn't have time to properly mix the bread and wait for the dough to rise because they had to leave in a hurry. So they were prepared to eat unleavened bread as they were on the move. That's what emigration means. It means to get out, to separate yourself, to move on away from the land of bondage. Now, there's a certain time element here. Maybe you caught it. The Bible tells us that they had sojourned in the land of Egypt for 430 years. And then on the very day that completed those 430 years, they came out of Egypt. But now they had been delivered freedom at last. And they're on their way. They are emigrating. They are moving out. As I said, freedom demands emigration to separate from the former condition of slavery. But this freedom must be from the Lord, because the separation from bondage and oppression needs to be complete. So the stages for freedom come in this way. Judgment, emancipation, emigration. The judgment must be brought by the Lord on the oppressor. The emancipation of the oppressed must be of the Lord. Emigration, separation must be under the direction of God. And then there will be freedom at last. Now we know from history that Egypt was a real country. In fact, it still exists today. But Egypt is also used as a symbol of sin or a symbol of the world. In scripture, those who live under the control of the world and sin are slaves. They are not free to do as they choose. Listen to these words from Romans 6, 16, 18. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey. You are that one. Slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to righteousness. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. My friend, are you still a slave in Egypt? Are you still a slave of sin? Are you powerless to escape its bondage? If so, I have good news for you. Jesus Christ can set you free. He can and will change you from the inside out if only you will come to him in believing and obedient faith. Ancient Israel was delivered from physical slavery and I'm sure that was wonderful. They rejoiced, but we discover quickly that they didn't experience spiritual freedom. You can be different. You can experience complete deliverance through Jesus Christ. You can be free at last. [00:13:05] Speaker B: Thank you J Mark for this teaching from Exodus. And we thank you for joining us as Christians. It is a privilege to serve and trust our God. Our God who is above every nation. Be encouraged in this story from Exodus that our God was in control and the same God who was in control back then is still in control now. Do you have any thoughts from today's teaching? If you want to share them with us, here are a few ways you can contact us. One of the best ways is via email. Our email is hopeheraldsofhope.org if you don't have email, no problem. Our address is Hope for Today, Box 3, Breezewood, Pa 15533 or you can connect with us on our website. Our website is heraldsofhope.org this brings us to the end of today's program. Thanks again for being there. Please join us again next week for another lesson from Exodus. Go with God this week and know that he is big enough for your circumstance. Trust Him. Most High rules in the kingdoms of men.