Egypt to Canaan (1): Redemption — Norman Crawford

Thank you for coming tonight. Appreciate your presence. And we trust that God will bless you as you listen to his word. Meetings will be continuing each night except Saturday at 8 o 'clock. The meetings are of course ministry meetings on this familiar Egypt the Canaan chart.

But because it's a subject that lends itself so well to the gospel Likely will be a word in the gospel as well. So pray that God will bless his word the saint and sinner. I want to read tonight in the book of Exodus first of all chapter 3 Exodus chapter 3 9 of Exodus chapter 3 now therefore behold the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me.

And I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians Oppressed them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh That thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.

Now you'll see the vital Facts that are mentioned in that statement. Moses was to bring God's people out of Egypt 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 and he said certainly I will be with thee and this shall be a token unto thee That I have sent thee when thou has brought forth the people out of Egypt.

He shall serve God upon this mountain. And Moses said unto God behold when I come unto the children of Israel and shall say unto them The God of your fathers had sent me unto you and they shall say to me.

What is his name? What shall I say unto them. And God said unto Moses I am That I am and he said thus shalt thou Say unto the children of Israel I am Has sent me unto you. Chapter 5, please. And verse 1 Exodus 5 and 1 and Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh thus saith the Lord God of Israel Let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

And Pharaoh said who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let to let Israel go. I know not the Lord and If you have a revised version, you'll notice it says and moreover. I will not let Israel go.

I Know not the Lord neither. Will I let Israel go chapter 8, please. And verse 25. Chapter 8 of Exodus and verse 25 and Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron and said go ye Sacrifice to your God in the land and Moses said it is not meet so to do for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God.

Lo shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes and will they not stone us? We will go three days journey into the wilderness and Sacrifice to the Lord our God as he shall command us.

And Pharaoh said I will let you go. That ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness. Only only you shall not go very far away. Chapter 10, please. Exodus chapter 10 and Verse 8. And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh and he said unto them Go serve the Lord your God.

But who are they that shall go? 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.

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 not so Go now ye that are men and serve the Lord for that he did desire. Look with me, please at verse 24 of the same chapter.

Chapter 10. In verse 24 and Pharaoh called unto Moses and said go ye serve the Lord. Only let your flocks and your herds be stayed. Let your little ones also go with you. And Moses said Thou must give us also Sacrifices and burnt offerings that we may sacrifice unto the Lord our God.

Our cattle shall go with us. There shall not be an hoof left behind. Chapter 12, please. Chapter 12 and verse 8. Verse 8 of chapter 12. 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 wrong or sodden at all with water.

But roast with fire his head with his legs and with the pertinence thereof and ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning. And that which remains up and until the morning you shall burn with fire.

And thus shall you eat it with your loins girded your shoes and your feet and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. You're familiar with the verses that follow immediately if you look at verse 14 and this day shall be on to you for a memorial.

You shall keep it to the feast a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever seven days. Shall you eat unleavened bread? Even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses.

For whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day into the seventh day that soul shall be cut off from Israel now chapter 13 please verse 17 of chapter 13 and it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go.

That God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines. Although that was near. If you look down in verse 21 and The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them The way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and Night he took not away the pillar of the cloud by day nor the pillar of the fire by night.

From before the people and the Lord spake unto Moses saying speak on to the children of Israel that they turn and can't before Piahira between Migdal and the sea over against Baal Zephon. Before it shall you encamp by the sea for Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel They are entangled in the land.

The wilderness has shut them in and I will harden Pharaoh's heart that he shall follow after them and I will get. I will be honored upon Pharaoh and upon all his host that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord.

And they did so verse 10. And When Pharaoh drew nigh the children of Israel lifted up their eyes and behold the Egyptians marched after them. And they were sore afraid and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord and they said unto Moses Because there were no graves in Egypt.

Has thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt saying let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians.

For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that. We should die in the wilderness and Moses said unto the people fear you not. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which he will show to you today.

For the Egyptians whom you have seen today you shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you and he shall hold your peace. Verse 19. And The angel of God which went before the camp of Israel removed and went behind them.

The pillar of the cloud went from before their face and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel and it was a cloud and darkness to them. But it gave light by night to these so that the one came not near than other all the night and Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind.

All that night made the sea dry land and the waters were divided and the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground and The waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left and the Egyptians Pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea even all Pharaoh's horses his chariots and his horsemen.

Verse 27. And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea and the sea returned. Verse one of the next chapter says. Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord and Spake saying I will sing unto the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously.

The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song and he has become my salvation. He is my God and I will prepare him in habitation. My father's God and I will exalt him.

The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name. I Hope you don't expect me to make any apology for reading so much. I know that God will bless to us the public reading of his word. We have read Considerable tonight in the early chapters of the book of Exodus last night we were speaking about the condition of sinners and we tried to describe the plight of Those who are held in bondage by Satan and by sin in the Egypt, which is a type of a world.

I'm not certain that everyone can see the four things that are listed here as types in the land of Egypt. Egypt is a type of a world and Of course Pharaoh is a type of Satan the devil and Moses is a type of the Deliverer.

We read about Moses tonight and The Passover is a type of the Redeemer the redemption that God has provided for his people. Now just to keep me in order and to help you to follow what I have to say tonight I just have five very simple things to point out to you last night.

The subject was the condition of sinners. Tonight we read in Exodus 3 about the call of the Deliverer. I'm not going to spend very much time on that subject. But I would like to try to introduce it to you at least tonight and then maybe if the Lord will We'll be able to look into it a little further some of the nights to come.

Exodus 3 is the call of the Deliverer the call of that great servant of God Moses the man of God. And there likely never has been a servant like Moses except one. And that's the greater than Moses that Moses was like Moses Lord our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Exodus 5 and 8 and 10. We read about the claims of bondage and We'll be looking at that tonight if God helps us. The claims of bondage and that includes a great deal of truth in Exodus 12. We read about the character of redemption and I think it's very important that we get a hold of this the character of redemption in Exodus 13 and 14 we read of the care and we read of the conduct of the redeemed.

Now you'll see very simply tonight that we're going to speak about redemption. We sang at the beginning of the meeting my Redeemer. Oh, what beauties in that lovely name appear. The first book of the Bible the book of Genesis is the book of beginnings.

Many of the truths that have their beginning in the book of Genesis are unfolded throughout the entire scripture. And when you get to the book of the Revelation. You're well aware of the fact that Revelation deals with many of the subjects that Genesis begins.

When you get to the book of Exodus the second book of our Bible from which we read tonight. You have the subject of redemption, but it is not redemption given to us as an exposition. It isn't some kind of cold facts laid out so that we can study them and learn them and memorize them.

But rather it's redemption given to us by illustration. The book of Exodus has been called God's picture book of redemption and I believe it is and There's much truth to learn from it. You'll notice at the bottom of the chart First Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 11 is found.

Now all these things happen unto them. By an example or as an example and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the age are come. The book of Exodus is God's great picture book of redemption and if you like illustrated books.

Then I assure you there are illustrations and Exodus to occupy the mind's eye. To take up the eyes of your heart and I hope that God will help us to fix the eyes of our heart on them tonight. The book of Leviticus, of course, as you know is the great book of Worship in the Old Testament and we'll be looking at some of that in the nights to follow with the Lord will.

The book of Numbers is the book of a wilderness people. It's the walk and the warfare in the wilderness. The book of Numbers describes the conditions that they lived in in the wilderness. The book of Deuteronomy is The book that tells of the righteousness of those who will go in to inherit the land.

And of course Canaan is not heaven but there was fitness on the part of the heirs Who would go into the inheritance. And the book of Joshua that follows the five books of Moses of course is the great inheritance book of the Old Testament and Describes the great inheritance that God had provided for these people who had been redeemed by blood in the land of Egypt.

The Fivefold Structure of Exodus

We're reading from the book of Exodus and the book of Exodus has five very natural divisions in it. It's good If you're a young believer to study a book carefully in all its parts and to see it not only up close.

That is to see what one particular verse says, but to see it as well in the light of what the whole book is teaching. You know, I I sometimes tell that I saw a picture That impressed me a great deal. It was taken from a satellite and the lens of the camera took in a large section of the world.

That really we would refer to as Bible lands. Camera took in the Nile Valley and this great wilderness of Sinai and the end of the Mediterranean Sea and the deep gorge that descends through the land of Israel the Jordan River and the great bed of the Dead Sea and it showed the Mountains of Arabia in the distance and it showed the mountains of Kerman to the north.

It was a panoramic view of the whole countryside. And you know it told you things That probably an Arab who lives in this desert has never known. Because sometimes you have to get back you have to be able to take an overall view.

So that you can appreciate the close-up view. We were saying to somebody today. There's a possibility of not being able to see the forest for the trees. There's a possibility that you can get so occupied with the bark on a particular tree that you missed the beauty of the forest altogether.

So it's possible in a book like Exodus not to really understand the background in the teaching of the book. And I assure you you miss a great deal if you fail to see that now in the book of Exodus. You have the need of redemption and we were trying to preach that last night.

The need of redemption is the first six chapters of Exodus from chapter 7 to chapter 11. You have the might of the Redeemer. You have God displaying himself in mighty power there in the land of Egypt when the plagues fell upon the Egyptians.

You have the great power of the Redeemer the might of the Redeemer. At chapter 12 until you get to chapter 18, you have the character of redemption. And that's what we said. One of our subjects would be tonight from chapter 19 to chapter 24 you have the duty of the redeemed and From chapter 25 to chapter 40 the close of this book.

You have the failure of the redeemed. Now, I could go through it in an entirely different way. First of all, you have a people enslaved and. Then you have the plagues on Egypt. This will maybe help you to understand the layout of the book perhaps a little easier.

A People enslaved the plagues on the land of Egypt. The purchase by blood. That's chapter 12. The power To set free the precepts to be obeyed the provision. For a failing people. Now, that's the great theme of the book of Exodus.

It's the theme of redemption. We read tonight in Exodus chapter 3 of the call of Moses and it isn't that I don't think that Moses is important. That I'm not going to try to spend a lot of time speaking about Moses tonight.

The very opposite is true. I believe that you can scarcely find a character in the Bible more important than Moses. Moses is one of the very few men in the Bible whose entire life is given to us from his birth to his death.

Just stop and think of that for a moment and Moses perhaps is the greatest of all the servants of God. He was a prophet. He was a priest and he was a king in Moses. God invested authority To rule over his people Israel to be their deliverer out of the land of Egypt to lead them through the wilderness.

And as we'll be looking in the nights to come he did not have the privilege of leading them into the land. Moses of course Was the deliverer because God had set his heart upon him. God chose this man to be the deliverer of his people, but it's remarkable what God used Pharaoh in his hatred of the people of Israel.

Had given a decree that all the male children should be slain. God makes them that wrath of man to praise him. I believe Christians can take a great deal of encouragement from the fact that God can overrule under the worst of circumstances.

Whenever Paul told the Roman Christians to be obedient to the powers that be the man that ruled in Rome was a madman. But God still Told his people to be subject to the powers that be and the very decree that was given in hatred against Israel was used of God for those remarkable events that put Moses in the very court of Pharaoh as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

So you see God made his very enemies work To praise him and God will do that. Yet when I look around me in the world and I see an antichrist world and an anti God world. I'm aware of the fact that even the very conditions that we live in today The lawlessness of the age in which we live God will yet turn that to blessing.

Because into a scene of chaos into a scene of utter confusion will step the Prince of Peace and Will take to himself his great power and rule and reign for God. So Moses knew what it was to be rejected.

He came to the people of Israel and They refused to own him. Moses knew what it was to feel the bitter rejection of his brethren. You know, there's a remarkable thing about Moses and and I I just want to point this out to you and pass on.

Moses as a Type of Christ

Moses was a great man. What was the secret of his greatness? Where did his greatness lie? I believe you have to go all the way through these books of Moses and come almost to the end of them. Before you find out where Moses greatness lies.

Now at the end of the book of Deuteronomy. You read that there was no God like the God of Israel. You read that there were no people like the people of God. Happy art thou oh Israel who is like unto thee?

Oh people saved by the Lord. There was no God like the God of Jashar. There was no people like the people of Israel and there was no man like Moses the Lord servant. That's the way the book of Deuteronomy closes.

But why was he so great? What was the secret of his greatness? It lay in the fact that's found in Deuteronomy 18 a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you like unto me. Him shall you hear? What was the secret of his greatness in the measure that Moses was like Christ?

Moses was a great man and In the measure that I'm like Christ and only in that measure. Can I be any blessing to God's people? Oh, you say I thought that Moses said that Christ would be like him. Well, if you thought that you've got the whole thing turned around.

That's not the way it is at all every great man of God. Whether it's in Old Testament days or New Testament days. Was only great in the measure that he was like the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the secret of Moses greatness and that day a way out here in this wilderness.

About where you see this this war with Amalek on the chart was Mount Horeb. And away there alone God made a revelation to this man at the burning bush. Moses marveled that the bush could be burned and not consumed.

Israel were here in the fires of affliction. Yet they were not consumed by the fires. In fact, they multiplied and grew in spite of the persecution. And Moses marveled at the burning bush and God said to him I am that I am.

Many a time you've heard it said that God gave Moses a blank check. Drawn on the bank of universal power. I believe that When God said to him I am he gave him a blank check and he said to Moses just fill it in.

Whatever you need I am I am that I am and whatever Moses needed. God was fit to meet that need and he was able and he did meet it. Well, that's a good thing to know here we are and some of us go around spiritually poverty stricken.

That's what we are talk about underprivileged people. Talk about the have-nots. Some of God's people are so poor. They couldn't say a prayer that would reach higher than the ceiling. And why? Is it because we have no resources?

Just because we haven't drawn on them. That's all you've heard the story about the old couple in the south of Ireland who were nearly dying from want. And were visited by a relative. He saw Something on the wall framed a strange thing.

It was a an American bank draft. And he said to the old couple How long have you had that? Oh well, they said we have a relative in America and Some years ago. He sent us that and it was it looked pretty and we didn't know what it was for.

And we we thought we just put it up there in the wall. We just framed it and put it on the wall. And here it was a bank draft that would have kept them in ease and plenty. And it was just framed and hung in the wall.

I believe it's like that with many of us and I I believe that if I point the finger at you I'll have to point the finger at myself. The resources that are ours are inexhaustible. We just don't draw on them.

That's all we're not drawing on. And anything that I am poor spiritually I can only lay it to this fact. God has given me a blank check. And I never drew on it. Never drew on it. Moses knew what it was to draw from the divine resources.

Satan's Bondage and the Roar of the Lion

We read tonight the claims of bondage. You know, these people were under the dominion of Satan. Let us make no mistake about it. Pharaoh who was the ruler of the land of Egypt. With a picture of Satan and these people were in bondage they were.

They were in affliction. They were in slavery there in the land of Egypt. In Exodus 5 you read of the roar of the lion. Peter says that Satan as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.

Well in Exodus 5 you have Satan as a roaring lion. He says I will not let the people go who is the Lord that I should obey his voice. That's the roar of the lion. You know, I I believe today that we're hearing the roar of the lion again.

I believe that I believe there's been a real change. I know that Satan is an angel of light according to 2nd Corinthians chapter 11. I know that he's still working very actively. I don't expect to find the devil working in the saloons.

I Don't expect to find him in the places of moral corruption. I expect to find Satan in the in the seat of a ecclesiastical power. You know what that means in the religious high places? That's where Satan works and he still works there and many today.

Who are madly seeking a boat for something to satisfy their empty hearts? Have turned to some of Satan's worst deceptions. Some of the baldest. Maybe you'll understand what I mean when I say it that way.

Some of the boldest. And some of the most some of the most. Undisguised of Satan's deceptions are very very successful today. It's a tragedy to see young people turn to The most ridiculous superstitions, I've talked to young people recently who talked in circles and ridiculously about reincarnation.

About consorting with the spirit world. About developing their own spirit all kinds of ridiculous things. That really are only traps and snares of Satan. I hear them talking about the fact that they have to find some meaning for life.

You know, I've taken a little closer look at the world than I did for many a day. And what I see only makes me thank God all the more for salvation. I thank God I'm saved. What I see around me in the world makes me appreciate my Redeemer makes me appreciate my redemption.

I never listened to the world's songs. But I my attention was drawn to them by others and I've been alarmed at what at what they sing in the world. A Very popular singing group called the Rolling Stones.

Made a great hit a couple of years ago of a song that says I can't get no satisfaction. And one of them proved it by going into his own backyard and blowing out his brains. Patti Page a great singer of a few years back.

Actually dared to sing into the ears of millions. Is that all there is? Only she sang it. Is that all they is that all this world is an empty place. It's a sham. And one of the most recent modern songs one of the most popular is what do you do when you get?

To the end of the road. There's nowhere to turn. There's emptiness. Satan's deceptions are becoming more obvious to the Christian, but it seems that the power of Satan is so great. That the poor unsaved are easily blinded easily deceived.

No, you're supposed to be kind of immature. You're supposed to be kind of simple-minded if you want a happy ending to a story today. Isn't that right? Almost every popular play they tell me every popular movie every popular novel ends with tragedy ends with disaster and We who like a happy ending we're supposed to be childish why I Want to know why when people tell me things like that I'm not just content to swallow what they have to say unless they can tell me why they're saying it.

Why am I supposed to be childish because I want a happy ending. I'll tell you the answer they give. Because there are no happy endings. Because life is a tragedy. Because it ends in despair and there really isn't anything.

There's nothing that's the world. That's the world over which Satan rules just as surely as Pharaoh ruled over the kingdom of Egypt. So Satan the God of this age rules over this world. But you know, he wasn't just content To leave it at Exodus 5.

Satan's Compromises and the Four Wiles

Because of course the might of the Redeemer became known. God began to display his power in the realm of Satan. And Satan had to change his tactics. And so when you get to chapter 8 of the book of Exodus you find that Satan has radically changed his tactics.

Instead of being the roaring lion of hell. He has become the angel of light and in chapter 8 He begins to compromise. And what Satan does that? He's more dangerous than when he roars like a lion and As has often been pointed out and this is some of the this is some of that old-fashioned truth that we could do with hearing a bit more about I Tell you this isn't something that's unique to me and any of the Christians here will know that this is just truth that has been taught Over and over again to God's people down through the years.

There are young ones rising up among us and they need to hear these truths. This is very practical. This is very down-to-earth. Satan tried to deceive Moses and Aaron. Into thinking that the people were going to be set free.

When really they were going to be kept as slaves. Doesn't he still do that? He tells poor sinners that he'll give them Liberty. What he really means is license and That's only slavery. And so Satan began to work and the first trick that he used the Bible tells us that were to beware of the wiles of the devil and Say Paul could say that he was not ignorant of Satan's devices.

I'm not too sure that I could always say that. But God had said to these people of Israel that they were to come three days journey into the wilderness. That they might sacrifice unto the Lord. We read that in chapter 8 that the Lord had said that three days journey into the wilderness.

What does the three days mean? Very plain practical truth. The three days means death to Egypt himself and sin and Satan burial and resurrection. It's the truth of believers baptism, it's the truth of which the Red Sea speaks and God had said three days journey into the wilderness.

What was the first thing that Pharaoh said? Let them sacrifice in the land. We read that in chapter 8 in verse 25 Pharaoh said he shall sacrifice unto the Lord your God in the land. Verse 25 of Exodus chapter 8.

Sacrifice in the land. Just be a decent worldly. Just stay in the land. What do you want to go out of Egypt for Egypt to remember? Egypt is a type of the world. It's the social world. It's the organized system the systemized form of world culture civilization education.

It's the world as we see it all around us every day that we live. And Pharaoh said just stay in the land. Embrace everything condemn nothing just be a good worldly. There's lots of people who are just decent worldlings and there are some who are even professing to be people of God and they're just decent.

Worldlings they've never taken the three days journey into the wilderness. There's never been separation from Egypt separation from the world and its ways. The next thing Pharaoh said was Well, finally, he said you can go.

God was dealing the power of God was being displayed in Egypt and Pharaoh said well you can go in verse 28. But don't go very far away. Not very far away. That was the second while of Satan. The first one was sacrifice in the land and then you can go to the land, but don't go very far away.

He still does that he says to Christians don't get very far away. Just be a borderland Christian. Just live on the borders of Egypt. Don't get too far away. Let's not get extreme. They call you a fanatic don't they.

There any fanatics here. I hope there's a whole lot of fanatics here because I'm a fanatic. And I have no shame whatever in saying it. Oh, you say I'm surprised here. You say that mr. Crawford I didn't think you were fanatical.

Oh, yes. I'm a fanatic and You know, there wouldn't be a baseball game and there wouldn't be a football game. There any other kind of sports if there were not fanatics. When has a day passed in recent years that you haven't heard the word sports fan.

Where did you think the word fan came from? From fanatic. A Fan is a person who is enthused about sports. He's a fanatic. I Want to tell you that God wants his people to be fanatical about this. Not a borderland Christian not one who lives on the edge of Egypt.

Three days journey into the wilderness. Complete separation from Egypt and all its ways. You know, there were pleasures in Egypt. Maybe you didn't know that. Sometimes when we describe the affliction and the persecution of these people when they were in their bitter bondage.

We describe it as if it was just all that, you know when they got away out here in the wilderness. Especially during these years of wandering from God. They began to remember the pleasures of Egypt. They had eaten the onions and the leeks and the garlic.

They had sat by the flesh pots in Egypt and they had got sick and tired of the manna out here in the wilderness began to remember the pleasures of Egypt. Satan knows how to give people pleasures too and Christians sometimes get Attracted by them.

You know, we will lose our power for God. Any usefulness we have unless there's real separation from the Egypt world. Unless we know what it is to take the three days journey into the wilderness. Mr. Jack Gray has a As a habit of asking young Christians whether they want to follow Jack Lennon or Christ.

Do you know what he means by that? Well, Jack Lennon, of course was one of the Beatles. You know, the Beatles have quite a history. They started off with rock music. They finally turned to hard drugs.

And now they've turned to Eastern mysticism. I Hope you're not following them. Be a poor poor kind of an example for any kind of a Christian to follow. You know. It seems that some of us as Christians are just trying to see how much like the world we can get without tumbling headlong into it.

And losing our testimony and our usefulness for God completely. Pharaoh said not very far away. Keep close. Keep close to Egypt. It was just a while of the devil. Was a deception of Satan the next thing he tells them is well you can go.