Earthly Leadership Exodus 5:1-21

Anyway, good morning, Faith Bible Church, we're glad you're here, and Merry Christmas. We can say that here, and praise God that we can rejoice in Him this season and remember God incarnate and what He has done in our lives, and He does every day and every moment.

And we can thank the Lord for the rain. We need more of that, and it looks like it's coming, so get ready for it. In the way of announcements, there's a prayer meeting this evening. Your bulletin says men's Bible study continues, or says tonight.

There's not a men's Bible study tonight, okay? And I think most of you men know that, that participate in that, so it's next Saturday. Prayer meeting's tonight at 6. There will be a Christmas Eve service on the 24th at 5 o 'clock, and it is a great time to invite family and friends when this is the time of year that people tend to be a little more open towards it, because it's kind of surrounding them in one form or another, just driving down the street.

So it won't be a long, drawn-out service, it'll be reasonable given that it's the Christmas Eve as well. I wanted to also thank you. Deb's father passed away this week, and I know many of you have been praying for us as a family, and for her sister and other family members, and her mom, and we just thank you for your prayers.

We've seen God at work in every circumstance, and we continue to see Him at work in their lives. And there's been a lot of discussion, some discussion about heaven, of course, as somebody is considering, and there's a possibility of somebody dying, we begin to think of what's after death, and great conversations there.

And I just would like to read, it just so happens in Morning and Evening Devotional, the primary verse was, so shall we ever be with the Lord, and we shall as believers. But it reads like this. In heaven, there shall be no interruptions from care or sin.

No weeping shall dim our eyes. No earthly business shall distract our happy thoughts. We shall have nothing to hinder us from gazing forever on the Son of Righteousness with unwearied eyes. Oh, if it be so sweet to see Him now and then, how sweet to gaze on that blessed face for I, and never have a cloud rolling between, and never have to turn one's eyes away to look on a world of weariness and woe.

Blessed day, when wilt thou dawn? Rise, oh setting sun. The joys of sense may leave us as soon as they will, for this shall make glorious amends. If to die is but to enter into uninterrupted communion with Jesus, then death is indeed gain, and the black drop is swallowed up in a sea of victory.

And that is our hope, every one of us that know the Lord Jesus, that we have this, that hope today, no matter what your age. We have that hope today for what tomorrow holds. So anyway, would you join with me in prayer?

Lord God, we thank you, Father, for gathering us here today. Father, that we do have hope in life eternal with you, Lord, through Jesus Christ. Thank you that you have given us your word to study, to trust, to read, to share, to know that it is from your mouth.

And God, I pray that you would strengthen us in that today as we worship you, as we lift our voices, as we hear the word preached, that our lives would be touched in a way that would encourage us, that would prompt us to be more holy in our worship of you, to be more righteous according to your son's example, that God, we might please you with our offerings of praise, Father.

God, we pray for some that are at home today that are maybe in the hospital, that you would care for them as only you can, be the God of comfort to them, that you would heal them, Lord, according to your purpose and according to your will, and that they would know that their church family is praying for them as well.

So God bless them this day, and Father, thank you for being merciful to every one of us, that we are grateful to you for our church, for the country we live in, Father, even in all its flaws, Father, that God, we know that you are Lord over all.

So God bless this morning and this service. We commit it to your care. In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

Merry Christmas and good morning, and let's stand and sing to our Lord.

The Beatitudes and Persecution for Righteousness

Our treatment for this morning is Matthew chapter 5, verses 10 -12. Matthew chapter 5, verses 10 -12. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you and forsake you for my sake. Rejoice in me and be exalted in God, for grace of the Lord in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

May the Lord bless you to the end of this world.

Pharaoh's Rejection of the Lord in Exodus 5

Please turn with me to Exodus 5, verses 1 -21. Exodus 5, verses 1 -21. Afterward, Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.

And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go. So they said, The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go three days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with a sword.

Then the king of Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, Why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor. And Pharaoh said, Look, the people of the land are many now, and you make them rest from their labor.

So the same day, Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying, You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves, and you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before.

You shall not reduce it for their idol. Therefore they cry out, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let more work be laid on the man, and that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words.

And the taskmasters of the people and their officers went out and spoke to the people, saying, Thus says Pharaoh, I will not give you straw. Go, get yourselves straw where you can find it, yet none of your work will be reduced.

So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw. And the taskmasters forced them to hurry, saying, Fulfill your work, your daily quota, as when there was straw.

Also the officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh's taskmasters had set before them, were beaten and were asked, Why have you not fulfilled your task in making brick, both yesterday and today as before?

Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, Why are you dealing thus with your servants? There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us, Make brick.

And indeed, your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people. But he said, You are idle, idle. Therefore you say, Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord. Therefore go now and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks.

And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in trouble after it was said, You shall not reduce any bricks from your daily quota. Then as they came out from Pharaoh, they met Moses and Aaron, who stood there to meet them.

And they said to them, Let the Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servant, to put a sword in their hand to kill us. This is the word of the Lord.

Let us pray. Father, we are thankful that we serve a kind king. We serve a king who bears our burden and puts no burden on us. Father, we thank you that you have sent us your son to be king over us. And Father, we pray that during this time that we would be thankful and remember the king we serve.

In Jesus' name, amen. This passage comes after a big celebration, a worship service in chapter four, when Israelites heard that there is a God who's coming to save them from the bondage of enslavement.

And they all rejoiced, they bowed down, and they worshipped. But this passage picks up after that, and it shows the first response in Moses' and Aaron's ministry to deliver God's people from enslavement.

And this passage mainly deals with Pharaoh, the Egyptian king who does not know the Lord. Effectively, he's a tyrant. Now, when I talk about earthly leadership, I'm not talking about every leader on earth or every leader who led on earth, because there were godly leaders on earth.

When I'm talking about earthly leadership here, we're talking about leaders who have set themselves and yet do not acknowledge God as the ultimate authority. And by default, they are tyrants. When there is no God before them, they make themselves gods.

And this is important to us today, because when leaders do not acknowledge God, the temptation is there to act as de facto gods themselves. This is true in the government, and this is also true in the church.

In the church, there are often pastors who de facto have become little popes of their local churches. They make the rules. They govern how people are treated. They get to decide when they're disciplined or not, and it's not according to God's Word.

And this also translates in our culture, in the government itself. When the government does not acknowledge God's authority, they themselves fill that vacuum. They become the caretaker of the retired.

They become the provider for the poor. They become the parents of the children, telling people how to live, what decision to make. And if they disobey, they're punished. This is why the main point of today's text is, when earthly rulers reject God's Word, they become unbearable tyrants.

When earthly rulers reject God's Word, they become unbearable tyrants. The first point is, when tyrants consider themselves as gods, they revile God's words. When tyrants consider themselves as gods, they revile God's words.

Moses and Aaron, at this point, are fueled by the support and excitement of God's people. So, they approach Pharaoh to deliver God's message to them. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, let my people go, and they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.

In their mind, this will be an easy mission. They have the signs. They have the people's support, right? And they have God on their side. What can Pharaoh do to them? However, Pharaoh's response is less than favorable.

Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go. The question of who is the Lord is a stark contrast to the humble Moses' question when the Lord first spoke to him in chapter three.

Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and I should bring our children of Israel out of Egypt? While Moses, in his humility, admits that he is not capable by himself to deliver the people of Israel out of Egypt, Pharaoh, in his hubris, although he has the full capacity to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt, he does not care to.

When Pharaoh says he does not know the Lord, this is true at two levels. First is the information level. He did not know the name of the Hebrew deity that Moses was talking about, right? He's an Egyptian king.

He did not worship the Lord. Second, it is at the level of acknowledging the Lord and his authority. Recall that in Egypt, Pharaoh represents the Egyptian deities. He's the person who speaks for the Egyptian deities, and he's the one chosen by their gods to represent them.

So, in Pharaoh's mind, there cannot be a competing deity. In Pharaoh's mind, he is greater than the Lord. In Pharaoh's mind, there is no reason to listen to a foreign god, especially the god of the slaves.

Ironically, by the time that Pharaoh is willing to listen to what the Lord has to say, it will cost him a lot more than just his time. Now, hoping Pharaoh would change his mind if he's more informed, Moses and Aaron plead with Pharaoh.

The god of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days' journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with a sword. You can see the confidence level dropping in their response.

Please, let us go, or God will send pestilence and sword on us. Pestilence and sword is the sign of the divine judgment. But note the object of the divine judgment. Who's gonna face the divine judgment?

It is not the Egyptians, according to them, but the people of God. Moses and Aaron are trying to argue that if they fail to go out into the desert to worship the Lord, that God would judge His people.

If they fail to go out to sacrifice to the Lord because of Pharaoh's refusal, then God would judge the slaves of Egypt. This is peculiar because God never told this to Moses.

Ever.

The only thing God has said was, despite Pharaoh's hardened heart and stubbornness, God will still deliver them out of Egypt. So, prior to this, there was no mention of judgment against God's very own people.

God's word has only been gracious and merciful to His people in His plan to deliver them, to free them from the enslavement. Yet, Moses and Aaron, in their fear, misrepresent God as a hostile deity who requires worship or His people would be punished.

Now, why would they do that? This is my speculation to their response. Since Pharaoh will not let Israel go because he does not care what the Lord has to say to him, they're maybe wondering if Pharaoh will let Israel go if he is directly affected himself, right?

If God were to judge Israel for their failure to worship, then Egypt will lose its workforce, right? It's a pragmatic argument. This would be the modern understanding. Pharaoh, Egypt's GDP will crash if you don't listen because the Lord will punish us.

Despite this mischaracterization, God mercifully will deliver His people out of Egypt without the single loss of a slave's life. And, ironically, the divine judgment will instead fall on Egypt. That's the type of God we have, a gracious and merciful God despite His own servants' mischaracterization, right?

God never threatened judgment on Israel, only on Egypt if they're stubborn. But despite the mischaracterization, God will still do what He says He will do because He's faithful and merciful. The king responds in verses 4 to 5.

Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor. Translation, stop wasting time and go back to work. He doesn't buy the argument. After all, Pharaoh does not care about the Lord's authority.

Pharaoh is more concerned with his slaves working than the words of the one true God. Verses 6 through 9 show the extent of Pharaoh's rejection of the word of the Lord. He sets up an edict precisely the opposite of God's word to him.

You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. And you shall lay on them the quota of bricks which they made before. You shall not reduce it for they are idle.

Therefore, they cry out saying, let us go and sacrifice to our God. The Lord told Pharaoh to let his people go. Pharaoh increases the workload to prevent exactly that. In Pharaoh's mind, the problem is not the enslavement of God's people, but rather their idleness to hope for freedom.

In Pharaoh's mind, Israelites are only hoping for deliverance because they're not working hard enough. This is the type of wicked tyrant that Moses and Aaron are dealing with. Pharaoh will shift the blame rather than take responsibility upon himself.

Whose fault is it that Israel cannot go out and worship? Well, the one who is king over Egypt. Yet he will blame the ones who need to go worship for not being able to go. Pharaoh rejects God's word by ordering the exact opposite of what God commanded him to do, putting even more burden on God's people so that they will not even hope to go to worship the Lord in the wilderness.

Furthermore, verse 9 shows us Pharaoh's more grotesque reaction to God's word. Pharaoh does not just reject God's word, but he also mischaracterizes God's word. Pharaoh frames God's word as lies. This is a total disregard for God's word.

It is one thing to refuse to obey God's word, but it is another thing to characterize it as false. Pharaoh reviled God's word. Pharaoh effectively blasphemed against God. If God's word are false, that's calling God a liar, untrustworthy, not faithful, the source of lies.

He hears the message from God and smears it as lies. And this is a direct defilement of God's word. And this pattern has been set for thousands of years. Whether Roman emperors or the Chinese Communist Party, self-deified, tyrannical rulers have reviled and rejected God's word.

This is because they cannot possibly understand that God has authority over them. First, they distort God's word. For example, the Nazis infiltrated the German church by planting false teachers to preach against the Jews and placing the Nazi party as the great redeemer instead of Christ.

It precisely distorted what God says about the Jews and the great redeemer, Christ. And that allowed Nazi Germany to persecute the Jews and commit a genocide against them. And the church was powerless for the most part because they bought into the lies.

Except for a few faithful ministers like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who also lost his life from fighting against these lies. Not only that, these tyrants set up policies that directly oppose God's commands. Policies that violate the sanctity of life.

Their people are treated as disposable tools. The communists have killed over 100 million of their own people in the last century alone. This is not fighting against their enemies. Their own people died because of their own policies.

They also placed policies driven by sins rather than righteousness. Remember, any government that is set up has to be under the authority of God. And God sets up the government in order that they may practice justice in punishing evil and rewarding good.

Romans 13, that's the purpose of human government. However, the communist governments do the opposite. Communist governments set up policies that are driven by envy of those who have more than you. Rather than being satisfied with God has given us already, the government takes from those who have more to unjustly distribute it to those who did not earn it.

Translation, God messed up, so we will fix it. We will do it right. They cannot just disobey God's word. They have to desecrate it with their policies. They cannot let God be God because in their minds, they are gods.

They will take control. And they will treat their people that they want to do. Not how God ordered the governments to treat the people. Now what happens when the tyrants defile God's word? When tyrants attempt to replace God, God's people suffer.

When tyrants attempt to replace God, God's people suffer. Verses 10 through 11 show that Pharaoh's rebellious edict has been applied through the taskmasters and the officers. The officers are ethnic Israelites who have been set up by Egypt to manage the large number of Israelites in Egypt.

Note how the edict starts. Thus says Pharaoh. Thus says Pharaoh contrasts with thus says the Lord that we heard in verse 1. While the message after thus says the Lord intends to give freedom and life to his own people, the message after thus says Pharaoh oppresses them even more, places even more burden on them, chokes away the life they barely were having.

Thus says Pharaoh is stark opposite of the words of the true king thus says the Lord. When Moses and Aaron proclaim thus says the Lord, the message is gracious and life-giving. When the taskmasters inform him, the officers proclaim thus says Pharaoh, the message is oppressive and deadly.

This is a stark contrast of the Lord God of Israel and the Egyptian deities whom Pharaoh represents. While the true God desires to give mercy and grace to his people, the pagan deities only add extra burden on them.

While the true God has utter compassion for those who are lowly and suffering, the pagan gods have no regard for human life whatsoever. Let them suffer even more. Verses 12 through 14 show the intensifying effect of the evil edict that had on the people of God.

First, verse 12, so the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather the stubble instead of straw because God's people had to meet the same quota yet forced to add another job.

They had to scatter to find stubble for brick making. Straw was used as a glue-like substance to hold the bricks together. Now, before this, they were given straw so they could just focus on making bricks.

However, now that they're not given straw, God's people had to go out to even find stubble, little pieces of straw to make up for that. And you can see how dire the situation got for God's people. While verse 13 shows verbal harassment to force them to work harder, verse 14 gets physically violent.

They're not just pressured verbally, but the officers of Israel are actually beaten. Even the officers who are above their people, they're higher up in rank, are not spared from the wicked king's edict.

When tyrants revile God's word, God's people suffer. When tyrants try to replace God, God's people are dehumanized. Now, tyrants who proclaim to be divine have always opposed God's people because there can't be a competing deity.

The Roman emperors who were deified slaughtered Christians so much that the axe blade got dull. Imagine that. The axe got dull from killing too many Christians. Communist China and Soviet Russia all closed down churches, which resulted in underground churches.

God's people can't meet publicly. God's people can't publicly proclaim Christ. And this is a reality still for a lot of brothers and sisters in many countries today. And we need to pray for them. That's because the tyrants try to become gods.

They want to control everything that they're not supposed to. However, this has also been creeping into America. We may not be physically persecuted for worshiping Christ, but there's a huge social cost.

Nowadays, certain occupations may not be suitable for Christians anymore, may not be safe, may not be secure. Because of the perverse policies on gender and sexuality, many Christian teachers in public schools could be fired or sued for not bowing down to the culture, refusing to call a girl a boy, refusing to call a boy a girl.

Christian doctors are pressured to accept abortion as health care. And who knows, in the future, they might lose their license to practice. Christian children in public schools are indoctrinated with gender fluidity, hypersexuality, and critical race theory that divides the people group into skin colors, as oppressive group and the oppressed group.

It splits the church that way too. Yet, if their parents disagree, they are labeled as domestic terrorists. And that's the term that the current administration is using, not the sensational media. And what is the Christian response to this degeneration?

Our hope is not in a systemic change. Our hope is not in an election. After all, this cannot be solved from mere laws. Because sinful people don't obey laws. It is changed through the transformation of the hearts of individuals through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When tyrannical sinners receive the message that Jesus died for their sin because He could earn their forgiveness by shedding His blood, they are made into new creation. When the sinful people hear that they can be children of God by repenting of their sin and believing in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the cross, they're given a new heart.

For once they can know that they are not gods. For once they can know that the government is not their god. Upon their faith, they will be made into new humanity. And God will sanctify their minds with the truth of His word.

And only then will this tyrannical cultural persecution in America stop. Our hope is not in a conservative representative, but in the gospel that can change the hearts of the most tyrannical and anti-Christian rulers.

That's our hope. We better be spreading the gospel in hopes of that. That's how systems change at an individual level as they're sanctified, as their minds focus on God's truth rather than lies. We do not change systems through violence.

We do not put our money in political, systemic changes. Now what happens when God's people treat the tyrants as gods? When tyrants are treated as gods, they are merciless. When tyrants are treated as gods, they are merciless.

Hoping to find justice and relief, the officers over Israelites who were just beaten by their taskmasters, they go to the man who can actually help, Pharaoh, the author of the wicked edict. Well, maybe if we go to Pharaoh, he could change the edict and we won't be beaten anymore for no fault of our own.

Verses 15 through 16 share their grievance. Why are you dealing thus with your servants? There is no straw given to your servants, and they say to us,.

Make brick,.

And indeed your servants are beaten, but the fault is in your own people.

It's the Egyptians.

We can't do anything. We're not given straw, but expected the same result. Note how they refer to themselves. They identify themselves as your servants.

Twice.

Rather than seeing themselves as God's servants, God's people, they first identify themselves as Pharaoh's servants. Even Aaron and Moses did not do that. As they approach Pharaoh, they believe true justice will be served, and they would find relief from the throne of Pharaoh.

They have a high regard for Pharaoh and his ability to make things right. This also points to what they're not doing. Well, they're not going to the Lord. They're not going to the Lord who promised deliverance.

They're not going to the Lord who counts them as their people, as his people. They go to Pharaoh for justice. Instead of going to the Lord, they go to Pharaoh to find relief. They're effectively viewing Pharaoh as their deity, whether they know it or not.

Instead of correcting the problem or taking responsibility for his evil edict, Pharaoh further blames the victims. You are idle, idle. Therefore, you say, let us go and sacrifice to the Lord. Therefore, go now and work.

For no straw shall be given you, yet you shall deliver the quota of bricks. Pharaoh justifies his inhumane edict and commands them to work more. From this king, they do not find mercy or relief. From this king, they do not find justice or compassion.

Ironically, the phrase, therefore, go now and work, is the same phrase when Pharaoh cannot take the judgment of God anymore and sends Israelites out. Therefore, go now and serve your God. The word for work and serve are the same.

And the last time Pharaoh will say the same phrase, therefore, go now and work, it will be because he cannot take the judgment of God and he has to let the people go. Right after, when they encounter Moses and Aaron, they still show their allegiance to Pharaoh.

Let the Lord look on you and judge because you have made us abhorrent in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants to put a sword in their hand to kill us. Rather than opposing the oppressor,.

Pharaoh,.

They oppose the two men whom God has chosen to deliver Israel out of Egypt. They care more about how Pharaoh and his taskmasters view them rather than how God views them. In their mind, Pharaoh's edict is more important than God's promise of deliverance.

Despite their loyalty to Pharaoh, they found no relief, no mercy, no justice. Pharaoh and any other tyrants who try to replace God are merciless gods. They make horrible gods. When Moses and Aaron sought relief from Pharaoh, they got more burden.

When the Israelite officers sought justice and mercy from Pharaoh, they were sent away with the same blame. Again, this is because earthly tyrants make horrible gods. They cannot be God. They cannot do what God does.

And they do not share the same characters as God. Tyrants make merciless, vile gods. They will not take away burdens from you, but will add more. They will not seek justice for you if it costs them. Then what hope do God's people have under tyrants?

What do they do? Well, God's people look at the true king who reigns higher. The true king of a complete, different disposition to his people. A king who does not kill his own, but dies for his own. A king who is already divine and does not have to deify himself because God's people serve a king of a different nature.

God's people worship a servant king. In Matthew 11, 28 through 30, Jesus precisely addresses his people who are heavily burdened, not just physically, but spiritually, emotionally. They're tired. They're exhausted.

They know they're not good enough, and they're helpless, and they're hopeless. Maybe this might be you today. The burden's so great. The burden I put on myself is great. And what does this king say to those who seek relief from him?

To them, he says, come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. To those people, Jesus does not turn them away, but he gives them rest. What do you need to do? Do you need to pass through all the formalities and rituals?

Do you need to make a reservation, an appointment to see the king and wait for a long time?

No.

His only requirement is, come to me. Your only requirement to finding rest from all the heavy burden of your life is to go to Jesus. And what is this king like? Verse 29 tells us, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

This is the only place in the New Testament that describes Jesus' heart, and his heart is gentle and lowly, kind and humble, unassuming and approachable, compassionate and open. That's his heart. His heart for those who come to him is not threatening and wrathful.

His heart for those who approach him for rest is not guarded and pompous. No, his heart is gentle and lowly, and he offers you rest for your souls, that your souls may not try to earn good deeds. Your souls may not try to earn salvation through your good works, because you know deep in your heart they're not good enough, and that's just an extra burden.

His heart is gentle and lowly, and he offers you rest for your soul today. He says, take my yoke. Take his yoke today, which is easy and light. What does that mean? The yoke that he gives you is much better than the yoke you're carrying right now.

The yoke that he gives you is comfortable. The yoke that he gives you lightens the load. It's easy and light. This is the kind of king you serve if you're a Christian. You get to unload your heavy, confined yoke at his feet.

He'll take it, and he'll give you his easy and light yoke. While earthly kings place more burden on their people so that they may have ease, the heavenly king provides rest for his people at the cost of his life.

We worship this heavenly king when we are threatened from the burden of the earthly tyrants. Let us pray. Father, we're thankful that you are so different from any other earthly rulers. You are so gracious and merciful to us.

You're so compassionate and gentle and lowly. Father, we're thankful that such king holds the highest throne. We're thankful that you will take care of the earthly tyrants on your own time, and we trust you in that.

But today, God, we pray that all of us will seek the heavenly king whose yoke is easy and light, whose heart is gentle and lowly. In Jesus' name, amen. Now we're dismissed, so have a great week.