DRAMA OF THE AGES !
13. ISRAEL IN EGYPT
Abraham had been shown that his descendants would be slaves in Egypt but after 400 years they would come out a free nation. When things had got so bad that the Pharaoh of Egypt was killing all the male children of the Israelites, a baby boy was born named Moses. We all know the story of the baby in the bulrushes and how the Princess adopted him as her son.
It looked like the stage was set for the Children of Israel to get out of Egypt. All Moses has to do was wait until he was king, but this was not God's plan. When they came out, they were going to know WHO was GOD! Moses, trying to do things his own way, killed one of the Egyptian slave drivers and had to fell for his life.
The Egyptians were idol worshipers and nature worshippers like all the descendants of Ham and Nimrod. Now when things looked blackest, 40 years later, Moses returned and stood before Pharaoh.
'LET MY PEOPLE GO!' was the message he carried from God. "Israel is my firstborn, and if you don't let them go, I will slay your first-born!" But Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not listen. The Bible says in places that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, but we need to understand HOW God is said to do this. God gave evidence and proof to Pharaoh, and as he refused more and more to listen, his heart was hardened. This is how God did it.
9 terrible plagues fell on the wicked nature worshippers of Egypt, each one was designed to show them that there was no power in the nature gods they worshipped and to invite them to turn away for paganism and worship the Creator. They refused. Paganism makes men almost unreachable, even by God.
The tenth plague would find the son of Pharaoh dead and all the firstborn of the land. Israel was given another shadow play about the coming Redeemer. They were to kill a lamb and paint its blood on their door posts and then when the Angel of Death came through the land, he would PASSOVER the marked houses and spare the firstborn. This was again a living prophecy of the Redeemer, whose blood would save the believer.
The prophecy given to Abraham was fulfilled to the letter, the 400 years were up and Israel came out of Egypt a free nation with great spoil.
14. EXODUS AND BEYOND
Out of Egypt they went, through the Red sea on dry land. Believe it or not, even after the Pharaoh had seen all the evidence of the power of the True God of Heaven, even after he had seen the still form of his son and heir, he still decided to go after Israel and force them to return. Chasing them into the path opened miraculously by God, he perished with his army as the sea closed around them. Oh how foolish and stubborn men become who turn from the Creator to worship the so-called powers of nature.
Into the desert they went heading for Canaan which God had given to Abraham for his descendants. Miracle after miracle was performed by God to provide for the needs of that vast people in the barren desert. Water from the rock, bread from heaven which miraculously fell six days a week and none on the seventh day Sabbath.
15.THE BIG SHADOW-PLAY-THE BOOK IS BORN
Camped at the foot of Sinai (Jabel el laws), a wonderful revelation was given these people. God came down in fire and spoke his Law in their hearing. Then a copy was given to Moses written on stone by God's own finger. Although the Law had been known from Creation, it had not been necessary to write it down as the people were taught from father to son and had very good memories. Mankind having degenerated greatly, now it was given in written form. Also many statutes and civil laws were given to Moses who wrote them into books.
When Moses came down from the mount, what did he find but that the people, forgetting so soon the Law they had heard from the very mouth of God, had turned back to nature worship and were dancing and celebrating around a golden calf, symbol of the sun god Baal. How soon these pagan people forgot the lessons God was trying to teach them.
The first five books of the Bible and the book of Job were all written by Moses. This was the start of the Ancient Book we call our Bible. Some say that man could not write that early, but they forget, man is not ascending, he is degenerating, There is evidence of writing even in the time of Abraham.
There are three sets of laws in the books of Moses, 1st the eternal Moral Law, the 10 Commandments written on stone, 2nd a collection of civil laws to guide in daily living written by Moses in a book. 3rd there were a set of ceremonies and sacrifices, guidance for the priests and the worship at the Tabernacle that was later built. These were a living prophecy and every aspect of them had something to tell of the Messiah and Salvation. However, the practice of these ceremonies was to end when Jesus died on the cross.
When the people repented of the worship of the calf and returned to God, He guided them to build a wonderful sanctuary where daily and yearly services were held all pointing to the work and ministry of the Messiah.
When this was all completed, Israel was on the march again. But on the very edge of Canaan, Israel rebelled and refused to obey God. Back into the wilderness they went for forty years.
We will skim over many years now; Israel did go into Canaan, but again they did not fully obey God and drive out the wicked nations completely, instead they collected taxes from them and left them to be a snare for their feet as the presence of idol worshiping pagans caused Israel time after time to fall away from the True God into the feasts, celebrations and nature worship of paganism. Time and again they were warned, finally in an effort to save part of Israel, the kingdom was divided.
Later ten tribes were destroyed and scattered, lost forever because of their insistence on pagan idol and nature worship. Even Judah succumbed and though God sent prophet after prophet to warn them to turn away from their sin and return to God, they refused, even killing many of the faithful prophets.
Finally God allowed the aggressive nation of Babylon under the young prince Nebuchadnezzar to capture, sack and burn Jerusalem and lay her temple in ruins. The people who survived were mostly taken to Babylon as slaves.
NEXT
