Exiting Egypt Chapter 5 P2

Exiting Egypt

“When Everyone Criticizes You”

By Dennis Lee: Chapter 5 P2

Read Exodus 5

Why didn’t Pharaoh take Moses’ request seriously? Why did he enslave God’s people and mistreat them. Whey didn’t he believe in the one truly and living God? Why didn’t he rule Egypt with liberty, freedom and justice for all?

In a word, Pharaoh was ignorant of God, and as such he didn’t fear Him. Look at his declaration, he not only didn’t know God, but he would not let Israel go and serve God.

In the exact same way the world doesn’t know God either, because it is no different today than it was in Moses’ day. Therefore, the world will persecute believers. Jesus warns us of these very consequences.

A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me (Jn. 15:20-21 NKJV)

Pharaoh and all those today who do not fear God is because their hearts are hardened to the reality of God. This is what the Apostle Paul found.

(Unbelievers) having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart (Eph. 4:18 NKJV)

And so, the judgment of God will fall upon all who persecute and enslave God’s people. Look at the end of them as we look at the end of time

God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus (2 Thess. 1:6-8 NIV)

And so, as we have seen, the Lord isn’t on Pharaoh’s radar, but belief in the Lord is of great concern to him. Pharaoh may not believe that the Lord is saying these things, but if the people believe it then that belief poses a threat.

In order to believe in anything, one first has to hear it. The Apostle Paul says this is the case concerning our faith. He said that faith come by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Rom. 10:17).

So this belief by the people because of what Moses is saying is a threat. And so there are two courses of action that Pharaoh as with all despots take, and that is either hinder the speaker or hinder the listener. And here, Pharaoh chooses the later, that is, to hinder the listener, and he does so by making their labor more difficult. Look again at Pharaoh’s words,

Let more work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it, and let them not regard false words (Ex. 5:9 NKJV)

Pharaoh’s strategy is ingenious. Make Moses’ words of deliverance look foolish and his words nothing more than nonsense and empty promises.

This is exactly what Satan wants us to believe by throwing at us all these trials and tribulations. We look at all this wonderful and hopeful truth in God’s word, and then we look and experience all this crushing pain of life and it makes God’s word look like it is nothing more than hurtful fiction, a lie, a collection of “false words” as Pharaoh puts it.

Satan uses affliction for the purposes of distraction. He wants to distract us from “regarding,” from paying attention to the word of God, which is full of hope, by making life so miserable that the word of hope seems like nonsense. Through affliction, Satan is telling us

“Don’t listen, don’t read, don’t believe nor trust it. Discard it, forget it, it’s nothing more than a lie. God doesn’t exist, and if He does, He’s not good, nor does he love you. Just look at the world around you and what you are going through. If God does love and care for you, this wouldn’t be happening.”

Ellie Wiesel in his book called “Night,” which recounts his personal experience with the Holocaust, tells of a neighbor in a concentration camp who examined the painful evidence and decided that God was not to be believed. The man said,

“Don’t let yourself be fooled with illusions. Hitler has made it very clear that he will annihilate al the Jews before the clock strikes 12, before they can hear the last stoke…I’ve got more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He’s the only one who’s kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.”

Pain often makes it more difficult to believe the truth. As the saying goes, “Pain speaks louder than words” and as it applies to the word of God, it would seem that for too many, pain is louder and more persuasive.

What do we do, then, as we listen to our pain? We get angry, which has been what humanity has been doing from the beginning, and in our anger we blame others, especially God.

“Why would God do such a thing? Why would He set of a chain reaction that He knows, and even predicts, will result in great affliction? If He wants to deliver the people, why not simply deliver them? What purpose does all these afflictions serve? Why does the Lord do things that make life so painful?”