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Monday, November 28, 2016

Part 3: Politics & Flannel Graph Faith (the stories you learned in Sunday School seen in a new way)


“Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.””
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭1:8-10‬ ‭

Given enough time (200 years) new leaders forget what was important to the original leaders.  Leaders driven by fear make very bad decisions!

The most common command in the Bible is to not fear.  It causes us to act the opposite way God desires us to act.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:18‬ ‭

Things started going VERY BADLY for Israel.....
“So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭1:11-14‬ ‭

In Genesis 15:13, God told Abraham this would happen.  But He had a plan.  It felt awful to the people at the time, but it was all for the best.  It helped Israel to put their faith in God and not in the nation of Egypt.  Just like in America today.  So we freak out and worry about who will be elected.

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭13:1‬ ‭

God is always in charge.  Your faith cannot depend on your circumstances.

““When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.””
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭1:16‬ ‭

Sounds horrible, disgusting, unthinkable.  Right?  Inconceivable?  Yet Americans do it to 1,000,000 boy and girls every year.  It's called abortion.  To date, since Roe v Wade, Americans have killed over 50,000,000 children.  Makes Hitler, Stalin, and Castro not such bad guys in comparison!

Pharaoh's command did not work, so he comes up with another (worse) idea:
“The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.” So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.””
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭1:17-22‬ ‭

One family prayed for a daughter so they would not experience this horrible tragedy.  But God gave them a son.  What would they do?

“and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.”
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭2:2-4‬ ‭

What a horrible situation, now what?  Read on - in the midst of all the horrible evil and chaos, God was still in control!

“Then Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said. Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?””
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭2:5-7‬ ‭

What a brave little girl and what a cool idea.  Who will she go get?

““Yes, go,” she answered. So the girl went and got the baby’s mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, “I drew him out of the water.””
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭2:8-10‬ ‭

So God took Pharaoh's commandment and defied it, orchestrated a plan in which his own daughter in his own house would raise one of the Hebrews as the prince of Egypt!!! Moses will eventually be the savior of his people, used by God to deliver His people.  He is a foreshadowing of Jesus, the one true Savior.

What about you?  What have you placed your faith in?  God or your bank account or your nation.  Who or what is your functional savior?  Your reaction to the outcome of the election will answer that question.

Prepare your heart and your mind now.  Victory or defeat, your way or your opponent's, how will you respond?  What have you put your trust in?

Regardless, God is in control.  Your past is your past and it will not change.  In many cases, you cannot change your circumstances.  But like God drew Moses out of the Nike, God can draw you out of your circumstances.

It doesn't matter if Clinton is president or Trump is president, as long as God is in control!  Our joy, freedom, and salvation is only in Jesus Christ!  Praise be to God for what He is about to do!!!  

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