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But that was the first time I saw a man in a car with a woman in it. I was just like, I don't know what happened. I was like, I don't know what happened. But I think it was the first time I saw a man in a car with a woman in it. I was like, I don't know what happened. I was like, I don't know what happened. But I think it was the first time I saw a man in a car with a woman in it. I was like, I don't know what happened. But I think it was the first time I saw a man in a car with a woman in it. I was like, I don't know what happened. Well, good evening, everyone. Welcome to Mountain Baptist Church. Take your songbooks and turn to song number 18. Song number 18 in your songbooks will sing Take the Name of Jesus with You. If you would stand, we'll sing song number 18. Song number 18. Take the name of Jesus with you Child of sorrow and of womb It will joy and comfort give you Take it then where you go Precious name, oh how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven Precious name, oh how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven Take the name of Jesus ever As a shield from every snare If temptations round you gather Breathe that holy name in prayer Precious name, oh how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven Precious name, oh how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven Oh, the precious name of Jesus How it thrills our souls with joy When his loving arms receive us And his songs our tongues employ Precious name, oh how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven Precious name, oh how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven At the name of Jesus bowing Falling prostrate at his feet King of kings and heaven will crown him When our journey is complete Precious name, oh how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven Precious name, oh how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we just want to thank you, God, for this evening, another evening that we can gather in your house and hear your word preached. I pray, Lord, that you would bless our pastor tonight. We pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. All right, you may be seated and take your songbooks and turn one song over to song number 19. Song number 19 in your songbooks. We'll sing There is a Fountain. Song number 19. There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Emmanuel's veins And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains Lose all their guilty stains And sinners plunged beneath that flood Lose all their guilty stains The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day And there may I, though vile as he Wash all my sins away Wash all my sins away Wash all my sins away And there may I, though vile as he Wash all my sins away Dear dying lamb, thy precious blood Shall never lose its part Till all the ransomed Church of God Be saved to sin no more Be saved to sin no more Be saved to sin no more Till all the ransomed Church of God Be saved to sin no more Ere since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing moon supply Redeeming love has been my theme And shall be till I die And shall be till I die And shall be till I die Redeeming love has been my theme And shall be till I die Then in a nobler, sweeter song I'll sing thy power to save When this poor, lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent in the grave Lies silent in the grave Lies silent in the grave When this poor, lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent in the grave As far as the church service is there, everything is normal. So we will have our normal Sunday service at 1030 and then the afternoon service at 4 p.m. But don't forget about the soul winning time at 1 p.m. And so we'll have our normal soul winning time there. And then as far as the regional soul winning times, Monday is now the soul winning time that brother Charles is leading up. It moved from Tuesday to Monday, which actually worked out really well apparently. I think it was brother Richie who said it was a game changer. No, but obviously it doesn't matter what day of the week we go, but one day obviously it would be great to have every day on here as far as soul winning times. Obviously not everybody is going to make it to every single one of those times, but that would be awesome to say that we're out there every single day of the week. That being said, next on the list there is Bible memory. We have Psalm 12 still for this month. And so Psalm 12, work on getting that memorized. And don't forget, I think someone posted a question as far as the prizes for memorization. As far as prizes go, children if you can memorize from Genesis to Revelation the books of the Bible, and you can just quote off or just recite the books of the Bible, then you can get your own Bible that will order for you kind of tailored to what you want. And then if you memorize a chapter and can quote any chapter, we'll get you one of those blue hardback sword drill Bibles. And if you do a medium or small size book, I guess however you want to look at it, you get a calfskin Bible, and if you do two medium books where you memorize those, then you can get the goatskin. So there's actually not that much difference between the calfskin and goatskin. I just had to make some reason for the difference. So the goatskin is a little nicer, I guess, material, but as far as what's inside, as far as the paper and everything, everything else seems to be exactly the same as what's in the calfskin. Actually I need to finish memorizing Nahum so I can get mine because I have one back there that has my name on it. I just haven't pulled rank and said, well, I'm the pastor. I'm just going to take it, but there is one that I want. But I've got to finish Nahum first. I've got 2 Timothy finally done, and so anyway. And then Hebrews 4.12 is our memory verse for the week, and then upcoming events there. Right now we just had the men's prayer meeting on the 28th, and so the women's prayer meeting would obviously be the next Saturday going into February. So as far as other things on there, just being prayer for all the ladies on the pregnancy list. So we still have Ms. Ruth, Ginger, Catherine, Alyssa, and Rachel on here. But a lot of those that were on here before have their babies. So just being prayer for those that just had babies and just for the recovery process there. And then just general announcements. We have the offering box in the back there that's screwed to the wall, and then we have the mother-baby room over here. That's just for the mothers and babies only. And Vera, I don't know if they told you, but the bathrooms are over on that side over there. So just since it's your first time here and everything. That being said, that's about all I've got for announcements. Brother Dave's going to come and sing one more song. And who's reading tonight? I know there was a back and forth on who was reading. All right, so Brother Anthony's going to be reading Exodus chapter 2 for us after we sing one more song. All right, take your psalm books again and turn to song number 20. Song number 20 in your hymnals. We'll sing When I See the Blood, song number 20. Christ our Redeemer died on the cross, died for the sinner, paid all his due. All who receive him need never fear. Yes, he will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Chiefess of sinners, Jesus can save. As he has promised, so will he do. O sinner, hear him, trust in his word. Then he will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. Judgment is coming, all will be there. Who have rejected, who have refused? O sinner, hasten, let Jesus in. Then God will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. O a compassion, O boundless love. Jesus hath power, Jesus is true. All who believe are saved from the storm. O he will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, when I see the blood, When I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass over you. All right, take your Bibles and turn to Exodus chapter number two. Exodus chapter number two, we'll have brother Anthony come and read that for us. Exodus chapter two, Bible reads, And there went a man, and there went a man of the house of Levi, and took the wife and daughter of Levi, and the woman conceived, and bare a son. And when she saw him, that he was a godly child, she hid him three months. And when she could no longer hide him, she took him for an offering, She took him for an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein, and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and her maidens walked along by the riverside. And when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, There is one of the Hebrew's children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter. And he became her son, and she called his name Moses. And she said, Because I drew him out of the water. And it came to pass, in those days when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens, and he spied an Egyptian smiting in Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrew strove together. And he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me, as thou killest the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. Now the priests of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. And the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. And when they came to rule their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon today? And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? Why is it that ye have left the man? Call him that he may eat bread. And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage. And they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of their bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for your word, and thank you for this time we can gather and continue to hear your word preached. I pray it should be with Pastor Robson. Help us all to learn. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. So you're there in Exodus chapter 2, and we are continuing our study through the book of Exodus. And really, this is where we get into the meat. This is actually where we get to Moses. And chapter 1 really sets us up to where we're at in the timeline of history. We see where Jacob and his sons come down into Egypt, and they're sojourning there for a few hundred years. And basically, going from good, where Joseph was there, to the fact that now they're getting into bondage, into hard bondage, and that they're being caused to serve with rigor. And then to the point where they are, Pharaoh's trying to kill all the man-children of the Israelites. And remember the whole midwife thing that didn't work out. But then at the end of chapter 1, look at verse 22, it says, And Pharaoh charged his people, saying, Every son that is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive. So that sets us up for why this story even makes sense as far as why is Moses, why is Moses' parents putting him in this ark and all of that. And the whole point is that they don't want him to die. They don't want the Egyptians to take Moses and just cast him into the river. And so verse 1 there, we see that, in verse 1 it says, And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. And the woman conceived and bare a son, and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. Now, she already had a son because when you look at the genealogy, or just look at later on in the book, he has a sister, but he also has a brother, Aaron. Both of them are older. Now, that decree must have went out after Aaron was already born, and so this must have been a pretty new decree, if you will, as far as when this happens with Moses. But the thing that I want you to see here is that, one, it's the house of Levi. That's important because Aaron is going to be of the house of Levi, and that's where you get the Levitical priesthood, because Aaron's going to end up being the first high priest of that covenant, or what we call now the old covenant, but it was just the covenant with them, the first covenant. But we see here that it says he was a goodly child. When she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. Now, I want you to keep your finger in Exodus chapter 2, but we're going to be in Acts chapter 7 and Hebrews chapter 11 a lot tonight, because this chapter right here... I want you to go ahead and go to Acts chapter 7, but I want you to keep your finger there in Exodus 2. This chapter right here, there's been a lot of movies made about, well, Exodus 2 through 12 pretty much, or even 15 with the crossing of the Red Sea, but the story of Moses being in Egypt and fleeing Egypt and all of that, there's been a lot of movies made about it, but what you have to understand is that movies take artistic license, if you will, meaning that they usually even preface all their movies like, we've taken artistic creativity license or something. Basically, they're stating we made up a bunch of stuff in this movie. That being said, what you have to look at is what the Bible teaches is what actually happened, and what some movie portrays probably didn't really happen, or if it did, you should not take that as fact. Now, Acts 7 is where Stephen is giving, basically, he's ripping the face off of these Pharisees and all this that ended up killing him in the end, but it's a sermon that he's preaching. Hebrews 11 is where you have the Hall of Faith, if you will, so you have a lot of these, like, by faith Abraham did this, by faith Isaac did this, and it goes down the line, but you're going to see in Acts 7 and Hebrews 11, there's going to be some more information given to us about Moses, what was going through his head, what was going on at that time, and so this passage where it basically states that she hid him three months when she saw that he was a goodly child, this is brought up in both these passages. So Acts 7, verse 20, it says, in which time Moses was born, Acts 7, verse 20, in which time Moses was born, it was exceeding fair and nourished up in his father's house three months. Go to Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11, so keep a thumb in Exodus, keep your pointer finger in Acts 7, and keep your pinky in Hebrews 11, however you want to do it. But in Hebrews 11, verse 23, it says, by faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. Okay, so, they hid him, first and foremost, because they weren't afraid of the king's commandment, they knew the commandment was that all man-children should be thrown into the river, but they didn't fear that commandment, but I want to give you my thoughts as far as what does this mean when she saw that he was a goodly child or a proper child. Now, after having four kids, you kind of have a range of, and I'm not saying I know everything about every single kid that's ever born, but I'll just say this, out of the four kids that I've had, there's been a range as far as how those kids act when they're first born. Our first two children, you know, were really hard, meaning they cried all the time. Anna specifically had, I think, colic. We didn't really know, I mean, we just kind of assumed that, but for the first six months of her life, and Clara was kind of the same way, it was just hard to just keep them pacified at all. Actually, it's been going on since then, but no. But when Emma was born, it was like a lot easier, and James has been like this angel child that has just been so good. Now, does that mean that I love James more and I'm going to give him a coat of many colors? No. What I'm saying is that what I believe they're talking about is that the child was basically a very healthy and goodly child in the fact that they were able to hide the child for three months. Some children, you wouldn't be able to do that. I don't think Anna, we could have done that because she had things going on, stomach issues with allergies that were causing problems and all this other stuff, whereas if you have a child that doesn't have any of those problems, they may just be this peaceful little child that you could hide and not hear this crying baby coming out from the house, because basically they're trying to hide from any type of the Egyptians that would walk by and say, hey, there's a child in there, is that a man child? And who knows what type of Secret Service police they had going on there to where they had to hide this child. So I personally believe that the reason that it's stating that, I don't believe it's stating like, all right, this is a good-looking child, we've got to save this one. As far as if it was ugly, sorry, Moses, we're not going to save you. I don't believe that's the case. I believe you're dealing with the fact that they knew that they could potentially hide this child, but after three months it just got to the point that it was not feasible to do. And that's where you get into the story where they make the arc of bulrushes. So that's just my thoughts on that as far as that goes. I don't believe this is like they're inspecting the child and be like, well, if he had a flaw, we'll just toss him in the river. I don't believe that at all. I believe it's just the fact that they saw that he was a goodly child, therefore they could hide him for three months. And I'm not saying that they said we're going to hide him for three months. Does that make sense? They're like, all right, we're going to hide him for three months and then we're going to put him in an arc. I think what happened was they hid him for three months, but then there came a point where it just wasn't possible to hide it anymore. And then they went to, obviously, what they do next here. Now, Exodus chapter 2 and verse 3, this is where Moses is going to be put into this arc of bulrushes. And verse 3 here says, And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an arc of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein, and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. Now, I'm sure you probably know what an arc is just because Noah and the arc, Noah's arc, right? An arc is basically, even the arc of the covenant is just a box, right? I mean, you think about a box that's hollowed out in the center. Obviously, things were put in the arc of the covenant. But even the arc that put all the animals on, obviously, this is a lot smaller. Maybe you just need to fit a baby in it. But basically, it's this little boat-type structure made out of the bulrushes and daubed it with slime and with pitch basically to keep it from sinking. So it's just making it watertight. And she put the child in there and laid it in the flags by the river's brink. Now, this is where, if you're watching some movie somewhere, you may think some crazy stuff's happening with this arc, okay? I believe it just basically was on the side of the river. It wasn't like flowing down the Nile and boats were ramming into it and crocodiles were trying to bite it, okay? Again, you got to know that movies are going to take that way too far. I think it was in the flags. It doesn't even say that it flowed downstream, really. Because notice what it says about his sister in verse 4. It says, And his sister stood afar off to wit what would be done to him. Now, I want you to think about this for a second on how hard it had to be for Moses' mother to put her baby in this arc, okay? And sometimes we read past this, but really, I can't imagine it because I'm a father. I can only imagine as a father, like putting my son, who's, what, nine or ten months now, but three months old, putting him into this little arc on a river and then just walking away. So that had to take a lot of faith, okay? And you have to understand how much that would have torn any parent apart. Now, obviously, they didn't just walk away. You know, Miriam was there to see what would happen, okay? So they didn't just walk away completely. But at the same time, this is amazing faith to believe that God will take care of the child, that God will, you know, find somebody to take care of the child. Now, this story ends up working out great, both for Moses and Moses' mother, okay? So a lot of times, you know, when you look at a situation, you may think that this is impossible, the child's not even going to survive, to the point where it's like this great scenario where it works out. Now, in verse 5 there, it says, And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river, and her maidens walked along by the riverside. When she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. So basically, the daughter of Pharaoh, and this is where also, just take all these movies with Charlton Heston and all these other things that are outside of your mind, and you say, why do you keep saying that? Because I've watched them. And these things, I remember doing a Bible trivia, question where it said, why did Moses kill the Egyptian? Which it talks about in the story, I said, because the Egyptian was beating Joshua. And Joshua's not mentioned anywhere in here, by the way. But it's because in the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston, that's what happened in the movie. So you have to kind of wash this stuff out and be like, no, that's not, it wasn't Joshua. At least we don't know, it doesn't say who it is, okay? But at the same time, you know, you kind of have to just look at, this is what the Bible says, these movies are just making up stuff, adding stuff together. There was, I don't believe there's a love triangle between Moses, some other woman, and Zipporah, okay? And, you know, these type of things you kind of have to wash out and be like, no, this is what the Bible really says about it. But in these movies, a lot of times they'll state that it's, you know, that he was Pharaoh's son, that him and like, you know, the Pharaoh-to-be were like brothers or something like that, okay? Here it says that who adopted him pretty much was Pharaoh's daughter. Not the wife of Pharaoh, Pharaoh's daughter, okay? So obviously he's going to be in good standing and he's going to have a lot of goods and have, you know, riches because she's the daughter of Pharaoh, but it's not like he's the son of Pharaoh because later on it's going to state the fact that he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, okay, not the son of Pharaoh, but the son of Pharaoh's daughter. So I just want to instill that really hard there. So basically she sees the ark and then she tells her maid to go fetch it. In verse 6 here it says, And when she had opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the babe wept, and she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrew's children. So another thing to note here is that she knew that this was not an Egyptian child. She knew that this was a Hebrew child. She knew the commandment of the king. So notice that the parents of Moses didn't fear the commandment of the king, but also the daughter of Pharaoh didn't heed that commandment because she sees that she has compassion on the child because the child's crying. And she realizes immediately that this is one of the Hebrew's children, this is one of those children that shouldn't even be here because the commandment has gone forth to basically cast them all into the river. But she's a normal person. She's a normal person with a conscience and looks at that and looks at a baby and has compassion on a baby. And I wish America would wake up and have compassion on the children in our country because right now 3,000 babies are being aborted every single day in America. And it's interesting how much compassion people will have on children if they're just out of the womb. Who here remembers the story? What was the little girl that fell down the shaft in the early... It was maybe in the 80s. I think it was in the late 80s. What was it? Jessica Lynch? Was that the name of it? Anyway, I remember it vaguely. Lately, of course, I was really young. I wasn't maybe as young as a child, but I was pretty young. But I do remember everybody kind of rallying around that. A more recent event, meaning this is that people were crying, people were praying, people wanted that child to be saved. But a more recent event was in 2018, there was a soccer team in Thailand. So it was a Thailand soccer team that got caught in a cave and then it was like hurricane season. Who remembers where basically these cave divers ended up finding them? They had to dive through and like scuba dive and popped up and found them there and they were alive. Anyway, they did a documentary on it and I watched the documentary, which is insane because I heard the news and I'm like, oh, cool, they found them, they got them out. If you know what they did to get those kids out, they had to sedate them and bring them underneath the water and take them out one by one. And it was insane and then it flooded right after they did that. And it was this whole thing where people from America, the Marines were there, SEALs were there. The guys that ended up really saving them were these random old guys from Britain that just cave dived for fun. And they ended up saving these children. All that to say, what's your point? Go watch that documentary. The point that I'm making is that the whole world was rallying around saving these teenage kids in Thailand from a cave that was flooded and they couldn't get out. They were either going to die of no oxygen, die of hunger, or drown if it were to flood, which it ended up flooding right after that. So when you think about how much compassion people have on those situations, translate that to the unborn. Why don't we have that kind of compassion on the unborn? And it's baffling to me, but I think if they just heard the baby cry, maybe they'd have a little compassion. I think if most people would actually see an abortion that's done, and I don't recommend, if you're already against abortion, I don't recommend watching it. But if you watched it and you have any ounce of compassion in you when you watch that, then you're going to say that's disgusting, that's wicked, how could they do that to a child that's in the womb? And so that being said is that we need some more Pharaoh's daughters in the world that has compassion on children. And Pharaoh's daughter, I'm not saying she was saved. She was like a Christian. Very highly doubt that she was saved. But at the same time, she had compassion on a child. And you know what, you don't need to be saved. You don't need to be a Christian in order to have compassion on children. So let's keep going there in verse 7. It says, Then said his sister to Pharaoh's daughter. So if you remember Miriam, which doesn't say her name here, but we know it's Miriam later on. Miriam was watching from afar and saw this go down. So she comes up to Pharaoh's daughter and notice what she says here. Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, go. And the maid went and called the child's mother. That means that Moses' mother came and basically she's like, do you want me to go find someone to nurse that child, you know, one of the Hebrew women? She's like, yeah, yeah, it sounds like a great idea. And goes finds his mother. I was like, hey, mom, come over here, you know. Do you see how this worked out? Now, I don't know how much time took place between this, okay, but I can imagine how heart-wrenching it would be for five minutes, you know, for this to go on. Okay, I don't think it went overnight or anything like that, but still, whatever the time was, I'm sure it could have been an hour, it could have been whatever that this went on to where the mother is just like worried about her child and all that. But then to go from that to basically being called unto Pharaoh's daughter to nurse the child, and notice what it says in verse 9. And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, take this child away and nurse it for me and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child and nursed it. And the child grew and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son and she called his name Moses and she said because I drew him out of the water. So get this, basically the mother took the child back home. She basically got her child back. Now, obviously she only got the child back for a little while, basically until the child was weaned. Now, you know, how long that was, I would say probably around one to two years, I mean, when it comes to weaning children, you know, that can differ. But I would say you're not going too much past two years. I know there's like craziness out there where people are breastfeeding for a lot longer than that. But that being said is that you're dealing with around a toddler, you're dealing with a toddler that she's basically handing off to Pharaoh's daughter. But Pharaoh's daughter names him Moses and the reason his name is Moses, basically his name means to be drawn out of the water. So that's why he got his name, which makes a lot of sense. But when it comes to this, you know, like I said, we need more Pharaoh's daughters out there that are going to have compassion on children. I know Moses is a special case and obviously Moses is a main character in the Bible in general. I mean, Old Testament, you have the law and Moses, right? Moses and the law, right? Moses is synonymous with the law half the time. So Moses is a very big character and the point where it says the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. I mean, Moses is a huge character that, you know, this story, this is where he even came to be. And the Bible says when it comes to, you know, think about that king's decree to just kill these children. You know, it takes a sick individual, it takes someone that's, you know, sick in the head to just kill a newborn. And nowadays we have officials that are basically stating, you know what, if the baby, you know, the partial birth abortions where, well, if you're having an abortion but the baby comes out alive, then you just have to let it die or kill it. You know, that's where we're at in the world. And even to the point where they're saying that, well, if the baby is born alive, then basically the doctor and the mother have to have a conversation about what decision to make. Okay, decision on whether you're going to kill the child or not kill the child. But here's the thing, that decision was the same decision that you were making before, okay, because, you know, ending the life of the child in the womb is the same as ending the life right after the womb, okay. Anybody that's had children knows that that baby that's in the womb is alive. It's kicking, it's hiccuping, I mean, it's insane to think otherwise when it comes to life in the womb. Now, the Bible says these six things that the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination, a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. So God hates it. So let me ask you a question. Did God hate when Pharaoh made that decree to kill all the man-children and to throw them into our river? And just to read the rest of the list there, it says, In a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. So God hates it. And God is angry with the wicked every day, and I guarantee that God was angry with that wicked king who made that decree, and the wicked people that were, you know, following through with the order. Now, go to Acts chapter 7 and verse 21. So we get the story. They hide him for three months. They no longer hide him, so they put him into an ark of bull rushes. So his mother and then his sister basically stands by to make sure that he's okay or something good happens there. And obviously the daughter of Pharaoh comes out, finds him, and takes him in as her own son. Now, verse 21, Acts chapter 7. It says, And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds. So we're going to see that Moses, he grows up as an Egyptian. But what we're going to see is that he knew who he was, and that influence, I mean, just those two years, if you will, influence of his parents, I believe paid dividends when it comes to his heart for God later on. Because, you know what, most of his life is going to be living with the Egyptians, growing up with the Egyptians, and having all these riches around him. But yet, we're going to see later on that he chooses to not be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chooses the afflictions of God and the reproach of Christ over that. And so that effect that a mother or a parent has on a child at a young age is crucial. And you know what, you may think, and a lot of people think, especially since we have children in church service, they say, well, why would you have them in church? What are they going to learn? This isn't junior church, this isn't, you know, we're not up here just singing like, I don't know, what's those songs? I forget all those songs from junior church. I used to preach during church back at Emmanuel, but at the same time we had all these silly things and all this stuff, and you're like, well, if you're not going to preach down on their level, then what are they going to know? Well, kids glean a lot more than you think. I mean, I know my kids surprise me where they'll say something, I'm like, how in the world do you even know that? Like, how do you know that? I still remember Clara, I mean, Clara was like five, I think, at the time, but she was like, we got stuck behind this truck, and you know, we had to go off on 73 because something was going on, 79, and I just still remember, we got behind this truck, I'm like, oh, man, you know, this truck's going like two miles an hour, it's going to take forever to get home, James is losing his mind, you know, like all this stuff's going on, and Clara's just like, well, we have to give him a break because maybe he just has a really heavy load and you just can't go very fast. I'm like, how do you know that? How do you know that because you have a heavy load, you can't go as fast in a truck? Like, are you a truck driver? Like, where did you learn this? So, I don't know where she learned that. Paw Patrol? I don't know, but that being said is that kids are sponges when it comes to information. So, we need to not take that for granted, and kids are going to learn a lot, even though, yes, they're not going to maybe pick up on every single thing I say, but again, neither do you. Let's just be honest. As adults, do we pick up every single thing that's ever preached to us and ever said to us? No. I mean, we can only take in so much information, and usually you're holding on to something else and you miss whatever's said after that. And so, that being said is that kids will pick up a lot and we need to not take that for granted. Go back to Exodus chapter 2, Exodus chapter 2 and verse 11, so wherever your thumb's at in Exodus. Exodus chapter 2 and verse 11, it says, And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren and looked on their burdens, and he spied an Egyptian, spied in Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked this way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together, and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? And tendest thou to kill me, as thou killest the Egyptian? And Moses feared and said, Surely this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses, but Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. Now, so what do we see here? That he goes out to see his brethren, and what we're going to see here is that he knew who he was, he knew that those were his brethren, that that was who he was from, and he goes out to visit them. And I want you to look at Acts chapter 7, because Acts chapter 7 is going to give us a lot of more information on what went on here, or what was going through his head, even how old he was when this happened. And so in Acts chapter 7 and verse 23, it says, And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. So I want you to see here that, first of all, he's forty years old. Now, just to give you a quick rundown, he's forty years old when this happens, and he flees in the Midian. It's another forty years before he comes back. He's eighty years old when he stands before Pharaoh, and he dies at 120. Because he's in the wilderness for forty years, and remember, he doesn't go into the Promised Land, but it even says he dies at 120. So there's kind of like three points into his life. You know, the first third of his life, he's in Egypt. The next third, he's in Midian. And the next third, he's wandering in the wilderness. Obviously, it wasn't supposed to be that way. They were supposed to go into the Promised Land. But that being said, that's what you're dealing with here. It also, you know, when he killed this Egyptian, he looked this way and that way, and he saw that there was nobody. And he's just like, oh, you know, I guess I can do it. But people are going to know, and people are going to find out. And whenever you think that you're doing something in secret, first of all, God knows. But even when it talks about like speaking evil of like the king, it says don't speak evil of, you know, basically, I'm going to misquote it, but it's basically like a prince or a king or something like that. Because basically a bird will gather that information and take it to them. And you may think that you're saying in a private, but just know this. Who here has a smartphone in their pocket right now because it's listening to you? I mean, just talk about some kind of item that you'd want to purchase and then look at your Facebook feed and look at your whatever, you know, social media, and there'll be an ad for that later on because it's listening to you. So, so much more in 2021. I can't get that button on. The button came off. It's staying off. I'm like messing with it over here. So that being said is that just know this is that your sin will find you out. I mean, just like Cain who thought that he could get away with it, but obviously God knows. But other people are going to find out too. I mean, that stuff's going to travel. And go to, keep reading there, in Exodus chapter, I'm sorry, in Acts chapter 7 and verse 24. So it says it came into his heart to visit his brethren in verse 24. And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed and smote the Egyptian. Now it could be that the person that he defended is the one that told the story and then that got noise abroad. Even though obviously I'm sure he was grateful for what happened, he still probably told the story like, hey, Moses like killed this person for me. And then that word gets spread around and then obviously he gets to the king. And in verse 25 it says, for he supposed his brethren, this is what I want you to see here. For he supposed that his brethren, I'm sorry, for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them, but they understood not. Now this is something that I feel like is never captured in any type of movie or anything like that. He knew that he was to be the deliverer. And you say, well, how could you say that? I didn't say it. The Bible did. You say, well, that's Stephen. Yeah, he was full of the Holy Ghost when he preached this. I believe that this is scripture and this is giving us an insight to what Moses knew at that time. Moses knew that those were his brethren. I mean, that's very clear. He knew that he was a Hebrew and he thought that by smiting this Egyptian that they would understand like, hey, God's going to deliver you by my hand. But they didn't understand that. They didn't receive that. Because then the next day, it says the next day, he showed himself unto them as they strove and would have set them at one again saying, Sirs, ye are brethren, why do ye wrong one to another? But he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away saying, who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Who here is shocked that the one that did the wrong is the one that's upset? Right? I mean, that's shocking, right? I mean, it's like the idea of rebuke a wise man and he will increase in learning, but rebuke a scorer and he will hate thee. I mean, that's not shocking at all that the person that's in the wrong is upset for being rebuked, okay? Because, you know, when you're in the wrong, you don't like to be rebuked and that's just a fact of life. But, notice what it says in verse 27, it says, but he that, I'm sorry, verse 28, wilt thou kill me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Midian, where he begat two sons. Now, again, I want you to look at Hebrews chapter 11 because I want this to compile on itself, okay? When Moses was grown, that's what it says in Exodus, when Moses was grown, what does that, what did that mean? When he was full 40 years old, okay? 40 years old, this is when this went down. But also, he went out to see his brethren because in his mindset, he believed God was going to, you know, use him to deliver his brethren. Now, I don't believe this was the way, okay? Nowhere does it say that God told him to go avenge his brethren and kill this Egyptian. Okay, it doesn't say that at all. If anything, he just committed murder. You know, it doesn't say this is justified for him to do or anything like that. But, what else was going through Moses' mind? What caused him to go out and visit his brethren, right? Because it goes a little deeper than that, right? It's not like he just woke up and be like, you know what? I know I'm a Hebrew, I'm going to go out and see my brethren. You know, he made a choice before this ever happened. Notice what that choice was in verse 24, Hebrew chapter 11 verse 24. And the reason I say he made a choice is because after he kills the Egyptian, there's really no choice to be made. He can't really go back, can he? I mean, at that point, it's done, like the Pharaoh wants to kill him. So, this choice was made before he ever went out there, before he ever killed the Egyptian. And notice what it says in verse 24. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ's greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, where he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. This is what was going through Moses' mind before he ever went out to visit his brethren. I don't know what happened, I don't know what he learned, you know, how he learned it, but he was mighty in words and in deeds growing up as an Egyptian. I mean, he wasn't just a nobody when it comes to being an Egyptian or being, you know, the son of Pharaoh's daughter, but he made a choice that he's not the son of Pharaoh's daughter, he's an Israelite, he's the son of Levi. He made that choice that, no, these are my people, this is who I'm with. Now as a Christian, you have a choice to make. Are you going to be of the world or are you going to be with God's people? Because there's a choice to be made and there's a line to be drawn in the sand when it comes to the people of this world and what they stand for, and what does Egypt stand for at that time when Moses was born? For killing babies. And Moses is putting a line in the sand saying that he'd rather suffer reproach for Christ, by the way, Christ is in the Old Testament. I mean, if Moses is suffering reproach for Christ, but Christ doesn't come on the scene until after the virgin birth, that would make zero sense at all, okay? Because obviously people are suffering reproach for Christ, Abel was suffering reproach for Christ. I mean, from the foundation of the world, you know, Jesus is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So that being said is that this was going through his mind that he chose to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. And that's what you have to get through your head when it comes to living for God, okay? Sin is pleasurable for a season, and then it's over. But sin will always cost you more than you want to pay, it will always take you farther than you want to go. And the idea with sin is that if it wasn't pleasurable, you wouldn't do it. That's why these Calvinists out there, or not the Calvinists, but just the people that believe in lordship, salvation is ridiculous. Like, well, when I got saved, I never ever wanted to, you know, do anything wrong again. Give me a break. We say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Now spiritually speaking, the Bible says, For whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. Spiritually speaking, you are sinless, you have no desire for sin, spiritually speaking, but you still have the flesh, and to say that you don't have sin, you're lying. And if, when someone says that, I'm just like, a lot of times the people that are saying that, you know, like, their stomach is like, they have to stand back here because their stomach is too wide to get up to the pulpit. It's like, well, you have a sin that is out before you when it comes to that. And listen, we all have, we have sins that we deal with, but those same people are going to tell me, oh, you know, I don't have any, you know, any vices, I don't have any problems with sin. It's like, well, you have a problem with Krispy Kremes, apparently. And, you know what, that may not be the worst sin in the world, but at the same time, you know what, that's still pleasurable for season. And I always like it, and listen, I'm dieting, so maybe I'm just a little grumpy right now. Because I can't go down and have a Krispy Kreme. Well, I could, but that'd defeat the whole purpose. But I liken sin, you know, and I'm not saying it's sinful to have sweets. I'm just saying this, is that eating junk food is very closely related to sin. Why? Because it's pleasurable for a season, but in the end it's just going to cost you something. It doesn't benefit you at all. Listen, eating a Reese's cup tastes delicious for the second that it's in your mouth. And then when you swallow it, you're just like, ah, well, now I'm fat. You know, like, the thing is, is that it doesn't happen that fast. But I'm just saying that when it comes to sin, it's kind of like eating junk food. And the idea that it's pleasurable for a season, but in the end you don't want to pay that cost. And that's what you have to think about. And when I'm dieting, that's what I think about. I think the long term, that that's not going to benefit me in the long term. That's not going to help me at all. The broccoli's going to help me better. The chicken. The keto. The idea there is that sin is pleasurable for the season, and no one would sin if it wasn't pleasurable. So what you have to understand is that you have to put that in your mind to realize there is still sin out there that's pleasurable to you. Because if you don't put that in your mind, you're not going to put up guards against it. Because wherefore let him that thinketh he stand to take heed lest he fall. If you think that you are past the point of falling into temptation, falling into any type of sin, then you'll be the one that ends up falling into it. But if you think to yourself, okay, I'm not past that. And when it comes to, I'm kind of putting food on the table here a little bit. But when it comes to that, you know what I'm not going to do? Which is very tempting. I'm not going to go buy those reese eggs that are already out right now. And I don't know why they do this. It's January. But they're out there already. You know what I'm not going to do? I'm not going to buy them and put them in my house. Because you know what's going to happen? I'm going to eat them. Because if you just stick stuff in your face as far as things that you want, then you're going to end up doing it. So what you have to do is you have to put that stuff out and come out from among them. Set the Lord and be you separate. And this is a call to all of us. When it comes to Egypt, it's like the world. And God's people need to make a choice that they'd rather suffer affliction and reproach for Christ than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. And listen, obviously we believe that you cannot lose your salvation. We believe that salvation is by grace through faith. But, listen, sin has a consequence in this life. And sin will cause corruption. It could cause death. It will cause misery and sorrow in your life. And so you need to make a choice that I'd rather yay and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You know, live godly, suffer persecution. Because you'll be rewarded in this life and the next. But if you just live for the world and live in sin, it'll be pleasurable for a season. But you know what? In the end, I believe the Christian life is more pleasurable, but sin is more enticing. And obviously sin is pleasurable, but you know what? Having a good time and hanging out with Christian brethren and having a good fellowship and going home not being guilty about what you've done and going home knowing that you did a hard week's work or a hard day's work, you know what? You're going to be happier. You're going to be filled with joy. You're not going to be depressed. If you live in sin, you will be depressed. You will hate yourself for what you do. I mean, if you're a saved person, you're grieving the Holy Ghost. And so you're not going to be feeling good about it and you're going to not have a good life doing that. So Moses makes this choice. And what a choice to make. It's easier for us to say this. You're like, you know what? I'm going to follow Christ. Say that when you're basically one of the richest people in the world. Because Egypt was basically the superpower that day and he's the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Now say that you're going to give all that up to follow God. I mean, that's what Moses did and that shows you the character that he has. Now go to Exodus chapter 2. Exodus chapter 2. Another thing that I want you to see here is that Moses fled in the Midian, but he wasn't afraid of Pharaoh. This is something the New Testament states. And when you're reading in Exodus, it kind of seems like maybe he's afraid. Now it said he feared when he heard them say this, meaning that when he found out that this was known, he was afraid. But it doesn't say that he was afraid of Pharaoh, but it does say that he fled from the face of him. But fleeing from the face of somebody doesn't mean that you're afraid of them. When Jesus says to flee into the mountains, obviously he's commanding us to do that. When you see the abomination desolation, it says flee into the mountains. So fleeing doesn't necessarily mean that you're afraid of what you're fleeing from as much as you're just doing what you should be doing. Flee fornication. You could say you're afraid of it, but we're not to fear anything but God. But obviously we're supposed to flee things that we don't want to be a part of and all that. Now, Exodus chapter 2 and verse 15, it says, Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. Now go to Acts chapter 7, Acts chapter 7, actually go to Hebrew chapter 11, I'm going to read Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7 verse 28 says, Wilt thou kill me as thou didst the Egyptians yesterday, then fled Moses at this same? Okay, so he fled at the saying that was said, right, of like, obviously this is known, this is going to become the Pharaoh's knowledge. But, notice what it says in Hebrew chapter 11 verse 27. It says, By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. So, what does the Bible say here? He fled Egypt, but he wasn't afraid of the wrath of the king. And he did it by faith that he fled. By faith he went out to his brethren, right, when he was come to years. And so I believe Moses was a believer before he went into Midian, before he came to the burning bush, by faith he did that. Just as much as Abraham, by faith, went into a land not belonging unto him, I believe he was already saved. Okay, obviously he had to get saved at some point, just like Moses, but that being said, we see that he was 40 years old, obviously, when this happened, so I believe he was saved before he was that age. Now, go to Exodus chapter 2. Now, we're leaving Egypt and we're going into Midian. So, Exodus chapter 2. This is where Moses is going to find a wife at this well. Actually, later on, but at the same time, I believe, is at that well. I was reading this to my kids and I was reading this and one of them was like, is this where Moses falls into the well? I'm like, it's not in there, sorry. Again, it's like you see these movies or you see these adaptations of it. It's like, you know, no, he didn't fall into the well. I want to say this, I'm not against seeing things like that or anything like that because we all have as growing up and everything, but at the same time, we have to know that we got to look at what does the Bible teach and not put any stock in those type of things. Maybe you say, well, you know what? I'm not going to let my kids watch any biblical movies because they're all going to be inaccurate. I completely understand where you're coming from because no biblical movie is going to be completely accurate. I guarantee it. Guarantee it. So, but Exodus chapter 2 and verse 16, it says, Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. And the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and helped them and watered their flock. And when they came to Ruel, their father, he said, How is it that ye are come so soon today? And they said, An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and also drew water enough for us and watered the flock. And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? Why is it that ye have left the man? Call him that he may eat bread. And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter, and she bare him a son and called his name Gershom, for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land. Now, first of all, Ruel is Jethro, okay? Same person. He's got two different names. And you can look at Exodus chapter 3 verse 1 for one example, but throughout Exodus he'll be called Jethro. Verse 1, it says, Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. Okay, so just so you know that this is not a different person. This is the same person. This happens a lot in the Bible where they have multiple names. Joshua is Hoshea, but then it's changed to Jehoshua, then it's like shortened to Joshua. That being said, just so you know that we're dealing with the same person here. Now, Moses helped them and basically fought off these shepherds, but the one thing I want you to notice is that it says in verse 19, and they said an Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds. Now, I want to make a point here, because there's actually two cases where this is actually where Israelites are likened unto Egyptians. One is here, where Moses thought he was an Egyptian. Then, how about Paul? Remember when the centurion basically saved him out of the Jews' hands? And basically he didn't know who he was? And he's like, aren't they all that Egyptian? Now, the point I'm making here is that the Israelites were not these white Romanian or Ashkenazi Jews that are over in Israel right now. And the fact is that in the Bible, it would make sense that they would be Middle Eastern looking, that they're not going to look like me when it comes to, like, as Casper white as I am. And that's why it's insane when you think about, like, oh, well, those are the Jews over there. Those are God's people. No, those are Ashkenazi Jews. Those are people that converted unto Judaism, and they're, like, of... It doesn't really matter, but the point that I'm saying here is that in both Moses' case and when you get into Paul's case, they're likened unto Egyptians. So what do you think they look like? Probably tanned skin, right? I mean, if you think about, like, what Egyptians looked like, you know, even with all the gravings and all that stuff that they have, you know, just with history and everything that we can see, and art and everything, you know what? They were tanned skin. So I have no problem with that. I believe that the Israelites were that color. But here's the thing. It all comes down to where you're at on the equator when it comes to this, right? You know, if I lived out in a desert right now, I would be a lot darker right now, okay? But it's just interesting that people hold on to Judaism so hard, and God's chosen people, right? Judaism, you know, that's God's chosen people. It's like, first of all, Judaism believes that Jesus is not the Christ. And who is a liar but he that believe that Jesus is not the Christ? He is anti-Christ, that believe is not the Father or the Son. And the idea is that Judaism as a religion is anti-Christ, but then you get into, you know, the fact that they don't even come from there. Like the people that you're claiming, like Ben Shapiro, okay? Ben Shapiro or, you know, who's another Jew that's out there, like everybody in Hollywood? Steven Spielberg, Adam Sandler, okay, I don't know. There's a lot of older ones, okay? But that being said is that, you know what? They're not the people that were cast out even in Jesus' day. Now obviously we're probably all descendants to some extent of them because we're all one blood anyway, but even back to Jesus' day, I mean, to think that we don't all have some of that blood in us is insanity because just mathematically it's impossible that we don't all have some of that blood in us, okay? Now, that being said, I just want to make that point because when it says an Egyptian delivered us unto us, it just made me think of Paul and the same thing. And so, you know what? In Moses' day, he looked like an Egyptian. In Paul's day, they looked like an Egyptian. And you know what it was probably that? Is that Egyptians and the Israelites looked exactly the same. Shocker. They lived around the same area. So, anyway, going back to Acts 7 and verse 29. Acts 7 and verse 29. So he has two sons when he goes in the Mediterranean, where he gives Zipporah, Jethro gives Zipporah to Moses, and he actually has two sons. And in Acts 7, it states that he has two sons. Now, in Exodus, it just mentions Gershom. But in Acts 7, verse 29, it says, Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons. So, it's basically going to state that he has two sons in the land of Madian or Midian. And in Acts chapter 18, it'll tell us who these two sons are. They're both of Zipporah. Now, later on, he's going to marry an Ethiopian woman. So I don't know what happens to Zipporah. Now, granted, Moses lives to 120. So it's very possible that she died of old age, and then he married another wife. Okay? That's what I believe happened, is that she probably died, and then he married someone else, and that's where you get that whole story. Because Zipporah is of Madian. She's not of Ethiopia. So that's another story for when we get there. But at the same time, he has two sons in Madian. One is Gershom, but in Exodus chapter 18, in verse 2, it says, Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back, and her two sons, of which the name of one was Gershom, for he said, I have been an alien in a strange land, and the name of the other was Eliezer, for the God of my father said, He was mine help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh. Okay? So, obviously, he has a reason why he names them what he names them, and throughout the Bible, you'll see that names have meanings to them, and, you know, you'll see that with Bethel means the house of God, Bethlehem means the house of bread. There's names that are given for a reason. Jerusalem basically means peace, or Salem means peace. We know that for sure, because Melchizedek was the king of Salem, which is the king of peace. Now, go back to Exodus chapter 2. We're going to finish off the chapter here. Exodus chapter 2. So, got the story. Moses was put into an ark of bulrushes. Pharaoh's daughter found him in the bulrushes. He ends up getting nourished by his mother, because Miriam was there to basically intercede and make that happen. Then he grows up, and when he's 40 years old, he makes a choice. Now, he may have made the choice before he was 40, but he made a choice in his mind that he's going to suffer the reproach of Christ that enjoyed the pleasures of sin for a season and enjoyed all these riches in Egypt. He decides that he's going to actually serve Christ. Now, when he does that, obviously things go down with the whole killing the Egyptian. He goes into Midian, finds a wife, has two sons. That's where this chapter really ends, as far as that he's in Midian, and we'll find out that he's going to be there for 40 years. Now, in Exodus chapter 2 and verse 23, it says, And it came to pass, in process of time, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them. So it's setting you up for what's about to happen in the next chapter, because obviously the next chapter we're dealing with the burning bush, and Moses is going to be giving marching orders to go deliver the children of Israel. And go to Psalm 18, and this makes me really think about the fact that God hears their cry, but do you remember how long they sojourned in Egypt? 430 years. 430 years they sojourned in Egypt. For 400, they were evil and treated, the Bible says. They were evil and treated for 400 years. They took 400 years before God brought them out with a mighty hand. And when you think about this, I think about how does this apply to us, right? Because you can look at this story and be like, well, you know, yeah, that happened. That's cool. That's a cool story. Well, how does that apply to us? Well, in the end, there's going to be a great tribulation such as the world has never seen. And in Revelation chapter 6, when that fifth seal is opened, it says that there are souls underneath the altar that were crying out to God. And they say in Revelation 6, and they cry with a loud voice saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? So there's cries that are going out throughout history, and we could say, you know, God is slack concerning His promise that some men count slackness. But God is not slack. And He's willing that all should be, that none should perish. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Who have all men to be saved and come into the knowledge of the truth. And one day is what the Lord has a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day. And so, yeah, that was 400 years of bondage and hard rigor and all that that was going on with the children of Israel. But He brought them out with a mighty hand. You know what, when it comes down to, it's been what, 2,000 years or so, right? I mean, since the birth of Christ it's been over 2,000 years. And, you know, since the resurrection it's been a little less than that. But at the same time, it's been almost 2,000 years since the resurrection of Christ. And, you know what, there's been tribulations, there's been trials, there's been bondage, there's been all kinds of things that have happened to God's people where they've been burned at the stake, they've been persecuted, there's been highs and lows throughout that history. But, you know what, in the end it's going to be quite a low when it comes to, you know, the fact that we're going to have hard, hard tribulation and persecution. And God is going to hear that cry. And when He hears that cry and when He decides to step up and take it out, take out, you know, basically He's going to take out the whole world. In Exodus you're dealing with a localized bondage, right? You're dealing with the children of Israel. You're not dealing with the whole world being in bondage or being afflicted. But, obviously the children of Israel represent the children of God. Although most of them were not saved, some of them were, but holistically they represent those that are saved. Psalm 18 and verse 6, I want you to think about this, when you think about the fact that God heard their groaning, God heard their cry, and what is the end game? We know the end of the story. We know that He's going to put out ten plagues on them and bring them out of Egypt. But in Psalm 18 and verse 6 it says, In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried unto my God, and He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry came before Him, even into His ears. Then the earth shook and trembled, and the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken because He was wrought. And there went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured, coals were kindled by it, He bowed the heavens also and came down, and darkness was under His feet. And He rode upon a cherub and did fly, yea, He did fly upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness His secret place, His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness that was before Him, His thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the highest gave His voice, hailstones and coals of fire, yea, He sent out His arrows and scattered them, and He shot out lightnings and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at Thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Thy nostrils. He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters, He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me, for they were too strong for me." So I want you to remember this, obviously it's possible that it's in our day that we're coming to that time where there'll be a great tribulation such as the world was never seen, that there'll be the Antichrist, that there'll be a one-world government, that there'll be that persecution that's going to come on the saints. And you know what? We need to cry unto the Lord. And I believe He'll deliver us, and when that comes, it's going to be such as the world was never seen. So when we go through all these plagues that God goes through, in Exodus, just know that what's coming is going to be even worse. The world thinks, well, you know, the God of the Old Testament, He's so mean, so judgmental. Have you read Revelation? Have you read Matthew? Have you read any of the New Testament? Because Jesus is ripping people's face off in Matthew, He's ripping people's faces off in Mark, Luke, I mean, John, He's whipping people out of the temple. I mean, you don't get too far in John before he does that. That's John chapter 2. So you know what? It's the same God. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. But know this, if there's great tribulation such as the world was never seen, if there's going to be bondage and hard rigor and affliction upon God's people such as the world was never seen, then the wrath that's coming is going to be such as the world was never seen. So when you go through Exodus, you can kind of see this snippet where it's a localized type of tribulation or bondage that's put on God's people, and then a localized wrath that's being poured out. But what's coming is going to be worldwide. Okay, so let's end with a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for your word. Thank you for the book of Exodus and we just pray that you'd help us to know it, understand it, and to use it, Lord. And we just pray that you'd help us to be like Moses and help us to not be enticed by the sins of this world that are pleasurable for a season, but help us to esteem the reproaches of Christ, better riches than that of the treasures of Egypt, and Lord, we pray that you'd help us to glorify your name throughout this week. And we love you and pray all this in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. So by the day, we'll come and sing one more song, and then we will be dismissed. All right, take your songbooks and turn to song number 22. Song number 22 in your songbooks, if you would stand, we'll sing song number 22.