The Story - Deliverance Pharaoh, Pharaoh, Oh, Oh, Let My People Go!

Focus Passage: Book of Exodus

We all have them. You know, those tough stretches in life. The car breaks down, the company cuts back on salaries or benefits, someone you love gets sick. You may not be having one of those times, now, but you know you will. What will it take you to cry out to the Lord? How bad does it have to get before you pray about it for five minutes or for an hour? How bad does it have to be before you ask others to really pray about it? Usually it has to be pretty bad and that is a shame. We cause ourselves a lot of pain by not crying out to the Lord. The book of Exodus is the story of a nation crying out and a God who delivered them. God was waiting to help, but it took a long time for them to call.

• A cry after centuries Exodus 3:7 When they had first come to Egypt, life was good. Joseph was the second in command and he gave his family of 70 people the best land in Egypt as their own. Over the years they became numerous and that brought trouble. The leaders of Egypt began to be afraid of them and enslaved them to build the pyramids and other government projects. Finally it got bad enough that they thought of God. They cried out to a God that they had largely forgotten.

• An unlikely hero Exodus 3:11 Who would God use to save His people? God prepared a man named Moses. God worked it so that Moses was trained in Egyptian schools along with the kids from the noble families. Yet, he threw it all away in a fit of anger when he killed an Egyptian who was beating a fellow Jew. Everything God has worked on for forty years was almost destroyed. Forty years later, an eighty year old Moses saw a burning bush where God called him to save God’s people. The man doesn’t have to be impressive, because the real hero is God.

• God rolled up His sleeves Exodus 6:1 Moses was to go and stand before the most powerful person in the world and tell him that God wanted Pharaoh to let God’s people go. Each time Pharaoh said no to God, God brought another plague on Egypt. 10 plagues in all were directed at the gods of Egypt like Sun God Ra and Mother God Isis. Every aspect of Egyptian life was covered from water to sun and bugs to cows. Nothing was left untouched. Face it, God will not be mocked. Those who stand in His way will face His wrath. Those who refuse to listen to God will find their lives get difficult.

• New horizons Exodus 12:31 Finally, Pharaoh gets the message when the last plague takes his son, the crown prince. He acts in anger more than faith. On their way out of Egypt, the Jews plunder the Egyptians. As they leave Egypt, they leave a wealthy nation with the possessions needed to build a future. God will lead them to the Promised Land where He wants them to build a nation of faith and live in peace. Everything that God promised to Abraham 600 years before is ready to happen. God has a plan for His people.

The good news in this story is the mighty miracle that God worked for His people. The bad news is that they waited 400 years to ask with generations in slavery before freedom came. Think of the pain that they could have avoided if they called God even 100 years earlier. How bad does it have to get in your life before you call on the Lord? Think of the pain that you and I can avoid if we are praying daily to the Lord. God is the hero in this story and the story of the Exodus shows how much God will do for His people. He took on a powerful Pharaoh and a mighty nation. What could God do for you in your troubles without working up a sweat?