Title: Child Bearing in Tough Times
Text: Exodus 2: 1-10
Date: August 2, 2012
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Brethren,
throughout the scriptures the Lord comforts and strengthens our hearts by his
wise, all-powerful and faithful hand of providence in glorifying his name and
saving his people. During the time when Israel were slaves in Egypt we read,
Exodus 2: 1: And there went a man of the
house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2: And the woman
conceived,…
At this
time another Pharaoh had come into power which showed no kindness to
Israel. But God made a mockery of all Pharaoh’s
plans.
1.
Pharaoh sought to prevent Israel from multiplying by afflicting Israel with
bitter bondage--Exodus 1: 12: But the more they afflicted them, the more they
multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
2. Then
Pharaoh ordered the mid-wives to kill the male Hebrew babies—Exodus 1: 17: But
the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but
saved the men children alive….20: Therefore God dealt well with the midwives:
and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
3.
Then—Exodus 1: 22: And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that
is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
Pharaoh’s
was a sinful man seeking to retain his power over a nation. And behind his evil, Satan’s purpose was to
destroy God’s people from off the face of the earth, thereby preventing the
woman’s Seed from coming into the earth, thereby preventing God from receiving
all the glory in the saving of those he elected before the world began.
Proposition: Yet, overruling it all was God teaching his children
this lesson: in
all of providence, God is working his eternal purpose to glorify his name, to
save and teach his children according to his word, all the while bringing our
enemies to nothing. We see God’s hand of
power
Divisions: I.
In the children born; II. By the faith of his servants; III. By the fact that
God used the enemies to provide
Title: Bearing Children in Tough Times
Exodus 2: 1: And there went a man of the
house of Levi, [Amram the husband—name means “exalted people”] and took to wife
a daughter of Levi. [Jochebed is the wife—name means “Jehovah is Glory”.] And the woman
conceived,…
In the
midst of this time of great persecution by Satan and his pawn Pharaoh, God
introduced these two believers. They
were married. And began having children.
I. WE SEE IN THE CHILDREN WHICH WERE BORN TO
THIS COUPLE THAT IN ALL PROVIDENCE GOD
IS WORKING HIS ETERNAL PURPOSE OF GLORIFYING HIS NAME IN
Three Children
Our
text is about the birth of Moses, but first, let’s see the other children. This couple had three children that we know
of. In order of their birth
1. Miriam.
Her name
means “bitterness”, probably because she was born when
Pharaoh made their lives “bitter with hard bondage.”
2. Aaron—was
born 3 years before Moses. His name means “bringer of light”. Aaron was most likely saved by the Hebrew mid-wives.
3. Moses—Exodus 2: 2: And the woman conceived,
and bare a son:--Moses was born 3
years after Aaron during this time when Pharaoh ordered all his people to cast
every male Hebrew child into the river as soon as they were born. Moses—name means “drawn out”—v10: because I
drew him out of the water.
In
these three who were born of this couple, we see God’s hand of providence in
declaring the salvation of his elect by his Sent One, Christ Jesus the Son of
God.
Micah
6:4: For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of
the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
Three Types of Christ
In
these three, we see a type of Christ whom God sent to redeem his elect and lead
us all our days.
1. Christ typified in Miriam. After the LORD delivered Israel through the Red Sea, Moses
sang and
Exodus
15: 20: And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her
hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21:
And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed
gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Note: The
Lord later made it clear to Miriam that she was subservient to Moses. And we know that a woman is to never usurp
authority over the man in the church but is to be silent in the church and
learn at home from her husband (1 Timothy 2: 11-14).
But as
the prophetess--the leader and teacher of the women in song—we see a type of
Christ who leads the woman—his church—his elect bride in singing praises to God
Hebrews
2: 11: For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all
of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12: Saying, I
will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing
praise unto thee.
After the word of redemption accomplished in Isaiah 53 by Christ who bore the
sin of his people, it is Christ the LORD our God who says,
Isaiah
54: 1: Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into
singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more
are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,
saith the LORD.
As the
women went out after Miriam—Christ’s church, his bride, all the elect of
God—are separated by Christ and follow him.
Our song is, “Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the
horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”
2. Christ typified in Aaron. God raised up Aaron
to be the high priest to offer sacrifice for the people and to intercede on
their behalf. Aaron means bringer of
light. There is no light for any of
God’s elect except through Christ the Light, through his sin-atoning blood. He
is Christ Jesus our great High Priest.
Hebrews
2: 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of
the people. 18: For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able
to succour them that are tempted…4: 14: Seeing then that we have a great high
priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast
our profession. 15 For we have
not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16: Let
us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need…5: 1: For every high priest taken from
among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may
offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: 2: Who can have compassion on the
ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is
compassed with infirmity. 3: And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people,
so also for himself, to offer for sins. 4: And no man taketh this honour unto
himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. 5: So also Christ
glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him,
Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
3. Christ typified in Moses. Moses was
drawn from the river of death to be King and Prophet over God’s people even as Christ
was raised from the grave to the throne of God where he reigns and teaches all
his redeemed to follow him.
Psalm
2: 1: Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and
the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed,
saying, 3 Let us break their bands asunder,
and cast away their cords from us. 4 He
that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his
wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 6
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 7: I will declare the
decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten
thee. 8: Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance,
and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 9: Thou shalt break
them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10: Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11: Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12: Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a
little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
So in
the midst of Egypt, while the enemy desired to bring God’s glory to nothing,
God brings forth three children who he used to lead Israel out of their midst,
in whom we see Christ who leads us as our Prophet, Priest and King by whom we
sing praises unto God.
II. WE SEE IN HOW GOD TAUGHT MOSES PARENTS
THAT GOD WORKS IN PROVIDENCE TO TEACH HIS CHILDREN HIS WORD AND TO GROW US IN
FAITH.
This
couple was taught more and more the faithfulness of God who saves all who put
their trust him. I think we see God growing this couple in faith by the names
they gave their first two children then in what they did with Moses.
1. The child in the day of hard bondage. Pharaoh
made their lives were bitter with
hard bondage by Pharaoh. But this couple
believed God enough to have a child during that time, who they named Miriam
which means “bitterness.”
Brethren,
when times are the most bitter, God proves his faithfulness to keep his
children. Young newlywed believers in
our day may think they live in the worst of times. It is tough.
But see in Moses’ parents, God’s faithfulness to teach us in the midst
of great trial, not only by adding to his church daily such as be saved, but by
multiplying his child and growing us in the new man which God has created by
his Spirit.
Exodus
1: 12: The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew.
2. The child born in the day of the
mid-wives. Pharaoh
made his decree for the mid-wives to kill all the newborn male Hebrew babies.
Can you
imagine how troubled you would be if your wife became pregnant during that
time? But God our Savior is faithful. He is the bringer of light.
By
God’s grace, the Bringer of Light provided mid-wives who feared God. (Exodus 1: 15-21). They trusted God and did not fear
Pharaoh. Their names were Shiprah and
Puah meaning fair, beautiful, bright, glistening—light. When their second child—a son—was born they
named him Aaron meaning “the bringer of light.’
God our
Savior is the Bringer of Light! Through the gospel, by the Holy Spirit, God brings
more light to his child, proving his faithfulness more and more.
Isaiah
48: 17: Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am
the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that
thou shouldest go.
Philippians
1: 6:…he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of
Jesus Christ:
3. The child born in the day when all
servants were commanded to kill the male Hebrew children. Pharaoh raged when the mid-wives disobeyed him and this
time he ordered all his people, saying, Ex 1: 21-22, “Every son that is born ye
shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.” But the more Satan rages the more the Lord
grow his child to trust the Lord. This time we see their faith, not in what
they named the children but in what Moses parents did when he was born.
Exodus 2: 2: And the woman conceived, and
bare a son: [Moses]
and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him
three months.
The Holy Spirit’s commentary on this passage
is in:
Hebrews 11:23: 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.
No
doubt they loved their child. But what
they did, they did in faith. Faith comes
by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
By divine revelation, they believed God’s Word of promise given to Abraham and
Joseph.
By faith
they saw. By faith--they saw Moses was a “goodly child”, a “proper
child”. It means he was more than just a
pretty baby. They
believed God, that Moses’ was chosen of God to be Israel’s deliverer (Acts
7:20). The word “proper” means “precious and favored.”
By faith they hid the child. Faith proves itself by
works. By faith—[they]
hid him three months.
By faith
they were not afraid of the kings
commandments. (Hebrews
11:23) We are to be obedient to our divinely appointed civil rulers—God put
them there (Rom 13: 1-7). But we cannot
do what God forbids. If the civil
rulers command goes against God’s command, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5: 29)
Psalms 56:3: What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.
4: In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not
fear what flesh can do unto me.
By faith they trusted the child into God’s
hands--Exodus 2: 3: And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him 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.
The ark
is a picture of Christ. The river was the place of death. But this chosen child of God was saved from
the river of death by the ark. God put
his children in Christ in eternity. Christ
is the ark in whom Christ saves all his children from the river of death and wrath. Christ is the ark in whom we are saved from
the wickedness of the enemy because by Christ removing our sin, he has taken
all Satan’s power away.
Christ
is the refuge for sinners, the only way of salvation. We must be robed in
Christ’s righteousness and washed in his blood. We must be in Christ by faith. Only
Christ can save us from the flood of God’s wrath. Only Christ can save us. So we see here a picture of faith in
Christ.
By faith, they never looked back.--Exodus 2: 4: And
his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. Miriam stood to see what would be done to
Moses, but we are not told his parents did.
Faith runs the race set before us looking to Christ the Author and
Finisher of our Faith. They believed
God. That is great faith!
Brethren,
faith is the gift of God, even as a child is his gift, even as Christ is his
unspeakable gift. And faith is grown by God.
And this is the promise of God to those who trust him.
Isaiah 26:3: Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because
he trusteth in thee.
Believe
God. Rest in Christ. Fear not what man can do unto us. And serve God in whatever can be done for the
furtherance of the gospel.
III. LASTLY, WE SEE THAT IN ALL OF PROVIDENCE, GOD IS WORKING HIS
PURPOSE OF GLORYFING HIS NAME, SAVING AND TEACHING HIS CHILDREN, BY HOW GOD
USED EVEN THE ENEMIES TO SERVE HIS PURPOSE.
Everything
that was done here is God showing us that he rules the hearts of man and all
things in providence to bring about his purpose.
Exodus 2: 5: And the daughter of Pharaoh came
down to wash herself at the river;
God
uses Pharaoh’s own daughter. She does
not know she is an instrument in God’s hand.
But God is using pharaoh’s own daughter to save Moses and to save his
children from the bondage of Pharaoh’s house.
Exodus 2: 5:…and her maidens walked along by
the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid
to fetch it. 6: 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 Hebrews’ children. 7: 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? 8: And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and
called the child’s mother. 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.
Jochebed
expected God to save Moses because she believed God. But God not only saved Moses, God put Moses
back on his mother’s breast. God used
Pharaoh’s daughter to pay her to nurse her own child. God used Pharaoh’s own house to raise and
educate Moses. Then God used Moses to
deliver Israel out of bondage
Exodus 2: 10: 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.
Christ
our King is drawn out of the grave to the right hand of the Father. God is satisfied in his Son. All the sins of God’s elect has been put
away. Christ is working this now in our
midst for all his blood bought children.
Look to Christ in the midst of tough times. This is the only way we will be used of God
to bear children unto Christ our Husband.
Psalms 76:10: Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee:
the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
Ephesians 3: 20
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by
Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.