Call Unto the Lord

Open your Bibles, please, to the book of Exodus, chapter 1. The first six verses of this chapter give us a list of the twelve sons of Jacob who entered the land of Egypt. They with their households constituted the nation of Israel, the twelve tribes of Israel. We read in verse 5:

EXODUS 1

In the first chapter of the book of Exodus, we will notice how God prepared the people, and in the second chapter, how God prepared their leader for the purpose of leading them forth out of the land of Egypt. You will notice in verse 6 that after Jacob and his sons came into Egypt, Joseph died; and immediately upon the death of Joseph, persecution began. They were in the land of Egypt for 430 years, but they had about thirty years of peace; they had about thirty years of reasonable comfort. Then the persecution actually began, and it lasted for 400 years.

You might be interested to know why we make such a definite statement concerning the persecution of the Israelites. We will see the value of comparing Scripture with Scripture, that we may know all the Word of God. Turn, please, to Exodus, chapter 12, and notice verse 40:

EXODUS 12

From chapter 46 of Genesis until the Exodus described in the book which we are studying, there was a period of 430 years.

Turn, please, to Acts, chapter 7. Here we have the testimony which Stephen gave to those who were not interested in the things of God. The Spirit of God used his message to bring conviction to their hearts. In verse 6, we find Stephen saying:

ACTS 7

In chapter 12 of the book of Exodus, we were told that their sojourn was 430 years. In Acts, chapter 7, we are told that they were persecuted 400 years. So they had thirty years of comparative peace, and then the persecutions began.

Why did the persecutions begin for the children of Israel? In verse 8 of Exodus, chapter 1, we are given the simple reason this happened--that is, the reason that was on the surface, the reason that men would give for this persecution:

EXODUS 1

The persecution that resulted in the actual Exodus of the children of Israel reached its climax when there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. Notice those words very carefully. The kings of Egypt felt indebted to Joseph for the wisdom he had displayed in saving the land from famine and in arranging for all of the land to become actually the property of the king. It is difficult for us to understand why a king in that family would turn against the descendants of the man who really gave them their place, and historians doubt that such a thing occurred.

Turn, please, to the book of Isaiah, chapter 52, verse 4:

ISAIAH 52

Immediately things began to clear up. The line of kings under which the persecution of the Israelites rose to such heights was a line of kings of Assyrian lineage who had conquered the land of Egypt, displaced the kings who had been on the throne, and set up their own kings. So you see, these Assyrians were really not Egyptians; they felt no debt to Joseph, and they had no interest in him or his people. As a matter of fact, they became very much concerned, if you will look at verse 9 of Exodus, chapter 1.

EXODUS 1

These two verses have created a problem for people who do not believe in the inspiration of the Word of God and who are seeking something at which they can point their finger. They say, for example, "How could it be possible that the children of Israel in one little section of Egypt would outgrow the entire population of Egypt? It just doesn't seem possible." Well, that is not what it says! This Assyrian king said to that force of people who were in the land of Egypt as a conquering army, "The people we have to watch out for are these Israelites. They are strangers in the land as we are strangers in the land. They outnumber us." You see, it was not a question of the Israelites' outnumbering the Egyptians; it was a question of the Israelites' outnumbering the occupational forces of the Assyrians. The Assyrian king was afraid that the Israelites might side in with the Egyptians, and if they did, the Assyrians would be outnumbered. So they said, "We had better persecute these Israelites." In verse 11, we read that they set over the Israelites taskmasters to afflict them with their burden, and they built for Pharaoh treasure cities.

All this is the apparent reason; this is the historical account. But will you remember that in our key verse, Exodus, chapter 15, verse 13, we were told, "Thou in Thy mercy has led forth the people." It does not say anything about the Assyrians' driving out the people; it says something about God's leading forth the people. This necessitates our looking behind the scenes. When we do, what a different color this picture takes. It was not one man's doing as he would against a certain group of people; it was God's using the man as a mere instrument in His hands to accomplish His purpose.

Turn with me, please, to Psalm 105 as I remind you that every circumstance in life depends upon how you look at it. You may look at it as a very sad thing and a very great mistake in your life. If you look behind the scenes, you may find that God is planning each step of the way. In this Psalm there is a historical account of God's dealings with the nation of Israel:

PSALM 105

Wait just a minute. Have we been reading this correctly? Yes, we have; in this Psalm God is given all the glory--the glory of turning the hearts of the Assyrians against the Israelites. Someone says, "Oh, the Assyrians created all these problems," but the Spirit of God says, "Oh, no, I directed him to do it." So you see how God enables the wrath of man to praise Him (Psalm 76:10).

If you will turn to chapter 2 of the book of Exodus once more, you will see a commentary that emphasizes this very truth:

EXODUS 2

In process of time, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel began to cry unto the Lord.

Now will you turn with me, please, to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 32:

DEUTERONOMY 32

Do you realize what we have been reading? God wanted to deliver His children from the land of bondage, but He could not do it until they were ready for Him to do it. God was waiting on the sidelines, so to speak, to do something for the children of Israel; He had to wait because they were not in the place of blessing. This is not an unusual thing for the children of Israel as we look back on their history. It is new to us, and it was new to the children of Israel at this stage of their experience, but it proved to be something that God had to do consistently.

Let me illustrate what I mean by asking you to turn, please, to the book of Isaiah, chapter 30, for what God would have us see about the way He had to deal with the nation of Israel. This speaks of another incident in the life of the children of Israel, but the truth is here:

ISAIAH 30

Do you realize what we are reading? God said to the wayward nation, "I want to help you, but you won't be helped. You insist on going your way. All right, you may go your way, and I will wait until you come to the end of yourselves. When you come to the end of yourselves, I will help you." That is what he meant when He said, "Therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you." We are reminded that behind the scenes of the persecution of the Israelites by the Assyrians was the determinate purpose of God to bring them to the place where He could bless them--to bring them to the place where He could do something for them.

Glance with me at Psalm 107. We will not look at it in detail, but it is an illustration of what I am talking about. I believe there is a tremendous experience in this Psalm which we can apply to our individual lives:

PSALM 107

Notice how often this refrain is repeated. You find it again in verse 13 and again in verse 19. In verse 28, you see the same thing: "Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses." In every instance the crying unto the Lord was brought about by God's chastening hand on them. In other words, God could not save the Israelites out of Egypt until they asked Him to. He could not save the Israelites until in the midst of their bondage they cried unto God and asked Him for deliverance.

Let us learn a lesson: This first chapter of the book of Exodus is an illustration--the first illustration--of anti-semitism on a nationwide scale. It began on the part of the people who surrounded the Israelites and who were jealous of them and afraid of what their power might mean; immediate persecution was the result. Why this persecution? That these Israelites might turn to God. The persecution that has continued down through the centuries has been permitted of God for one specific purpose--that the nation of Israel even in our day will recognize that they have come to the end of the road and will cry unto God. God will hear their cry and will deliver them.

That truth is very definitely emphasized in the book of Hosea, chapter 5:

HOSEA 5

This is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking. He said, "I am going away; I am going to sit down at the right hand of the throne of God until these Israelites seek my face." Then He makes a very firm statement: "And they will seek my face in their affliction; they will seek me early." The next few verses tell exactly how that is to be brought to pass. You see, though on the surface an Assyrian king persecuted the children of Israel, God was behind the scene permitting it, that they might come to the end of themselves and call unto God.

The thing that the Assyrian king in Egypt tried to do was an utter failure. He called in the midwives of the children of Israel. He said, "I want you to kill every manchild; I don't want you to let one live. This charge I place upon you." But what do we read?

EXODUS 1

Because the midwives were more afraid of God than they were of Pharaoh, they did not obey Pharaoh's command. The nation of Israel grew and prospered in fulfillment of the promise that God had made to Jacob back in Genesis, chapter 46, verse 3, when he said, "Go down to Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation." God had kept His Word.

The very fact that the children of Israel grew and prospered in the midst of such persecution is a reminder to us that when God is working, no one who is against Him can prosper. It is an impossibility to thwart the plan of God. Faithful midwives carried out God's purpose and plan for His chosen people, Israel.

I think we would be negligent if we did not point out that here was another attack of the Devil to keep the Lord Jesus Christ from coming into the world. Remember, the Lord Jesus Christ was to come into the world through the line of Israel. Had there been no more boy babies, there would not have been any David, and had there not been any David, there would not have been any Christ. So behind the scenes, mind you, the activities of the midwives were but another victory over the Devil--a victory for Christ and for the forces of righteousness in the warfare that is continually going on behind the scenes.