 Today we're in chapter 11 here in Hebrews. Let me read to you verses 23 through 29. And then what we'll be doing is turning our Bibles to the Book of Exodus and looking at a few verses there in chapters 1 and 2 and concluding by looking at something in chapter 14. But as we begin I'll read here in verse 23 through verse 29 in Hebrews chapter 11. We're looking at Moses. The writer says by faith Moses when he was born was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's command. By faith Moses when he became of age refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt or in Egypt for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. By faith he kept the pass over and the sprinkling of blood lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they pass through the Red Sea as by dry land whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned. It's interesting to me to see that you have the life of the greatest Jew who ever lived basically given to us in just a few verses because Moses was the greatest Jew and still is regarded by the nation of Israel as being the greatest man in their history. When you look at his life you'll see a variety of things. Let me introduce him by saying that he was Israel's greatest prophet because God spoke to him openly in numbers chapter 12 verses 6 through 8. God said listen to my words when a prophet of the Lord is among you I reveal myself to him in visions I speak to him in dreams but this is not true of my servant Moses he is faithful in all my house with him I speak face to face clearly and not in riddles he sees the form of the Lord why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses he was Israel's greatest prophet he was Israel's greatest lawgiver because it was he who went to Mount Sinai to receive the law of God John 1 17 says the law was given through Moses and in Acts chapter 7 verse 38 it says he was in the assembly in the desert with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai and with our fathers and he received living words to pass on to us he was also Israel's greatest writer because he's the author of the first five books of the Bible he was Israel's greatest type of their Messiah because in Deuteronomy 18 verse 15 God said the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers you must listen to him and in Acts 3 21 through 23 it said Jesus must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything as he promised long ago through his holy prophets for Moses said the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people you must listen to everything he tells you anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people he was Israel's greatest saint because in Numbers 12 3 it says Moses was a very humble man more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth and he was Israel's greatest deliverer because Exodus gives us the details concerning how he delivered the nation of Israel from Egyptian slavery so even to this day in the minds of Israel and to the Jews no one has ever matched Moses and that corresponds with scriptures witness of him because in Deuteronomy 34 10 through 12 the Bible says since then no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land for no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel to this very day when you go to Israel when they speak of Moses they speak with a great deal of respect for he's the greatest Jew in their mind who ever lived the author of Hebrews intends to reveal to us that Moses his entire life was bathed in faith and what you have here is you have sections that speak concerning his lifetime and each section begins by speaking of his faith and so by faith the Bible says in verse 23 Moses when he was born was hidden three months by his parents and so Hebrews 11 23 begins by speaking of the faith of his parents what I'd like you to do is turn with me to Exodus because I'm going to basically touch on a few things and share some things with you about this man Moses and obviously we can't go into any great detail we can only take certain snapshots from his life that are allowed for us this evening and I want to begin by looking at chapter one and actually what I'm going to do is kind of look at chapters one and chapter two then I'm going to refer back to Hebrews chapter 11 and then close by looking at Exodus 14 obviously we can't really look in that much detail concerning this great man's life because his life begins to be outlined for us in Exodus and continues on throughout most of the rest of the last a few books of of from Genesis to Deuteronomy and so there are quite a number of things that we could be looking at I just have to touch on a few things so here in Exodus chapter 1 verses 8 through 14 it says there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph or didn't regard or remember him and he said to his people look the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we come let us deal wisely with them lest they multiply and it happened in the event of war that they also join our enemies and fight against us and so go up out of the land therefore they set task masters over them to afflict them with their burdens and they built for Pharaoh supply cities Pitham and Ramses but the more they afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew and they were in dread of the children of Israel so the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor and they made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar in brick and in all manner of service in the field all their service in which they made them serve was with rigor now we remember as we were looking at previous verses in Hebrews chapter 11 that Joseph and his family had moved to the land of Egypt and we know that the Jewish nation remained there from that point for another 400 years and so during those centuries the Jewish nation has grown in number as well as in power a new dynasty has arisen as one chapter 1 verse 8 says a new king who didn't know Joseph came to power in Egypt this was a pharaoh that feared the Jews because as we just read a moment ago they had grown numerous in this land in the land of Egypt and he believed that they might side with his enemies if war broke out and that they would leave the country and it's because of those fears that he ordered them into forced labor and they began to build the royal cities for him and yet according to verse 12 the more they were oppressed the more they multiplied in spread that caused the Egyptians to treat them even more harshly and they made their lives even greater in terms of bitterness and more bitterness and they began to work them in construction and in field labor and that's what's taking place and so as this happens a pharaoh finally begins to see the multiplication of these children oh and he begins to order the Hebrew midwives to kill every male child verse 15 says the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives of whom the name of one was Jeprah and the name of the other Pua and he said when when you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women and see them on the birth stools if it is a son you shall kill him if it is a daughter she shall live but the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them but saved the male children alive so the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them why have you done this thing and saved the male children alive and the midwives said to Pharaoh because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women for they are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them and therefore God dealt well with the midwives and the people multiplied and grew very mighty and so it was because the midwives feared God that he provided households for them so Pharaoh commanded all his people saying every son who was born you shall cast into the fire and every daughter you shall save alive and so the midwives feared God and would not follow his order to kill every male child and so according to verse 22 the result is they continue to increase the result of that is Pharaoh begins to order that the baby boys be thrown into the Nile now that's what's taking place when chapter 2 opens up and it says in verse 1 a man at the house of Levi went and took a wife a daughter of Levi so they were priests so the woman or were that was going to be the priestly tribe so the woman conceived and bore a son and when she saw that he was a beautiful child she hid him three months but when she could no longer hide him she took an arc of bull rushes for him dogged it was asphalt and pitch put the child in it and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank and his sister stood a far off to know what would be done to him then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river and her maidens walked along the rivers side and when she saw the arc among the reeds she sent her maid to get it and when she had opened it she saw the child and behold the baby wept so she had compassion on him and said this is one of the Hebrews children then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you and Pharaoh's daughter said to her go so the maiden went and called the child's mother then Pharaoh's daughter said to her take this child away and nurse him for me and I will give you your wages so the woman took the child and nursed him and the child grew and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son so she called his name Moses saying because I drew him out of the water now a Jewish couple unnamed at this portion but we know their name is Amram and Jacob it we're raising a family they had three children they had a son by the name of Aaron they had a daughter whom we just were introduced to by the name of Miriam and they had a third son by the name of Moses who was described for us as being a beautiful child. Jacobette according to verse 2 after she gave birth hid Moses so he was three months old now the writer of Hebrews gives to us two reasons that his parents had hidden him and and let me read to you and remind you of what the writer of Hebrews had said there in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 23 it says by faith Moses when he was born was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's command and so there were basically two reasons why Moses was was preserved interestingly enough one of those reasons was because he was a beautiful child now if I'd have been born to them I'd have been dead but it wasn't me it was Moses now that word beautiful there when you look it up to see what is the original reason is it because he was just a beautiful baby there are so many beautiful babies that you can see is that the reason well that word beautiful speaks of a child that is of high quality it speaks of a child who was valuable or better or an excellent it can even be used as a word for ethical so he was a child that was unusual according to Acts chapter 7 verse 20 at this time Moses was born and he was well pleasing to God so one of the qualities about Moses was that he was a beautiful or a well pleasing child and the second reason that they preserved him is very simply put they were not afraid of Pharaoh the reason they were not afraid of the government is because they were afraid of God they had a fear of the Lord so they exercised faith in God entrusted him because they knew that God would protect him and would protect them now according to verse 3 when Moses was three months old Jacob it could no longer hide him so she gets a basket she waterproofs it and she places him in the Nile River his sister Miriam who is older than he is watching to see what is going to happen and it just so happens that Pharaoh's daughter found him while she was bathing now according to verse 6 she knew that he was a Hebrew child but at the same time she felt sigh for him and therefore decides to adopt him Miriam suggests that she bring him to a Hebrew woman in order that woman might nurse this baby and according to verse 9 she took him home she took him home to his mother and Jacob had nursed him and even got paid for doing so but the day came finally when he grew beyond nursing age during that day when a baby was nursed by their mother they didn't nurse as is very common today for just a few months three months four months or whatever they would nurse for sometimes for a few years and so Moses had an opportunity to be raised with his people in his own home and it wasn't just for three months six months nine months a year he could have been three or four years old when his weaning process was complete that gives us some insight because while he was there he learned what it meant to be a Hebrew he learned what it meant to be a Jewish man and so before he was returned to Pharaoh's daughter Moses had been taught faith in God and he also must have been made aware of his call that God had placed in his life you see again in Hebrews chapter 11 verses 24 through 26 it said by faith Moses when he became of age refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure in Egypt for he looked for the reward and so there was something that had taken place as he was being raised God had awakened something in him and it is something that remained with him for his lifetime and so as he was being nursed by his mother he was also being taught the faith of God and having a relationship with him now while he was in Pharaoh's household Moses now is being trained in the ways of Egypt and what happens to him as he receives all the pagan training a king would receive because you see he was the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter therefore potentially in line to become a Pharaoh in Egypt but even though he's receiving pagan training he remains faithful to God acts chapter 7 22 and 23 says Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action when Moses was 40 years old he decided to visit his fellow Israelites I want you to note what it said there though he was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and in action speech and in action now as he's being raised as a successor as one who might be part of the Pharaoh's dynasty he's receiving all of this education but now he's 40 years old and see what happens here with me in verse 11 of chapter 2 in Exodus it says it came to pass in those days when Moses was grown that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew one of his brethren so he looked this way and that way and when he saw no one he killed the Egyptian and hit him in the sand and when he went out the second day behold two Hebrew men were fighting it and he said to the one who did the wrong why are you striking your companion then he said who made you a prince and a judge over us do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian so Moses feared and said surely this thing is known when Pharaoh heard of this matter he sought to kill Moses but Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian and he sat down by a well now I want you to think about what I had just read to you out of Acts chapter 7 how that it said there that he was he was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians was powerful in speech and action you see being raised in that household he was not only educated in the philosophy and in the variety of things that the Egyptians held fast to but he was also trained as a military man Moses was a martial arts expert many times you may not know that or even realize that but that's what he was you need to know something else you need to know that the task masters in the in the time of of of the captivity were amongst the most ruthless and brutal men that they had because they were keeping the slaves in line and so these people who were actually over the Jews were very very powerful and very well trained and were extremely brutal and and and that's something that you need to note because it says here again in verse 11 that when Moses was growing he went out to his brethren looked at their burdens he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew one of his brethren and something went off inside of him when he saw that injustice being done something inside of him just snapped he saw this happening he saw this this man being maltreated and and notice how he respond verse 12 he looked this way and he looked that way he didn't see anyone so he killed the Egyptian and hit him in the sand it doesn't show us any indication here that he thought for even a second all he did is look to see there's anybody watching nobody's watching and he kills him this guy was something else I mean this is the kind of guy that you didn't want to get mad at you this is the kind of guy that was so well trained that it was in the second thought about it he sees what's taking place something inside of him is outraged and and and and he just goes off he looks to the left there's nobody there he looks off to the right there's nobody there but he made one mistake he didn't look up because there was somebody watching him the Lord what he tried to do here is he tried to exercise his deliverance that he knew he was called to be a deliverer but he did so in the flesh and what's interesting about this is the Lord doesn't let him get away with it a second thing I want to point out here is in the verse in verse 13 how it says he went out the second day the old two Hebrew men were fighting and he said to the one who did the wrong and notice how it said it stated here the one who did the wrong why are you striking your companion and he said who made you a prince and a judge over us do you intend to kill me as you kill the Egyptian how did he know that Moses killed the Egyptian Moses looked to the left and Moses looked to the right and there was nobody there there was only one other person there and you know who it was the one that's speaking here in this passage the one who did wrong I find that interesting Moses delivered him but he ratted Moses out and God is going to use this in the life of Moses what he had done is he took action he saw the burdens of these people he acted on his call he became enraged at the injustice of their lives but he dealt with it in the flesh according to act 725 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them but they did not why because he was guilty of acting in the flesh and if you act out things in the flesh you will never deliver people from their burdens you never will I've been invited to go to Washington DC in June I don't talk about this and I hesitate to even now but I will for just a moment I could go for a long way and I won't I'll just say it this way I've been invited to go to DC in June to participate in the National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast this is the National Prayer Breakfast that is it's like so many other prayer breakfast and this one happens to be related to Hispanics there are 750 ministers and wives who are going to be in attendance and a number of senators and the president and others who are going to be addressing this particular group of ministers and I've been invited to go and to participate in that and to pray and to be part of that particular event and I thought it through prayed about it and I felt that the Lord was in this so I'm going to go but I one of the things that I'm going for the reason I'm going the reason I'm going is because if I have opportunity which I'm probably going to take one to share a moment before we pray I'm going to be telling the Hispanic pastors don't get caught up with political power don't be thinking that you can use the arm of the flesh to deliver people who are in spiritual bondage that is a great trap whenever you are taken and given the opportunity to do something on a national level like that it is a great trap because you can begin to start thinking that you can deliver them through laws rules and regulation that doesn't happen that way and I want to remind my brothers who are pastors over a variety of congregations throughout the United States that you had better not try and deliver people using fleshly means Pharaoh had the children of Egypt under bondage Moses tried to deliver them initially by an arm of the flesh and it does not work it does not work it never will work because the only deliverance that one can have is deliverance that comes in a spiritual way and so what happens is Moses Moses makes a decision and what he has done at the age of 40 is he has committed himself fully to the Jews he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh and that's why he's among the Jews and the result of that was his exile from Egypt now I'm going to move on back to chapter 11 of Hebrews but I will return in a moment to Exodus not a moment many moments later I will return kind of like Jesus I will return someday but returning to Hebrews the rest of his life is incredible reading but the question has to be asked why was he willing to do that why was he willing to choose to suffer affliction with the people of God well because he knew that sin only has what is called passing pleasure and I want you to see that because it says in verse 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin sin of course it has pleasure if you didn't like it you wouldn't do it you know I've had people ask me you know or say things to me in the past and I've mentioned this to you recently how come you took drugs was it to escape no the reason that I took drugs is because I enjoyed them I enjoyed it why did you drink was it to escape no I drank because I liked to drink why did you do the things that you did why did you steal why did you do those things the thrill was great I enjoyed doing it there's a pleasure to sin there is a pleasure to sin who's to deny that you wouldn't do it if you didn't like it and people like it why do they sleep with their girlfriend or the boyfriend they enjoy doing that and you can say to them why are you doing that and they'll look at you like you're an idiot you got to be kidding me why do I do that because I enjoy it sin has pleasure to it but the Bible says it's passing pleasure it's temporary because it does not last and that's the bottom line it does not last it's a passing pleasure it's something that you might enjoy right now but what happens is it ultimately diminishes and the return that you get and the enjoyment that you at one time had eventually begins to lose its impact it's called the law of diminishing return and that's what happens I mean we can illustrate it this way you're a young guy you make a phone call to a girl you're hoping that she answers the phone actually will talk to you you've been talking to her in class will say and and finally one day somebody approaches you and says you know so-and-so thinks you're cute and you go really and they say yeah so you kidding me no she said she thinks you're cute you are you sure she thinks of you yeah she thinks you're cute oh really so you talk to one of her friends you don't have the guts to go and talk to her you go and talk to one of her friends just see if that friend will say anything to you and guess what she says something to you and so you say well you know she thinks that I'm really gosh I'd like to give her a call sometimes you ever number and they say sure of course and they give you the phone number do you think I had a caller up yeah you got a caller man what do you do now this is this is dated of course now you just text me a message sure but for me it was a phone call with one of those phones I mean that's how far back that goes you know carrier pigeon but you so I this is what I did anyway I sat next to the phone looking at it just staring at it and then I pull out the phone number and I look at the phone number and I see her name and I'm thinking man I wonder if it's I wonder if this is really even her number and I don't even know and so you might get your sister to call up and say so and so there and yes she is just a moment and then your sister won't hand you the phone and you're sitting there and man I'm telling you you're sweating like oh my god I wonder if this is I don't know if I should do that and she says hello how are you and you you try and make sure that your voice doesn't crack or anything you sound as masculine as possible and he's a hello I don't know if you remember who I am I see you in class my name is David David who oh she doesn't know who I am David the geek I mean what do you mean David you know anyway I just and you begin that conversation and I'm telling you your heart is pounding and you're so nervous and you don't know whether she wants to talk to you or not but she's she's actually talking to you and and you're even enjoying yourself in that visit for that moment and and then you say well I'll see you in class you know hang up and then oh man she talked to me oh wasn't that thrilling oh it was cool and so the next day you go to class and there she is and you walk past her and you say hi how are you and oh I'm fine you know and you begin that way finally you ask her for a date would you like to go out with me she says well sure I'd like to oh man you're going crazy now she's gonna go out with you you know you even take a bath and and you put on you put on some clean clothes and and and you go to her house and you knock on the door and then her dad opens the door and he's always seven feet tall and he's looking down at you like what do you want your little slime I've come to take your girl out and man you get it you open the door you treat her like a gentleman you sit her down next to you and and you take her out and you order some food my mom said never order spaghetti when you're on your first date because you look like a slob when you eat it and so you order something that you can handle and and you take her home and and and you just man I'm telling you you smell her hair has been washed and you can smell the aroma of that and she's got perfume on it smells better than the than the b.o. in the gym that you're used to with the other guys and oh it matters it really does before you know it you're dating and you actually reach out and touch your hand and every time you take one more step you think your heart is gonna burst from your chest you are so excited but guess what you get used to calling her on the phone you get used to hearing her voice you get used to smell of that perfume you get used to holding her hand you get used to kissing her and the thrill does not remain the way it used to when you first did that because you want to progress you want to keep moving you want something that's going to keep thrilling you and eventually you start pursuing her and sometimes even sexually so that you can have those experiences with her and then finally you break her down you have a relationship with her and now okay through with that let's find something else and you move on because it's the law of diminishing return you got as much as you could out of that relationship it's not thrilling anymore let's move on and people do that sometimes even in marital relationships because it isn't progressing and ultimately what that was is that was all sin not all of it but it moved to sin because you couldn't restrain yourself from doing the things that your flesh was craving but sin has pleasure for a season there's no doubt about that it has pleasure for a season but when marriage when you're not married because you see in marriage that physical relationship is the proper place of expression because you don't finish having your time with her and say I'll call you up sometime when you're married man you wake up the next morning next to that girl you're in love with and the love progresses further and further and further on and you begin to realize some things about relationships and they're not all physical they're not all sexual there are so many shared experiences so many shared joy so many shared burdens and hurts and pains and life and and and you discover that your lives have been woven together in a very tight bond through a variety of things not just one single thing and as you discover that you realize that this was the proper place of expression this is why God called us to have marital relationships but yes sin does have pleasure most certainly does but it is only for a season it is the passing pleasures of sin so he made a decision that he was going to remain there and he chose to suffer affliction with the people of God because he knew that sin had passing pleasure in Acts chapter 20 verses 23 and 24 Paul said the Holy Ghost witnesses in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me none of these things move me neither count my life dear to myself so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel of the grace of God what is it that motivated him well what motivated him was the reward he looked beyond earthly possessions it says in verse 26 here in Hebrews 11 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt for he looked to the reward you see we know the Bible tells us that he lived 120 years he could have been for a number of years up to the age of 120 the most powerful person in that region or perhaps on the face of the earth but he ultimately dies he ultimately dies as all people do and he dies at 120 and so at 120 he dies and he perishes for eternity or he makes a choice that he's going to pursue God and he's going to end up wealthy in heaven see he could have wealth on earth or he could be wealthy before the face of the Lord what did he choose well he chose to spend time with the children of Israel out there in a wilderness in order that he might be able to have the things that really have blessings Jesus in Matthew 6 19 through 21 said do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and and where thieves break in and steal store up for yourself treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy where thieves do not break in and steal for where your treasure is there your heart will be also he could have been incredibly wealthy he could have been extremely powerful yet he saw beyond the momentary and he saw the eternal in verse 27 by faith he foresook Egypt not fearing the wrath of the king he endured as seeing him who is invisible now the scripture records that he foresook Egypt on two occasions once after he killed that taskmaster and then secondly he foresook Egypt when he delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage when it says that he foresook Egypt that word foresook means to renounce or to turn your back on he turned his back on everything in order that he might follow after God that's what Moses did and that's why he's a great man of faith in Luke 9 62 Jesus and no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back as fit for service in the kingdom of God this is a man who did not look back this is a person who said I'm gonna go on forward now how did he do that while he endured as seeing him who is invisible he knew that he had God on his side and invisible power that meant that he was being supported by God the psalmist in Psalm 91 14 says he loves me say at the Lord and because he loves me I will rescue him I will protect him for he acknowledges my name he will call upon me and I will answer him I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honor him and so he saw the one who was invisible and pursued him he walked by faith and not by sight in verse 28 by faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood you see when God delivers the nation of Israel and it's exciting to read and all you need to do is read the first 12 chapters of Exodus and you'll see that when God delivers Israel he brings a series of 10 plagues against the nation of Egypt now when you study that passage the plagues that came were actually God judging the false gods that were worshiped in the nation of Egypt we need to remember that the Egyptians were idolaters they were people who worshiped creation and rejected God in Romans 125 it says they exchanged the truth of God for a lie worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator who is forever praised God had said in Exodus 12 12 I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt both man and beast and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment I am the Lord that's what takes place in the 10 plagues and when you study the Bible and you see the 10 plagues you see that there are a variety of plagues that came upon that nation that actually were judgments against their gods you know that the all the water the Nile River and water the river the pool the ponds even in vessels were turned into blood well that was a judgments against happy that God the goddess of the Nile River the Nile was a life-giving it was called the life-giving Nile God and it represented fertility and nourishment and so when God brings the plague of blood turns all the water into blood he's actually judging the goddess of the Nile he also brought frogs there was a God that the Egyptians worship called Hect it was a frog-headed goddess and she was the goddess of fertility and rebirth and that God was judged he brought judgment against through lice these were stinging blood-sucking gnats and that was a judgment against the God of the dust who was called Geb he brought a judgment of flies which would have been against the God Keper who was a scare of deity representing continual existence he brought pestilence on flocks because that was a judgment against the bull-headed God by the name of Apis and Hathor a cow like mother goddess he brought boils on man and beast which was against thoth the God of healing and it was a judgment that afflicted the priesthood because priests could not sacrifice unclean animals he brought a judgment of hail which is against Isis the sky goddess he brought darkness on the land for three days which was against the Sun God Ra the chief God of Egypt and source of life and then finally they bring judgment he brought judgment on the first born because Pharaoh was descended from Ra but even his children were not safe and that's what took place as God brought these judgments and that's what he's speaking concerning you see it says in verse 28 by faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them God sent the angel over all of the the people there in the nation of Egypt but he had said those who have blood on their doorposts when the angel of death comes and he sees the blood covering that doorpost he will pass over that's where the name Passover comes from he will pass over and will not bring judgment and so all through the land of Egypt the children of Israel put that blood on the doorpost and when the angel came to to bring that death judgment he passed over their houses and all of this was as a result of faith because that blood that was covering the doorpost was also representing blood that covered that family and so the angel passed over the sprinkling of blood was a symbolic act of faith because in doing so they were trusting God to deliver them and in the Old Testament we know that that sprinkling of blood is symbolic of Jesus's sacrifice by which he conquered death for all who trust in him and the only way that you can be preserved is a simple act of faith and trust even as the children of Israel trusted by putting blood on their doorposts even so we in a simple act of faith asked God to anoint us with the blood of Jesus that we might enter into the kingdom of God and finally in verse 29 by faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land whereas the Egyptians attempting to do so were drowned I want you to read this with me let's turn to Exodus 14 and we'll read that story one of the most exciting passages in the Bible Exodus chapter 14 and we'll read it together in Exodus 14 beginning at verse 1 the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the children of Israel that they turn and camp before pi hathorah between mcdallan the sea opposite Baal Zaffan you shall camp before it by the sea for Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel they are bewildered by the land the wilderness has closed them in then I will harden Pharaoh's heart so that he will pursue them and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army that the Egyptians may know that I am the Lord and they did so now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people and they said why have we done this that we have let Israel go from serving us so he made ready his chariot and took his people with them also he took 600 choice chariots and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over them over every one of them and the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the children of Israel and the children of Israel went out with boldness so the Egyptians pursued them all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh his horsemen and his army and overtook them camping by the sea beside pi hathorah before Baal Zaffan and when Pharaoh drew near the children of Israel lifted their eyes and behold the Egyptians marched after them they were very afraid and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord and then they said to Moses because there were no graves in Egypt have you taken us away to die in the wilderness why have you dealt with us to bring us up out of Egypt is this not the word that we told you in Egypt saying let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness and Moses said to the people do not be afraid stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which will accomplish for you today for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall see again no more forever the Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace and the Lord said to Moses why do you cry to me tell the children of Israel to go forward but lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea and I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians and they shall follow them so I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army his chariots and his horsemen then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gained honor for myself over Pharaoh his chariots and his horsemen and the angel of God who went before the camp of Israel moved and went behind them and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them so it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel thus it was a cloud of a cloud and darkness to the one and it gave light by night to the other so that the one did not come near the other all that night Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea into dry land and the waters were divided so the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left and the Egyptians pursued and went after them in the midst of the sea all Pharaoh's horses his chariots and his horsemen and what came to pass in the morning watch that the Lord looked down upon the army of the Egyptians to the pillar of the fire and cloud and he troubled the army of the Egyptians he took off their chariot wheels so that they drove them with difficulty and the Egyptians said let us let us flee from the face of Israel for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians then the Lord said to Moses stretch out your hand over the sea that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians on their chariots and on their horsemen and Moses stretched out his hand over the sea and when the morning appeared the sea returned to its full depth while the Egyptians were fleeing into it and the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea the waters returned and covered the chariots the horsemen and all the army of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them not so much as one of them remained but the children of Israel had walked on dry land in the midst of the sea and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left so the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore thus Israel saw the great work which the Lord had done in Egypt so the people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and his servant Moses what a powerful powerful picture there are commentators who say well you know that really didn't happen they say that the Nile River actually or the Red Sea rather actually was very shallow at that point and it was only probably about in eight inches a foot deep and there was a heavy wind over the night and just basically kind of blew it point where the people were able to walk across it and all and they say that's how that took place that's how that happened that's not what the Bible says the Bible says it was a wall of water Bible says that it came flooding back drowned everybody and in doing so a broad great glory to God I find it interesting one of my favorite portions of that story is when God tells Moses stop praying and start moving you know I've already given you orders I've told you what to do you need to do it you need to do what I've told you to do you walk across that as dry ground because I will prepare it and take care of it for you and by the way those who are troubling you right now you're not gonna see them again I'm gonna deal with them all you need to do is trust me Moses isn't that the way it is in the in the life of faith though trusting the Lord allowing God to be God and realizing that that God wants to do the impossible I believe that the God who did incredible works like this in the Old Testament and and the works that we see in the new is the same God that we worship today but I suspect that sometimes when we see ourselves who are with some we see ourselves sometimes facing the impossible we simply just cop out and just try and find another way out and instead of trusting the Lord sometimes we just we just do things in the flesh and as a result of that we never see the hand of the Lord making delivery for us and I'm trying to learn to stand still and see the salvation of my God and I'm trying to learn to to see when the Lord says move because there are times when you stand still and there are times when you move and the only way you're gonna know the difference is when you're following God by walking in his spirit so faith takes God at his word and when faith takes God at his word that gives God provision to provide victory on our behalf when you begin to take these passages and say well Lord I don't expect that you're going to be doing identical things through me that you did through Moses but Lord you did do some wonderful things to him and through him and therefore would it be possible that you begin to show yourself to me in a way that helps me to have a deeper relationship with you could it is it possible that I might be able to to begin pursuing you and I walk away from the sins that so easily seem to occupy my mind and the habits that I've developed that I have basically just given permission to myself to have by saying that just the way that I am it is it possible that I can begin to repent from sin and begin to trust you a little bit further so that I might see your hand move in my life and the Lord would say yes of course it is all you need to do is just trust me Moses did that Moses did that he trusted the Lord and he's now written for us here in this book reminding us of how great God is and how God can move on behalf of those who trust him may God help us to trust him today