Last week we discussed God’s plan through Abraham
Today we will discuss the “People of the Promise”,
the descendants of Abraham: Isaac, Jacob, Joseph
and Moses,
and how God leads the Hebrew people in Egypt out of slavery.
People of the Promise
The covenant promise given by God to Abraham was:
“I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you (Abraham)
have done this and have not withheld your son (Isaac), your only
son, I will surely .bless
. . . . you and make your descendants as numerous
.......
as the . stars
. . . . . in the .sky
. . . and as the .sand
. . . . on the .seashore
........“
(Gen. 22:15-17)
This promise of God passes through Abraham’s descendants:
Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, etc.
Who was Joseph?
Let’s first have a look at Abraham’s family tree.
Kohath
Amram
Moses
king David
virgin Mary
Jesus, the Son of God
Watch the movie “The Hope” Chapter 6: People of the Promise
online in English or in Chinese
or
in
(with English subtitles) on DVD.
How did Joseph end up in Egypt?
Genesis 37
Jacob, also named Israel, loved his son Joseph. Therefore and
because Joseph had dreams, his brothers were jealous and threw
him in a pit, sold him to traders to Egypt, dipped his clothes in blood
and told father Jacob that Joseph was eaten by a wild beast.
Genesis 39 and Genesis 41
Joseph entered Egypt as a slave, and was trapped in a false
accusation, but God placed Joseph in a powerful position, because
Pharaoh asked Joseph to interpret a dream of Pharaoh and Joseph
interpreted the dream (a famine would come) correctly and
Pharaoh placed Joseph in authority over Egypt.
Genesis 42, Genesis 43 and Genesis 44
The famine came over the earth and Joseph’s family suffered
back home in the land of Canaan. But in Egypt Joseph had built
the storehouses full of food. Although Joseph was betrayed by
his brothers he still loved his family.
Genesis 45 and Genesis 46
How did God use Joseph and his circumstances to show His
grace and preserve the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob? Read Genesis 47:11-12.
How does Joseph’s forgiveness of his brothers reflect God’s
forgiveness of us?
Because of Joseph’s position, Joseph’s family was allowed to come
and stay in Egypt, and dwelled in a land that was not their own.
Read Genesis 50:22-26.
The descendants of Abraham stayed in Egypt for 350 years.
They had increased in number and were now called the
Hebrew people.
How did the Hebrew people become enslaved?
God prophesied this. Read Gen. 15:13-14.
Exodus 1
The new Pharaoh was afraid that the Hebrew people would
become so great that he enslaved them.
The number of Hebrew people still increased.
Read Exodus 1:22
Pharaoh (inspired by Satan) ordered the death of every .boy
. . in
every Hebrew family.
But God had a higher plan. Read Exodus 2:1-10
A Hebrew mother laid her baby in a basket and let it float on
the river, where a daughter of .Pharaoh
. . . . . . . found the baby. The
daughter adopted the baby and named him Moses. Moses
grew up as a prince.
Exodus 2:11-25
When Moses had grown up he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew,
and he killed the Egyptian. Afraid for Pharaoh’s repercussions Moses
fled to the desert and lived there as a shepherd for 40 years.
God prepares Moses to lead the Hebrew people
Notice how God gave Moses 40 years in Egypt to acquaint him with
wealth, and 40 years in the wilderness as a shepherd so he would
be familiar with hard conditions as well.
Exodus 3
One day God appeared to Moses in a fire in the midst of a bush and
yet the bush was not consumed. And God spoke to Moses. God
told him to return to Pharaoh and lead his people out of Egypt.
Sing “Go down Moses”.
Exodus 4, 5, 6, and 7
Moses was afraid, but he obeyed God. Moses and his brother
Aaron learnt that Pharaoh refused to let the Hebrew people go.
Exodus 7-11
God sent a series of terrible plagues on Egypt, but non of the
plagues touched the Hebrew people. After each plague the
Pharaoh still refused to let the Hebrew people go.
Again we see God’s judgment on sin through the plagues He brings
on Egypt, which ultimately brings the judgment of death.
God brings the Hebrew people out of Slavery
Exodus 12
Then God commanded each Hebrew
family to slay a lamb and place
blood of the lamb over the door of
the houses. And God sent death
over every firstborn in the land,
except those with blood on the
doorposts.
The people of Israel were saved from the angel of death by the
blood of the lamb on their doorposts. Read Exodus 12:12-13
This is a picture of the death of Christ and how the shedding of
blood (a substitute sacrifice) is shown to be necessary for God’s
salvation. This (the blood of a lamb) is another example of a
substitute sacrifice to deliver people from Satan, sin and death.
Exodus 12:31 through 14
Finally Pharaoh released the Hebrew nation and the Hebrew
people left Egypt, but Pharaoh had a change of heart. With his
army he pursued the people to the edge of the sea.
God put the Hebrew people in a position at the Red Sea which left
them wholly dependent on God (once again) for deliverance.
Read Exodus 14:13-14.
Then God divided the sea for the Hebrew people to cross on dry
land.
And when the Egyptians pursued to follow them, God returned
the water, drowning the whole Egyptian army. The Hebrews
were rescued by God from slavery.
What does God’s victory over Pharaoh and the deliverance of
Israel tell us about God?
Central theme in God’s Word is: ‘how to be saved, substitute sacrifice’
Do you remember three events?
1. After the first sin committed by Adam and Eve, God provided an
animal skin to cover their nakedness. In order to provide that skin
God must have slaughtered an animal. Gen. 3:21.
2. The first Jew Abraham was called to sacrifice his own son. After he
had shown that he was willing to put his son to death, God intervened and provided an animal as substitute sacrifice. Gen. 22:2,13.
3. God commanded each Hebrew family living as slaves in Egypt to
slay a lamb and place blood of the lamb on the doorpost. This act of
obedience was followed by saving them from death, delivering
them, and bring them out of slavery. Exodus 12:13.
All these events point to the turning point in history,
when God sent His only Son as a substitute sacrifice
for the sins of all people at all times. Jesus is the
promised deliverer, our Savior and Lord. In Him is
‘The Hope’!