SERVING GOD THROUGH OPPOSITION

Exodus 5.

INTRO
Even when God sends us to do a task, there will always be opposition against us. This should not make us feel defeated, rather, as with Paul in II Cor. 13, we should see our setback as bringing out the glory of God even greater. When facing opposition, sometimes the last thing we think is that God has a plan, but as with Moses, and in the New Testament, Jesus, we should always trust in our Father’s greater plan.

Explanation Vss. 1-9: Moses passes the Lord’s message to Pharaoh, what the Lord requires of his people. He calls “the Lord” in the singular, since Egypt was a polytheistic society. This is the first of many demands, 5:1; 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1, 13; 10:3, etc. Knowing. Pharaoh didn’t know the Lord; this is the theme that is central to the book. Reminds us of what knowing means in the book of John, which is being saved.
Moses explains to Pharaoh how the Hebrews were to serve the Lord, with a festival. If this would not take place, they would be stricken by ‘pestilence or sword’, cf. vs. 21 where the sword is mentioned again, but the one using it is Pharaoh.
From vss. 6-9, Pharaoh’s words are repeated in vss. 17-18, and because they came from Pharaoh’s mouth, they are law.
Illustration: Moses lets the Pharaoh know the words of the Lord. Pharaoh’s response is to say that he didn’t know the Lord, and proclaims some words himself, adding to the work of the Israelites, and to call them lazy. Pharaoh calls what Moses says “deceptive words”, or literally “lies”. For Pharaoh, Moses and his God were fakes. So the issue comes down as to whose words are true, Pharaoh or the Lord’s.
What Moses was asking Pharaoh was not an impossible thing, since religious texts show that Egyptian workers took days off for religious festivals.
Application: Moses’ first encounter with Pharaoh’s did not go down well. His first attempt, he found opposition, and very stiff at that. We are also entrusted with the most important message to those who are under the control of the devil, the gospel. Our work becomes more difficult since we have very famous sceptics who put the word of God, the Bible, in doubt. We must press on, although the opposition may seem to be in control. What’s in our lives that we know that Lord has given us promises, and we may lose heart seeing the opposing facts in our lives?? Our faith should look beyond any opposition, and hold on to God’s word.

Explanation Vss. 10-18: The language used by the slave drivers to the Isralite supervisors is legal language. This point out the Pharaoh’s word is law. Bricks in Egypt were as large as 12 inches, 6 inches tall and 6 inches deep. The need for straw comes because it provided humic acid, which increased the effectiveness as binder. Stubble, this was dried out remains in the field after the harvest, which had no humic acid, therefore, less suitable for their work. As the slave drivers were oppressing the Isralite supervisors, they approach Pharaoh to plead their case. Pharaoh again accuses them of laziness, and does not take attention of their pleads.
Illustration: The foreman call themselves “servants”, Pharaoh’s response is for them to get back to ‘serve’, ‘work’, cf. vss. 15, 18. Here we see the Isralites crying to Pharaoh, cf. 15:8. The usual cry is to the Lord, cf. 2:23; 8:8; 14:10, 15; 15:25; 17:4; 22:22.
Application: This is an example to whom we should not go when in trouble. We cannot go to the one who has us in slavery for delivery. How many times have we considered going to those who are afflicting us, in order for them to change their ways. The world will not change, but we have someone to cry out, and it is the Lord. Just as the Isralites were given stubble to complete their task, the world would always give us something that will quickly pass away, that will wither sooner or later. The Lord offers us eternal life, no temporal pleasures. We should always keep our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith, Jesus, Heb. 12:2.

Explanation Vss. 19-21-6:1: The supervisors turn their anger to Moses and Aaron. They forget that they are sent from the Lord, but quickly attribute the blame for their situation on them. Pharaoh’s sword is the object of their fear, not the Lord’s sword, cf. 3.
Illustration: the foremen are looking for a way out of their trouble, and they have genuine concern for the Isralite workers. They blame not Pharaoh’s reluctance to hear the word of the Lord, but they blame those who brought to him the word of the Lord, Moses and Aaron. Moses cries out to the Lord, and the Lord answers him, explaining to him as to why Pharaoh has acted that way.
Application: We have a tendency to blame others for our own situation. We are not that different from the Isralite foremen. Sometimes we come to church with the expectation to be told how good we are, how gentle, how Christian!! But there’s no one good here but Jesus, cf. Mat. 19:17; Mk. 10:18; Lk. 19:19. Don’t blame the preacher when he is exposing the word of God, and you feel and know that you are not living a Christian life. The word is preached in order to show you how the Lord can take away those things that make us all sinners, and therefore, don’t have a relationship with our Lord. But what if there is no sin, and you still face opposition in your life, work, family, club, church??? Don’t blame others will not fix the problem. Just as Moses cried out to the Lord, we are to do the same. Remember Jesus cried out to the Father when in need in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he got an answer, to go the cross. Moses had much to endure before seeing what God was to do with Pharaoh. We also have a lot to live before we can somehow comprehend God’s plan in our lives.

Conclusion: Life is full of hardship, trouble, and opposition. But as believers, we must trust that God has a greater plan for our lives than we can see from our perspective. God was working his plan through Israel’s suffering, which was the showing of his mighty hand in Egypt. What are you going through at this moment, that you feel there is no way out, that it doesn’t make sense or you don’t deserve it? Let’s remember that we have given our lives to the Lord, and he knows the outcome of our lives, even though we may not see the light at the end of the tunnel. Let us treasure what scripture tells us, “28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Baptists mark 400th anniversary

By John McManus
BBC News

Members of the Baptist Union are gathering in Bournemouth to celebrate their 400th anniversary - the first Baptist congregation was founded in 1609. With four centuries of growth behind them, what are the challenges facing believers in the next 100 years?

Baptists first emerged after the Reformation swept Europe, causing upheaval throughout Christian communities.

Martin Luther's Protestant movement had gained ground in northern Europe, and Henry VIII had broken with Rome and established the Church of England as the country's national church, with him as its spiritual head.

Today Baptists are the fifth largest Christian church in the world, with 40 million members, and Baptists in England and Wales say that national numbers are stable, unlike many Christian denominations.

The sins of the bankers contributed to the mess, but so have all of us The Reverend Jonathan Edwards

But away from the pews, there are practical issues that Baptists are having to grapple with as their Union looks towards the future, many of them familiar to members of other religions.

In 2004 the wealthy Southern Baptist Convention of the USA split from the Baptist World Alliance, citing an increasing trend towards liberalism as the reason.

Closing rift

The theology of the Southern Baptists has been described by one English Baptist as right-wing and fundamentalist, with serious differences over the role of women in ministry and creation theology.

Jonathan Edwards blames churchgoers as well as bankers for the current financial crisis

The general secretary of the Baptist Union, the Reverend Jonathan Edwards, says that although the split was an unhappy one, he maintains close relations with the American Baptists and does not think it is necessarily permanent.

"I would be very surprised if the rift were to last for many years," he says.

Mr Edwards leads an administrative staff of 150 at the Union's headquarters in Oxfordshire, but the Baptists are not a top-down hierarchical church.

Individual congregations are self-funding and self-regulating, and even decide themselves what form their services of worship will take.

Mr Edwards cites this ability to respond to local preferences as the reason why congregations are not dropping, and in some places are even rising.

"Our churches are quite light on their feet. I'm not there telling them what they can and can't do."

Despite this, the Union is persisting in efforts to persuade congregations to be more diverse, a theme that will be continued at this weekend's assembly.

Supporting families

Although the first female ministers began preaching in the 1920s, only 10% of current ministers are women, a statistic the Union wants to change.

However, although ministers can be from either sex, they must be either celibate or in a heterosexual marriage.

Baptist Timeline 1609: first Baptist congregation founded in the Netherlands by John Smyth 1832: Baptist Union formed 1922: Violet Hedger becomes first female minister 2004: Southern Baptist Convention splits from World Alliance

"I believe the norm that God intends for us is hetero-relationships" says Mr Edwards.

"In these times especially, we should be supporting families."

Baptists have always been an evangelising religion, believing that they can help knit together communities by becoming practically involved in them, such as becoming school governors or running children's playgroups.

But their ambitions do not extend to wanting to replace the Anglicans as the national Church, and unlike, for example, some British Roman Catholics, they are not keen on pulling up a chair at the table of government.

Instead, they preach for the disestablishment of Church and state, though for different reasons to secularists.

Mark Woods, the editor of the Baptist Times, explains that politics and religion can be a heady mix.

"The model of one denomination of one religion acting as sort of spiritual broker for the rest of the country - however benevolent and co-operative they are - is no longer appropriate, if it ever was.

Baptists undergo full submersion in water when they join the Church

"That's not to say that religion should be excluded from public life, but we need a better system in which other traditions are represented as well."

Baptists believe that prophetic ministry - warning and advising on the issues of the day - is compromised if a Church is too close to government, so they are keen to stay outside the fold.

And as if to illustrate this, Mr Edwards delivers an uncompromising evaluation of the current financial crisis.

"We're pointing the finger at ourselves.

"We in the Churches have been tied into the selfishness and materialism just like everybody else. This is an opportunity for a radical rethink.

"The sins of the bankers contributed to the mess, but so have all of us."