GOD’S PROVISIONS FOR HIS PEOPLE CAN COME FROM A MOST UNLIKELY SOURCE

“Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.”
For March 12, 2010
GOD CAN MAKE YOUR ENEMY LOOK AT YOU WITH FAVOR.
Ex 3:20 So I will stretch out My hand, and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. 21 And I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. 22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians."

Background: Moses was now approaching 80 years old. His first 40 years was spent inside the palace in Egypt for he was brought up by an Egyptian princess. Then, at the end of that forty years, he murdered an Egyptian and that became known and he became a fugitive. As a result, he went to Midian to hide and there got married. The story for us was towards the end of his stay in Midian. He was about to go back to Egypt. All in all, Moses lived for 120 years.

CHRONOLOGY OF ISRAEL’S STAY IN EGYPT
JOSEPH SOLD TO EGYPT- 1898 BC
Joseph was second to the youngest of 12 sons of Jacob. He was different from his brothers in many ways and he was also a favorite son of his father. His brothers were jealous of him. Finally, one day, they thought of killing him but then, finally, they opted to sell him to the slave traders, who brought him to Egypt and sold him as a slave.

JOSEPH MADE RULER- 1885. Joseph was in a jail accused of attempted rape when the Pharaoh of Egypt had a dream which nobody could interpret. Joseph interpreted the dream and was made Prime minister, the second ruler of the land. Egypt, under his rule, became prosperous and stable notwithstanding 7 years of famine.

JACOB MOVED TO EGYPT- 1859. A famine brought the other sons of Jacob to Egypt to buy food, got accused of spying and were in jail. Finally reunited with Joseph. Then Jacob also, in 1859, went to Egypt and lived there with his entire family.

HYKSOS RULE- 1730. By this time, Joseph was dead and so were his father and brothers. Egypt was still a friendly people to the Israelites. Then, a people called Hyksos, who were not Egyptians, invaded Egypt and took over the kingdom. They came from the land of Canaan and Syria. The Hyksos started, like Israel, as a foreign community in the northern part of Egypt. When they were of sufficient number, they took over the kingdom. The invading Hyksos were aided by the Hyksos who were already inside Egypt. This started the Egyptian’s suspicion of the foreigners who were living in Egypt. Israel too, became a suspected people because they might also do to the Egyptians what the hyksos had done.

ISRAELITES BECAME SLAVES OF AHMOSE- 1570
Ahmose, an Egyptian fought against the hyksos and defeated them. He drove them out of Egypt. In 1570, he ordered that the once favored race, the Israelites, be made into slaves as brick makers. Ahmose’s reasoning was simple. There were more Israelites than the Hyksos people and the Israelites were wealthy. They can easily afford a rebellion. So, the way to deal with them was to make them slaves.

MOSES BORN UNDER THUTMOSE 1- 1526. Under this atmosphere, Moses was born under the Pharaoh Thutmose 1. Like Ahmose, Thutmose 1 was very suspicious of the Israelites because under him, they have become a very big community. So, Thutmose ordered that all male infants be killed and only the female infants will be spared. This was to prevent the Israelites from increasing in number and to finally dilute the race so that the race will disappear.

The suffering: The special guests have become the slaves. The once joyful community became a community where joy was only a concept never an experience. Fathers do not dream of good future for their children because a the children of a slave will also be slaves. slave will give birth to a slave

Frustration is to be forced to be what you were not meant to be. They came to Egypt and lived as a favored community. Yet, the moment Ahmose became Pharaoh, day after, frustration had become the way of life. As brick makers, they had to continually find the right mud and gather straw to mix with the mud for the brick. The backbreaking task of bending, mixing, molding and drying the bricks, done on a daily basis, is enough to disturb even the most serenely-minded of all men. FRUSTRATION IS LIKE FINDING YOUR GLASSES WITHOUT YOUR GLASSES. But, God is about to change the status, stature and condition of His people. He was about to make them FREE and BLESSED WITH GOODS AND GOODIES! This is the story we will look at in the next few days.

GOD’S PROVISIONS CAN COME FROM THE MOST UNLIKELY OF SOURCES: THE EGYPTIAN WEALTH
The provisions for God’s people will be given by their oppressors who would consider it a good thing to do (to get rid of what was perceived as the reason for their national calamity). From this story we learn the principle we call: The principle of the Egyptian.

The Principle of the Egyptian wealth affirms that God can provide for us even from the most unlikely of sources: from those who have done something bad against us. Nothing is to hard for God.

The principle of the Egyptian wealth reminds us of the concept of REDEEMED BLESSINGS. The Egyptian wealth in the hands of the Egyptians was not for God’s glory. In the hands of the Israelites, it was useful for the people and became an instrument of God’s kindness. God may give you redeemed blessings. How? He will show you how.

The principle of the Egyptian wealth reaffirms that God can make your persecutor your provider. The slave-masters became the suppliers. The wealth-takers became the wealth-givers. Persecution became provisions. Truly, there is nothing is too hard for our God.