Aug.6, 2023: Family Worship Service: Old Testament (4-2) : "The Exodus from Egypt”　

Last time we talked about the birth of Moses. Now we would like to learn what God did through Moses as a grown man to free the Israelites who were enslaved in Egypt.

I think it was a big thing that Moses showed the Ten Commandments to the Israelites. Let's watch the video to include that.

When Moses grew up, he realized he was an Israelite and adopted, right? Moses fled Egypt because he tried to help an Israeli slave who had been bullied by the Egyptians, but accidentally Moses killed an Egyptian. 

I feel sorry for Moses because he tried to save the slave, but he got caught up in such an incident.

Moses no longer had the status of a prince of Egypt, and the people of Israel pointed out his sin and threatened him so he decided he should leave for the desert. 

Moses was unfortunate. On the other hand, I believe that Moses was given a special mission by God. Moses was 40 years old when he came from Egypt to the land of Midian, and when he was 80 years old God appeared to Moses as a flame and gave him a great mission. The Bible says Moses died at 120 years old after a 40-year journey to Egypt.

Moses was brave when he was young, but he became a coward after he became a shepherd. Even when God told him to help the Israelites out of Egypt, he didn't say "Yes"  did he? Moses didn't accept even when God promised him that God was with him.

Moses was married and had a wife and children. He was reasonably happy and stable, so it is natural for anyone to be cautious when God suddenly gives you a difficult mission.

That's right! Moses had been a prince in Egypt, but he had no position or status, and he was a murderer.

And Moses was not eloquent. So God strengthened Moses by telling him that God would be with him and that his brother Aaron would be his helper. Maybe it means that everything God does is manifested only in our weakness. It's a strange thing, and we can be grateful for it .

The king of Egypt made ad hoc promises and betrayed Moses repeatedly. Moses showed the king God's works, such as the flood, swarms of locusts, drinking water turning to blood, and so on. If I were the king, I would be scared, and I would have obeyed Moses!

The king could not give slaves to Moses so easily. Because it would have been a great loss for Egypt if the king lost slaves. The king finally surrendered to Moses’s request after his firstborn son was killed by the angel.

But, the king followed them to the Red Sea. Even so, the Israelites could safely pass through the Red Sea that God opened, but the Egyptian soldiers were swallowed up and eventually destroyed.

But, the Israelites blamed Moses, who went to the trouble of saving them. They were ungrateful, weren't they?

It must have been a difficult journey for them. I guess they complained when they were short of food and water, and many people died in the wilderness. Sophian, do you think you would have trusted Moses until the end?

Hmm. I don't know about that. Maybe I could not.

When Moses was given the Ten Commandments by God, the people were making a golden calf and worshiping idols, and God destroyed them. I feel terrible when God judges even His own people.

In our lives, we often regret and grieve God's heart. 

What do you think we should do in such situations?

I apologize to Jesus and say, "I'm sorry."

I swear in my heart that I will never do it again.

When I make the same mistakes again, I feel so shameful and miserable, and I don't know what to do.

The Law is not merely the 10 items in the 10 Commandments, but there are 613 laws. I don't think anyone can keep all of them perfectly. But we can’t be saved by keeping these laws. Rather, the law reminds us that we are all sinners. 

Salvation is only possible through the solution of Jesus on the cross, though, of course, I don't think the people knew Jesus existed at that time.

That's right. It is no exaggeration to say that human history is the history of sin. I believe that God is pointing the characters in the Old Testament to the fact that in His plan, complete salvation is found in Christ. We know this because we have been given the Old and New Testaments, but the people did not know it at the time, so I believe that these Ten Commandments of Moses were the "road map" to salvation. As we read in today's scriptures, the Bible tells us that the exodus from Egypt was accomplished not by man's ability or wisdom, but by the power of faith and trust in God. I hope we can be like that, too. Sophia, please pray for us.

Yes, I will. Dear Father, thank you for protecting us on these hot days. Today we learned about the story of Moses who persevered through difficult times and rescued the Israelites from Egypt. God makes what we cannot do possible. Please help us to live each day without losing hope. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.