So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they refused to listen anymore. They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery. [Exodus 6:9 (NLT)]
Things went downhill for Israel in the centuries following their arrival in Egypt. Life turned bad when Pharaoh’s once welcome guests became Pharaoh’s oppressed slaves who labored in his fields or made bricks for his building projects. Hearing their cry for relief, God called Moses to lead His children out of captivity. Although He warned Moses that Pharaoh would not let his labor force depart easily, God didn’t tell him that Israel’s life would go from bad to worse before they left Egypt.
Pharaoh did more than deny Moses’ request; he punished the Israelites for making it! He instructed his slave drivers to increase Israel’s workload by no longer providing the straw necessary for making bricks. Although the laborers had to find their own straw, they still had to meet their same daily quota of bricks! The extra work wasn’t to make them work harder; it was to break the people’s spirits as well as their backs!
Straw was crucial for the making of mud bricks. After harvest, it was stored in Pharaoh’s warehouses where the straw for bricks was chopped into small pieces. But, without access to Pharaoh’s straw, the Israelites had to search the fields for any remaining field stubble. Pharaoh’s instructions made it impossible to meet their required quotas and the Israelite foremen were beaten. With life having gone from bad to worse, the people refused to listen to Moses and the discouraged nation lost heart. Nevertheless, Moses and Aaron persevered. Although it took ten plagues to convince Pharaoh, the cruel ruler eventually relented and let Israel depart.
Life often goes from bad to worse. Consider Job. His bad began when Sabeans raided his oxen and donkeys and murdered his farmhands. It continued to worse with the immolation of his sheep and shepherds, the theft of his camels, the killing of his servants, and the death of all his children in a windstorm. Life hit rock bottom when Job lost his health! Although he lost property, wealth, family, and health, Job never lost heart. Even though he didn’t understand why, Job continued to have faith in God!
Think of Joseph—the favored son who was betrayed by his brothers, thrown in a pit, sold as a slave, and taken to Egypt. His bad turned to worse when he was unjustly accused of rape, tossed into prison, and forgotten by Pharaoh’s cup-bearer. Like Job, Joseph lost everything but his faith!
Consider Jairus—the synagogue leader who fell at Jesus’ feet with an urgent plea to come and heal the man’s dying daughter. Things were looking up for Jairus until Jesus stopped to talk with the bleeding woman and messengers arrived to say the girl was dead. Jairus, however, never berated Jesus for the delay or turned away in disappointment. When Jesus told him not to be afraid but to have faith, the man did—even though his bad had turned to worse!
As Christians, like the Israelites, we are on a trek through the wilderness to a Promised Land and, as happened for them, life will go from bad to worse more than once during our journey. Will we lose heart every time we face challenges, disappointment, or loss? Like the Israelites, will we want to return to slavery rather than trust in God and continue through the wilderness? Or, when the vultures start circling and our bad turns to worse, will we have the perseverance of Moses, the patience of Job, the fortitude of Joseph, and the faith of Jairus?
Faith endures as seeing Him who is invisible; endures the disappointments, the hardships, and the heart-aches of life, by recognizing that all comes from the hand of Him who is too wise to err and too loving to be unkind. [A.W. Pink]
Described as a “preaching genius…like no other preacher you have ever heard,” the late Rev. Fred Craddock was well-known for including stories in his sermons. He told one that took place during the early 60s in a diner in the deep South. Although the white Craddock sat in a booth and was served with courtesy and consideration, he silently watched the diner’s manager treat a Black man at the counter with rudeness, disdain, and open contempt. Although offended by the man’s racist behavior, Craddock remained silent. It was when he walked out of the diner after finishing his meal that the preacher heard a rooster crow. A signal of his betrayal, the crowing told the preacher that, by ignoring one of the “least of these”, he’d ignored Jesus! His silence was as much a betrayal of the Lord as were Peter’s denials!
When I learned about people like Abraham, David, Moses, and Samson as a girl, they were the Bible’s version of super-heroes like Batman or Superman. The Bible’s heroes were larger than life, obedient, invincible, and seemed to overcome their obstacles effortlessly. Appearing perfect in their faith and actions, they weren’t people to whom I could relate. In reality, they were as flawed as the rest of us but, for the most part, their imperfections and failures were redacted from the stories we learned in Sunday school.
Having quoted from Isaiah when proclaiming the Messiah’s arrival, we know John knew Isaiah’s prophecies. The Messiah would “bind up the brokenhearted [and] proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners,” [61:1] but, after spending more than a year confined to a dark cell, John had neither liberty nor freedom. It’s no wonder he doubted.
At the time, Herod Antipas was the Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. While married to the daughter of Aretas IV, king of Nabatea, Antipas visited his half-brother, Herod Philip and his wife Herodias (who was the daughter of another half-brother, Herod Aristobulus) in Rome. While there, Antipas became enamored with his brother’s wife. After divorcing their spouses, he and Herodias married and lived in Herod’s palace with Herodias’ daughter Salome. Their divorces and marriage were politically explosive and religiously scandalous and John the Baptizer was outspoken in his condemnation of their incestuous sinful relationship. While marrying a niece wasn’t uncommon, Mosaic law prohibited marrying a brother’s wife except in what was called a “levirate marriage” when a brother died childless. Philip, however, was very much alive at the time! Both Herod Antipas’ reputation and his political security were threatened by John’s public condemnation of his marriage as well as his Messianic message.
After pointing out Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” some of John the Baptizer’s disciples left John to follow Jesus. Later, John’s remaining disciples reported that Jesus was baptizing (it actually was His disciples) and wanted to know whose purification ritual of baptism was valid. With many turning from John to Jesus, the Baptizer’s disciples were confused, concerned, and probably a little envious. Apparently, they forgot that John’s original mission was that of forerunner—the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah and point the way to the Lamb of God. Knowing that he wasn’t the bridegroom but only His friend, the Baptizer humbly affirmed his position by telling his disciples that Jesus must become more prominent while he became less and less important. J.C. Ryle likened the Baptizer’s role to that of a star growing paler and paler as the sun rises until the star completely disappears in the light of the sun. John clearly understood that he was to fade in the light of the Son.
Devotions of the Heart 