God’s Deliverance Often Takes Time
An all-creatures Bible Message

God’s Deliverance Often Takes Time
 
A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church
 
23 August 2020
 
Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Exodus 1:8-22
Exodus 2:1-10
Matthew 16:13-20
Romans 12:1-8
 
God’s deliverance often takes time for in the process He is seeking a repentant change of heart from as many people as possible, and to have as many human workers as are willing to help bring about the deliverance.
 
Think about the fact of how God created heaven on earth in Eden and how evil corrupted it, and how the Lord had charged the human race to protect His paradise from evil and how we have failed even to this very day.
 
Think about how God tried to bring about the earth’s deliverance through Noah, but Noah and his family brought evil with them aboard the ark and destroyed God’s plan, and that evil is still with us to this very day.
 
To us, this proves that in order to deliver us from evil, we humans must be willing to be delivered from evil, but it didn’t happen for thousands of years, so God sent His Son to bring about this deliverance, and that deliverance is still with us even though most people refuse to be delivered from evil; thus, we and the rest of creation are still waiting to be delivered from evil.
 
As we can plainly see from these few examples, God’s deliverance often takes time.
 
We cannot just sit back and wait for this deliverance; we must actively work for it to come to pass.
 
Let’s look at some examples of why God’s deliverance often takes time beginning with Exodus 1:8-22…
 
8. Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
 
In other words, all the good that Joseph had done in Egypt was forgotten, and the nation returned to living in the fear and corruption of the world.
 
9. And he said to his people, "Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.
 
This is true, but there is nothing in the Biblical historical record to indicate that they did anything other than benefit Egypt, but it did set the stage for God to bring them back to the promised land.
 
10. Come, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply and in the event of war, they also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us, and depart from the land."
 
The problem with this kind of thinking is that it turns the hearts of the people to do exactly what the Egyptian leaders feared.
 
Love brings people together; fear and hatred tear them apart, just has happened all through time, and as we have been experiencing in recent times in the United States.
 
11. So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses.
 
In other words the Egyptians turned the Sons of Israel into slaves, something that God had to deliver them from, but it took many years for this to happen.
 
12. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel.
 
We have read and heard reports of some southern whites having some of these same kinds of fears about the black slaves.
 
13. And the Egyptians compelled the sons of Israel to labor rigorously;
 
This only created more tension between them.
 
14. and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them.
 
The Egyptians are giving God even more reasons to deliver the sons of Israel from their hands.
 
15. Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah, and the other was named Puah;
 
This Bible verse seems to have something wrong, because there had to have been more than two midwives and yet only two are mentioned.
 
One would expect that there would be at least one midwife in every community and based on the description of how the sons of Israel were multiplying, they must have been spread all over Goshen in many communities.
 
Furthermore, the travel distance between the two storage cities of Pithom and Raamses was at lease one day and probably more, so in our opinion there must have been a lot more than these two midwives.
 
16. and he said, "When you are helping the Hebrew women to give birth and see them upon the birthstool, if it is a son, then you shall put him to death; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
 
The Egyptians could have easily done this, but instead the King wanted this evil act to be done by the Hebrews themselves so they could not be blamed for the death of the baby boys.
 
17. But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.
 
When people who live in the heavenly will of God, or even just truly believe in Him, they rarely go against His commandment to not kill, even if they limit that commandment to only refer to humans, and this is what these midwives were doing.
 
Also, this is the first recorded stand of the Hebrews against the king of Egypt.
 
18. So the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, "Why have you done this thing, and let the boys live?"
 
19. And the midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous, and they give birth before the midwife can get to them."
 
We believe that God told the midwives what to say.
 
While what the midwives said was not true, it must have added to the fears of the king because it indicated that the Hebrews were stronger than the Egyptians.
 
20. So God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty.
 
This is exactly what the Egyptians feared, and perhaps God was also trying to get the Egyptians to believe in Him and live by His heavenly will.
 
21. And it came about because the midwives feared God, that He established households for them.
 
This was also a witness to the Sons of Israel that good things can happen to those who follow the heavenly will of God, and perhaps also to the Egyptians.
 
This also may have been a message to Pharaoh that the God of Israel was mightier than he was.
 
22. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you are to cast into the Nile, and every daughter you are to keep alive."
 
We believe that the intent of this verse was that every son who was born to the Hebrews should be cast into the Nile, but not all the Hebrews were living close to the Nile, which adds a little more food for thought about this verse.
 
Let’s continue with this passage by looking at Exodus 2:1-10…
 
1. Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi.
 
When God’s future deliverance comes, the house of Levi will be appointed as the priestly line of the Hebrews.
 
2. And the woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful, she hid him for three months.
 
This is because of the evil decree of Pharaoh.
 
3. But when she could hide him no longer, she got him a wicker basket and covered it over with tar and pitch. Then she put the child into it, and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.
 
She was obeying Pharaoh’s decree, but not its intent which was to have the baby drown, for unknown to her this child was destined to become God’s deliverer of his people.
 
4. And his sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.
 
5. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, with her maidens walking alongside the Nile; and she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid, and she brought it to her.
 
We are not told if this mother and daughter did this on their own volition or if they were being prompted by the Holy Spirit, which we believe was a strong possibility for it led to the saving of this child.
 
6. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the boy was crying. And she had pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."
 
She knew who the child was, yet at the same time she was defying her father’s decree, and we believe that this is the way God works His future deliverance; the Holy Spirit was prompting them to do His heavenly will, even though Pharaoh was not.
 
7. Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?"
 
8. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go ahead." So the girl went and called the child's mother.
 
9. Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me and I shall give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him.
 
All of this worked into God’s plan to keep His deliverer alive until the appointed time for the deliverance to begin, which would be another 80 years.
 
10. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she named him Moses, and said, "Because I drew him out of the water."
NASB
 
The very fact that the deliverer came for the house of Pharaoh, even if he was an adopted Israelite, would make their encounter all the more embarrassing for the Egyptians.
 
God’s deliverance often takes time.
 
Let’s look at another example of God’s deliverance often takes time by looking at Matthew 16:13-20…
 
13. Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
 
We believe that the term “Son of Man” refers to the Messiah, and describes Him as being born of a human mother.
 
14. And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
 
From the way that the disciples responded, it seems obvious that they also understood the meaning of the term, so Jesus asks another question.
 
15. He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
 
Jesus fit this definition or term for Messiah or Savior, but He wasn’t mentioned in their response, so He puts them on the spot of having to address who they believed He was.
 
16. And Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
 
Peter knew the answer, and we are not told whether of not any of the others also knew or were just reluctant to say.
 
17. And Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
 
We believe that this is the way that the Holy Spirit prompts us about the things that the Lord wants us to know, and how He wants us to live.
 
18. "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.
 
Some people believe that this refers only to Peter, but we believe that it refers to the fact that Jesus is our Lord and Savior and upon this rock we have built the church, even if most Christians still live in the corrupt ways of this world with its violence that causes millions of humans and billions of animals to suffer and die every year, and we have not been delivered from this tragedy for thousands of years.
 
19. "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
 
We also believe that this refers to all true believers who live in the heavenly will of God, for we have been charged with protecting and caring for the whole of creation since Eden, and we can definitely bind some of the evil and corrupt things around us, and we can loose God’s heavenly will in the same way.
 
We cannot afford to be timid; we need to help bring about the deliverance of this world while we wait for the Lord’s final deliverance. 
 
20. Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ.
NASB
 
This wasn’t yet the time to reveal to the people who He was, but today, we are to let everyone know who Jesus is.
 
This is just one of the reasons why God’s deliverance often takes time.
 
Let’s conclude our discussion by looking at Romans 12:1-8…
 
1. I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
 
This is living in the heavenly will of God in all aspects of our life both privately and publicly as an encouragement to others to do the same things.
 
2. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
 
The world is full of violence and corruption; we are to be consistently filled with heavenly love and peace, which demonstrates to others the way we are all to live.
 
3. For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
 
This means that we are to be humble in our faith and actions so as not to lord it over others, but that in many ways, previously, we were like them, which hopefully will make them comfortable in our presence, but at the same time convicted of the wrongness of their worldliness that they would also desire to become born-again children of God.
 
4. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,
 
5. so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
 
Individually none of us can do everything, but together we can do many more things and hasten God’s deliverance.
 
6. And since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let each exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith;
 
7. if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching;
 
8. or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
NASB
 
This is the way we should be.
 
Since God’s deliverance often takes time, this is the way we should be while helping to bring about that deliverance.
 
If we are Christians, then we are to live in His heavenly will and do everything in our power to free the whole of creation from the corruption to which it has been subjected, and at the same time encourage others to do the same.
 
If we are vegan animal rights Christians, we are doing a lot to help free creation, but we still need to lovingly encourage others to live the same way.
 
Amen?
 
Amen.

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