I have been studying the book of Exodus and the life of Moses with one of the young ladies that I mentor. This week, we are reading through Exodus 5 and 6.
These stories are very familiar, especially if you grew up in church. And even if you didn’t, I’m sure the cruel Pharaoh and the plagues upon Egypt aren’t totally foreign to you.
Exodus 5 chronicles Moses and Aaron’s first attempt to get Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. It backfires because Pharaoh believes himself to be a god and the God of Israel means nothing to him. Instead, he takes away a key ingredient needed for making bricks (straw) and makes the Israelites work harder to make the same amount of bricks. The people are distraught and blame Moses and Aaron for making their workload harder. The faith in God they demonstrated at the end of Exodus 4 disappears as their trials increase.
There’s an old saying that goes along the lines of “it’s always darkest before the dawn.” That’s what happened as God began to take Israel through the process to freedom.
I didn’t understand why God kept Pharaoh’s heart so hard toward His chosen people, but this time of study has offered some explanation that I missed before.
God could have forced His will on Pharaoh and simply let Israel walk out of Egypt. But God demonstrated here that He honors the free will that He gave men. The hardness was already in Pharaoh’s heart. God didn’t force him to change, and instead used that hardness for His purpose, as strange as it sounds.
The hardships on the road toward freedom served a purpose–refinement. Israel had lived in Egypt for 400 years by the time Exodus opened. They were enslaved but this life was all any of them had ever known, and even in slavery, Israel was comfortable. They needed shaking loose from bondage that was more than physical enslavement–it held their hearts captive too.
Malachi 3:3 says that God is a refiner and purifier of silver. Just like a hot furnace refines silver to bring the dross (impurities) to the top, so also trials serve to bring impurities and weaknesses to the surface to be dealt with. Without facing these things, we won’t be fit for the future God is calling us to.
Galatians 5:1 (NIV) says “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
The slave mindset would not serve the Israelites in the Promised Land. The increasing hardships of Egypt were designed to be a catalyst to build a desire to pursue freedom. Without the desire for change transforming them, they would fall into bondage to someone else–which happened again and again years later. To enter and claim the Promised Land, Israel would have to overcome and drive out the current inhabitants (Exodus 3:8 (NIV)–“the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites”). With a slave mindset, they could not overcome the obstacles on the road ahead.
Like the Israelites, we are also called to live in freedom. Galatians 5 continues in verse 13: “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love” (NIV).
Everyday Ministry is about living in freedom and serving one another in love. Hardships and trials are a part of life in this sinful broken world, but hope is not lost:
- James 1:12 (NIV): “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
- Romans 5:3-4 (NIV): “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
God’s end-goal for our lives is to be refined, to be made more and more in His image, to set us free from conforming to the world and instead renew us by transformation of our minds (Romans 12:2).
Purified silver shines bright, and that is God’s desire for us: to shine bright and reflect His light to the world.
So, friends, do not despise the fiery trials you may be enduring. God will provide a way through the fires and be with us all the way (Isaiah 43:2). He is refining and polishing us to be the highest quality silver available, to be like Him and show the light of His love to everyone around us.
Keep going. His refinement is worth it.
Blessings,
~Lynne
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