God’s Saving Acts

MEMORY SELECTION: “Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed.” —Exodus 15:13

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 26:5-11; Exodus 15:11-13

THE context of the scriptures used in our lesson tells how God demonstrated his mighty power in securing the release of the Israelites from bondage under Pharaoh and the Egyptians. This demonstration by God was awesome in its reality, but it was also a type of a much greater deliverance to be accomplished in the future.

The children of Israel had suffered for many years under the harsh and brutal treatment by their taskmasters. Finally they cried unto the Lord, and he heard them, and he sent Moses, with Aaron as his mouthpiece, to be the deliverer of the Israelites. But Pharaoh was extremely hard of heart and refused to let the Israelites go. All of this was foreknown to God, for he said, “Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.”—Rom. 9:17

The Lord brought nine plagues upon the Egyptians. These were acts which clearly demonstrated God’s power over the heathen gods that were worshiped by the Egyptians. But still Pharaoh refused to release the children of Israel from bondage. Then the Lord stated that he would bring one last plague upon the Egyptians and that this one would move Pharaoh to release the children of Israel. This plague was to be the death of the firstborn in all the houses in the land. The Israelites alone were to be exempt from this plague, provided they sprinkled the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts and lintels of the houses where they lived.—Exod. 11:1; 12:1-12

The account states that at midnight on the 14th of Nisan the death angel passed through the land and all the firstborn died except in the land of Goshen, which was inhabited by the Israelites. The account states that he executed judgment also against all the gods of Egypt. As a result of this experience, as forecast by God, the Egyptians released the children of Israel.—Deut. 4:34, 35; Num. 33:1-4

The Bible indicates that these things were a picture of a much greater deliverance that is yet future. The Apostle Paul, in I Corinthians 5:7,8, states that Jesus was the antitypical Passover Lamb that would cause the antitypical firstborns (the church) to be “passed over” during the Gospel Age; that is, they are justified and brought out from under adamic condemnation.—Rom. 8:1

In the type the firstborns were delivered first, then the whole nation was freed. So also is the case in the antitype. After the firstborns are delivered, then the whole world of mankind will be freed from Satan’s power and will be delivered to the safety of Christ’s kingdom, where they will have peace and an opportunity to earn life. In the type Pharaoh represented Satan; and the Egyptians, Satan’s minions.

The Bible, in many places, speaks of the power of Satan and his usurpation of this power in the control of the earth. In II Corinthians 4:4 he is called “the god of this world,” and in John 14:30 he is called “the prince of this world.” We are told also that if it serves his purposes he can appear as an angel of light. (II Cor. 11:14) Our Lord stated that Satan “was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”—John 8:44

In Isaiah 14:1-32 there is a remarkable account of the history of Satan from the moment when pride began to dominate his every action: “Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north.” (vs. 13) The account, however, tells of his ultimate overthrow and the final release of the world of mankind from the oppressor and the terrible “sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wart made to serve.”—vs. 3

When these momentous events come to pass, all will acknowledge that God is the Lord and beside him there is no savior.—Isa. 43:11

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