The 5 Things That I Learned From The Ancient Egyptians (Part 2)
We see in our text that the Ancient Egyptians had to deal with the issue of the Hebrews that used religion to mask another issue. The Ancient Egyptians believed that the Hebrews were lazy or as Pharaoh called it “Ye Are Idle”, so they established a way to remove the spirit of idleness from the people so that they could focus on work.
II. THEY KNEW HOW TO KILL THE SPIRIT OF IDLENESS
EXODUS 5:4-8
“And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens. And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens. And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying, Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore:let them go and gather straw for themselves. And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof:for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.”
A. They Became Aware Of The Reproach
We see that the Egyptian court became aware of the issue that the Hebrews were concerned about in their lives. They heard that God told Moses and Aaron that the Hebrews were to be let go and that they needed to depart Egypt for a festival to Him. The Egyptians gave audience to the feeble beseechings of the slaves of Egypt as they came before him. Ultimately, they saw that they had to hear them out before passing judgement for a situation which they were not aware.
In our lives spiritually, how many times do we “Think” that we know the answer to the question before it is asked? The bible says in Proverbs 18:13 “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.” We should give everyone the ample amount of time to voice their concerns. Sometimes we try to answer their questions before we have heard the conclusion of the matter. That’s like reading a portion of scripture and then telling Jesus that He’s wrong for thinking differently. Do you take the time to actually hear another person’s problem before you cast judgement or try to fix something that may not even be broken?
B. They Broke The Routine Of Idleness
Once the Egyptians were satisfied they understood what the issue was, they took corrective action to reverse it. They discerned that the Hebrews were lazy and the order was given to increase their work load. This ensured that they would not ever complain about being idle and took away the mask of religion they the seemingly hid behind.
In our lives we will hide behind a religious mask if we are not careful. Normally people will hide behind something because of fear, injury or protection. Most of the time we seek protection from the big bad world because we fear that they will injure us and cause damage. I want to say that God is the great physician. He even has the world record for healing the most people, reversing life threatening illnesses and even raising the dead. Some people fear going into the world because of the fear of being defiled. This can come across as Pharisaical to a lost world. Jesus was God Himself and He even ate with sinners. Breaking your routine will kill idleness because it forces you out of your comfort zone and into a sink or swim pattern. Unless you break down the walls of idleness you will be in a prison of discontent.
C. They Broadcast The Repercussions
The Egyptians let it known that there would be a severe punishment for not obeying the laws as they were passed from the throne of the King.
The bible tells us that God will correct us with different levels when we willingly disobey His laws. They are clearly broadcast in the Bible. However, we will never know the laws of God when we don’t even take time to open it.
The Egyptians make it clear that the way to defeat idleness was to recognize it, address it and establish a means of accountability. In our lives today we need to recognize when we are idle. It’s not enough to call someone else out for being idle when we can’t even focus on God nor His Word. Then we must appropriately address the issue so that it scatters our desire to want to do it again. Notice the Hebrews were so busy seeking straw, which is a type of Bible Truth, that they didn’t even get the opportunity to get lazy. What if we searched frantically for the Word of God as they did for straw? What would that do to our relationships with God? How much would we desire His presence? People generally don’t take time to look for things that aren’t important. What things are you searching for in this life? Are they REALLY important? In our next lesson we will share another truth from the Ancient Egyptians. Join us again as we address real life issues with biblical answers on Worship With Willie.
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