[Excerpts from a sermon of a pastor in Virginia]
Genesis 47:13-27 (summarized; go read the story of Israel in Egypt)
Note that economic hard times fell upon Egypt, and the people turned to the
government of Pharaoh to deal with this for them. And Pharaoh nationalized
the grain harvest, and placed the grain in great storehouses that he had
built. So the people brought their money to Pharaoh, like a great tax
increase, and gave it all to him willingly in return for grain. And this
went on until their money ran out, and they were hungry again.
So when they went to Pharaoh after that, they brought their livestock -their
cattle, their horses, their sheep, and their donkey – to barter for grain,
and that only took them through the end of that year.
But the famine wasn’t over, was it? So the next year, the people came before
Pharaoh and admitted they had nothing left, except their land and their own
lives. “There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our
land. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and
our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh.” So
they surrendered their homes, their land, and their real estate to Pharaoh’s
government, and then sold themselves into slavery to him, in return for
grain.
What can we learn from this? That turning to the Government instead of to
God to be our provider in hard times only leads to slavery! The only reason
government wants to be our provider is to also become our master!
Yes. But look how that passage ends. “Thus Israel settled in the land of
Egypt, in the land of Goshen. And they gained possessions in it, and were
fruitful and multiplied greatly.” GOD PROVIDED FOR HIS PEOPLE, JUST AS HE
ALWAYS HAS! They didn’t end up giving all their possessions to government,
no, it says they gained possessions!
But I also tell you a great truth today, and an ominous one. We see the same
thing happening today – the government today wants to “share the wealth”
once again, to take it from us and redistribute it back to us. It wants to
take control of health care, just as it has taken control of education, and
ration it back to us, and when government rations it, then government
decides who gets it, and how much, and what kind. And if we go along with
it, and do it willingly, then we will wind up no differently than the people
of Egypt did four thousand years ago – as slaves to the government, and as
slaves to our leaders.
What Mr. Obama’s government is doing now is no different from what Pharaoh’s
government did then, and it will end the same. And a lot of people like to
call Mr. Obama a “Messiah,” don’t they? Is he a Messiah? A savior? Didn’t
the Egyptians say, after Pharaoh made them his slaves, “You have saved our
lives; may it please my lord, we will be servants to Pharaoh”?
Well, I tell you this – I know the Messiah; the Messiah is a friend of mine;
and Mr. Obama is no Messiah! No, brothers and sisters, if Mr. Obama is a
character from the Bible, then he is Pharaoh.
Lord, You alone are worthy to be served, and we rely on You, and You alone.
We confess that the government is not our deliverer, and never rightly will
be. We read in the eighth chapter of 1 Samuel, when Samuel warned the
people of what a ruler would do, where it says “And in that day you will cry
out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD
will not answer you in that day.” And Lord, we acknowledge that day has
come. We cry out to you because of the ruler that we have chosen for
ourselves as a nation. Lord, we pray for this nation. We pray for revival,
and we pray for deliverance from those who would be our masters.
Give us hearts to seek You and hands to serve You, and protect Your people
from the atrocities of Pharaoh’s government.
~~
Dr Bob Griffin
[email protected] www.grif.net
“Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!”