Heaven and Earth 3
Sunday, 30th June 2024
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
The Books of Moses are the first five Books in the Bible, written by Moses. But which Book did Moses write first? The first Book Moses write would be the Exodus, because it’s a book about the story of the Israelites and it’s easier for the Israelites to understand because it’s about what they experienced.
Exodus 1:1-11
Now these are the names of the children of Israel who came to Egypt; each man and his household came with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons (for Joseph was in Egypt already). And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them. Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh supply cities, Pithom and Raamses.
Genesis 1:26-29
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
God’s plan for people is good, He wants His creations to live and multiply, but when people make their own choices instead of walking in God’s plan, then they will miss out the abundant blessings God has already prepared for them. When the Israelites first entered Egypt, they had lots of favours, because of Joseph’s status as the prime minister of Egypt. But who’s decision was it for Jacob and his sons to go to Egypt? It was not God, even though God gave them abundance from Egypt, but God never told them to move to Egypt.
1. Getting Lost on Earth
The Israelites moved to Egypt and multiplied, God still blessed them with lots of children, but they have lost their way. It’s like in the Book of Ruth, when Naomi and her family moved to Moab, they might have ran away from the famine, they might have been accepted by the people of Moab, but they also slowly moved away from the promised land of God. The end of people is the beginning of God, when we face problems, then we will turn around and seek God. Egypt was not the Promised Land God prepared for them, and gradually they became the slaves of the Egyptians. It’s easy to follow the earthly ways, to do what others are doing, to make decisions that makes ‘common sense’ but God’s Way is often different to what we imagine.
When the new Pharoah of Egypt ruled the land, the Egyptians did not know Joseph and they started to make Israelites their slaves. The land of Egypt represents the earthly values, the world makes us its slaves, when we got lost on earth, we will have a mindset that this is the normal way of working and living. We do not know what’s the truth, and we will lose the most important thing.
2. Blessings from Heaven
When we face problems, when we come across challenges, in health, in family, in work, in life… when we chose the earthly ways then we will become lost. The blessings are from Heaven, but it’s not easy for us to recognise, and it’s not easy for us to understand. First of all, we must know the purpose of our creations. God created us in His own image, to be free like Him, to be abundant like Him, and He calls us ‘good’. Do we enjoy being who we are? Do we accept who God creates us to be?
We are God’s creations, we have the image of God, and we are good. The Bible tells us to stop comparing, to stop thinking the grass is greener on the other side. The Promised Land God has prepared for the Israelites is the best for them. When we compare ourselves with others, we will lose our identity. We must know how special we are, because we are created according to the image of God. God will bless when we give thanks and truly accept who we are.
Do we see God’s blessings in our lives? Even the Egyptians recognised how fast the people of Israelites are growing, they multiplied and subdued the earth, and they were afraid. As Christians, we must recognise God’s blessings for us, and we must not stop the blessings pouring down to us. In the Book of Genesis, God has already given us the instructions, to fill the earth and subdue it, to have dominion over the earth. When we are lost on the earth, we cannot see our identities, we become the slaves of the earth and follow our problems around.
We must wake up, to be like lions not cats, to be like eagles, not chicks. We must ask God how we can live out the Heavenly way, not the earthly ways. Our strength is from God, we can become who God creates us to be by the strength of God. To be filled with peace and joy, and freedom.
Zion Bread of Life Christian Church 
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