In Acts 14:22, the Apostle Paul states that we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.  Additionally, all throughout scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments, we see that God’s people suffer.  There is no better example of this than the suffering and hardship the Hebrews endured at the hands of the Egyptians.  At the end of the book of Genesis we read that Joseph and his family, totaling 70 people, came to Egypt. In Exodus 1, the Israelites had now been in Egypt for 400 years and four to five generations had passed. Egypt had become home and God’s people had become prosperous both financially and numerically as they had obeyed the command of God to be fruitful and multiply (Exodus 1:7). Exodus 12 records that when the Hebrews departed from Egypt there were 600,ooo men.  Historians suggest that, when you include women and children, there were 4 million Jews spread across Egypt. As a new Pharaoh rose to power, a cultural storm was brewing. As always, when cultural storms brew for God’s people, theological storms are soon to follow.

In Exodus 1:8, we learn that this new Pharaoh did not have loyalty to Joseph or the Jewish people. The Bible does not name this Pharoah; however, we do know that this nameless Pharaoh was concerned about losing both military and political power (Exodus 1: 9-10). Thus Pharaoh, whose crown carried the snake image, devised a plan for the serpent is always devising a plan to crush the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). The plan was to enslave and afflict the Israelites with heavy burdens and excessive work (Exodus 1:11, 13-14). But, the more the Egyptians afflicted them, the more they multiplied (Exodus 1:12). Pharoah also ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill all Israelite sons who were being born. When the midwives refused to do so, Pharoah ordered the Egyptians to cast all newborn Hebrew sons into the Nile River; the intent was to drown them and for the gods to take care of their bodies (Exodus 1: 15-22). After generations of having peace and prosperity while living in Egypt, God’s people are now the scourge of society. The Hebrews are experiencing divine silence and darkness. Today’s message, titled The Egyptian Experience: Darkness and Silence, provides three applications for when God’s people experience silence and darkness.  The first is….

God’s plan for His people includes suffering

By looking at the following passages, we see that suffering is the temporary inheritance for all of God’s people: 

“As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions” (Genesis 15:12–14).

The Lord Jesus Christ himself states the following:

“and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. … “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household” (Matthew 10:22-25).

The apostle Peter states in this way: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).

Christian, as the above verses clearly state, God’s plan does include suffering. However, the good news is this: While God’s plan includes suffering, it does not have ultimate grip on God’s people, God does.  Listen to this word of the Lord:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus Our Lord (Romans 8:35–39).

Brothers and sisters, when you face fiery trials in this life, always cling to the promise that nothing separates us from God’s love!….

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