How Much Can You Endure?

What this episode covers

Exodus 5:15-23 STUDY QUESTIONS The burdens of life come from different sources and take different shapes and forms. Do you feel sometimes like you are going to break down under the weight of your burdens? Have you just about exhausted your strength to endure? The title of this message is a question, HOW MUCH CAN YOU ENDURE? I believe the cruelty some men practice must come straight from the pit of Hell, straight from the devil. We read about some of them in other times, like ancient Sodom and Gomorrah. In more modern times, we have the horrors of Stalinist Russia in the 1930’s led to nearly 4 million deaths. And not long after that, Nazi Germany, and the Holocaust. Some powerful leaders seem to be motivated by a demonic spirit. The Scripture for this meditation is Exodus 5:15-23. It is an experience of great suffering that the people of Israel endured many years ago when they were slaves in the land of Egypt. We will find some deep lessons for us. 15. Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? 16. There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people. 17. But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD. 18. Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks. 19. And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task. 20. And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh: 21. And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savor to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. 22. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, LORD, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me? 23. For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all. In this text, you can see the RESULTS when people are called to go through great trials. It will help you find answers to my question; how much can you endure? The experiences of the Bible characters are like ours, and we can take courage and gather hope from these results. The first result was I. The Impossible Demand I observed something interesting about this experience. The officers of the children of Israel had access to the king’s court. They went to make their appeal before the highest person in the land. That is commendable. The people of the land had access to the ruler of the country, and these officers went to him to make their appeal. First, they raised the question, “Why do you deal so with your servants?” In other words, “why do you treat us this way?” They tried to impress upon Pharaoh that they were faithful servants. They were not taking advantage of the king, they were not trying to get out of their work. They were trying to fulfill his demands, but he was making it impossible for them to do. They continued,...

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