No person goes through life without experiencing adversity. Most of us go through period(s) of good time(s) followed by period(s) of trying times or even tragedy. We go through these periods of prosperity and adversity; personally, nationally and globaly. As a nation we have gone through series of disasters of drought, fires and floods. And now we are part of World wide pandemic. Prior to this we were going through the period of prosperity (econimically and socially). Since World War II we have not experienced the global type of crisis like now during this Covid 19 pandemic. Now we are on the possible verge of economic collapse. The nation of Israel experienced something similar. They went through period of prosperity followed by long period of adversity and tragedy. Here are the subtitles for our topic today: Enjoy God Times Expect That Things Will Turn for Bad The Root of Bad Trust God Who is Working in the Background For Our Good. Here is the Bible text for today: Exodus 1:1-22 1 These are the names of the sons of Israela who went to Egypt with Jacob, each with his family: 2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah; 3 Issachar, Zebulun and Benjamin; 4 Dan and Naphtali; Gad and Asher.b 5 The descendants of Jacob numbered seventya in all;c Joseph was already in Egypt. 6 Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died,d 7 but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numberse and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. 8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.f 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerousg for us.h 10 Come, we must deal shrewdlyi with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”j 11 So they put slave mastersk over them to oppress them with forced labor,l and they built Pithom and Ramesesm as store citiesn for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly.o 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh laborp in brickq and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.r 15 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives,s whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.”t 17 The midwives, however, fearedu God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do;v they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?” 19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”w 20 So God was kind to the midwivesx and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives fearedy God, he gave them familiesz of their own. 22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile,a but let every girl live.” 1. Enjoy Good Times ”…The descendants of Jacob numbered seventy in all…; Biblically speaking, what does number seven or seventy symbolise? It symbolises; blessing, physical and spiritual rest. Hebrews enjoyed the time of prosperity during and some time after the death of Joseph. Bible says that they were ‘fruitful’, they 'multiplied' and ‘increased’ in numbers. The author is directly quoting the Bible text or God's direct speach to Adam and Ever in Paradise. So, once again everything speaks of prosperity and flourishing for Jews. Bible tells us that human prosperity is God's desire and intent for us: 3 John 1:2; Jeremiah 29:11; Phillipians 4:12 But knowing that Paradise was los we know that the time of prosperity will not last personally, nationally, globally. Why can't we live always in prosperity or in utopian world? 2. Expect That Things Will Turn For Bad “Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation:” “… if you eat of it (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) you will die…” (Gen. 1:17) Death of Joseph signifies that all is not well. Furthermore, there is ominous warning with the following statement in Exodus 1:8 8 And a new king rose over Egypt who did not know Joseph Once Adam and Eve turned their back to God in the Garden of Eden ‘a new king’ took charge of humanity. “I will put enmity between you and the women, between your offspring and hers…” What happened to Hebrews for 350 years of slavery powerfully portrays the state of humanity since the loss of the Object Lessons: 1. We Suffer Tragedy Because of Bad Choices We Make This was certainly true for Adam and Eve. This is also true for us 2. We Suffer Tragedy as Innocent Because of 'A New King" Job, Daniel, Jesus, you, me and many others may suffer tragedy and pain because of ‘A New King’ or devil in our midst. 3. The Root Of Evil “Look, the people (Israelites⌋ are greater and more numerous than us10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, lest they become many, and when war happens, they also will join our enemies and will fight against us and go up from the land.” (Ex.1:9) Pharoah, a new king, became mistrustful of Jews and jealous of their prosperity. This is nothing new. Pharaoh, imitated Lucifer who originally, in the headquarters of the universe, became mistrustful of God and jealous of His power. The root of all evil is that God has been mistrusted about His goodness and jealous for His power. This resulted in cosmos wide tragedy. Here are some important questions: 1. Have You Ever Been Mistrusted For Your Character and Jealous For Your Prosperity and Success? What typically happens is that tragedy follows. 2. What Do You do When Someone Mistrust You Or is Jealous of You? There is no easy answer to this. People typically; confront or try to appease the other person or simply ignore them. As Christians what should we do? We can be good example and we can talk and try to explain. This does not guarantee good outcome. 3. Have You Ever Mistrusted the Character of Someone Else or Have Been Jealous of Someone's Prosperity and Success? 4. What Do You Do When You Mistrust or Are Jealous of Someone? First, you may have a good reason for it What happens if you discover that you were wrong? You should apologise and repent! Often 'persecution may come our way because we are being perceived as a threat. Are we a threat to ‘a new king’ because the kingdom of God is prosperous in us? 3. Trust God Who is Working in the Background For Your Good God is only mentioned twice in chapter one (1:17.20). There is a sense of God's absence. This period covers 350 years. Yet God works in the background. 1. Pharoah Tries to Enslave People But This in Turn Give Jews a Sense of Nationhood. God is working in the bacground 2. Pharaoh Was On Killing Spree of All Male Infants But One Infant Becomes Hebrews' Deliverer. Once again God is working in the bacground 3. Stupidity of Moses On Display When He Killed the Egyptian But As a Result Moses Learnt to Submit to God and Become Amazing Leader Once again God is working in the bacground. We find that almost every bad thing turned out for good as we see God working in the bacground for good. Let us also observe that this is constantly happening through tragedy, pain and suffering of people. Ultimately we find that the biggest bad turned to greatest good when Jesus took upon Himself our sins and died for us. Let us remember that He also had to suffer the greatest pain and suffering to achieve the greatest good.