Introduction

Greetings everyone, let us continue our study of the Book of Exodus. Exodus is a very captivating book in the Bible, yet few are truly able to study it well. Over the years, we have studied Genesis many times, so why are we only beginning to study Exodus now? Because it is not easy to study! But now we have grasped the theme of this book: The army of Jehovah God came out of Egypt.

Let us consider, what would be a more fitting theme for the fifth chapter? If you were in America right now, and you gathered a group of people to form an army, it wouldn't be long before the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) would know what you were up to, and they could wipe you out in an instant. No matter which country you are in, if you privately establish an army with the aim of overthrowing the local government, or to secede from the government's jurisdiction to establish your own independent entity, the probability of being annihilated is very high.

For the Israelites to come out of Egypt, traveling a three-day journey to worship Jehovah God in the wilderness, anyone would find this impossible. What would happen when Jehovah's army came out of Egypt? It would be the beginning of a battle! God's salvation would also begin! No one likes to fight wars; peaceful days are certainly more comfortable than days of war.

To establish the army of Jehovah God, one must engage in battle. Jehovah God wants to save us from Egypt, and we cannot be delivered without a fight. Know that the beginning of salvation is the beginning of warfare. But at the start of the battle, would Pharaoh easily give in? No, he would not. So the theme of this chapter is the beginning of warfare is the beginning of salvation.

You are a slave in Egypt, so what virtue or ability do you have to stand before Pharaoh and speak? In Moses' time, Egypt was the world's leading power, and the Egyptian army was as strong as the American army is today. If the Israelites wanted to come out of Egypt, they had to defeat Pharaoh and eliminate his army. In human eyes, this was absolutely impossible, certainly a one-sided defeat.

The beginning of warfare is the beginning of salvation! I think this title is very fitting. The battle has just begun, and victory has not yet been determined, but God has already told us the news of victory. In the fourth chapter, God had already told Moses the outcome, but when people have not yet seen the end, they tend to retreat at the start of the battle. So at the end of the fifth chapter, Moses returned to Jehovah God and said these words to God:

Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” (Exodus 5:22-23)

God neither blamed Moses nor criticized him for his lack of faith.

I tell you all, you must study history well. History records the rise and fall of each country, the change of dynasties. Many times, the weak overcome the strong, and the small overcome the large. When we read Chinese history, we learn that the Shang king was originally a subject under the Xia dynasty, but later the Shang dynasty replaced the Xia dynasty; the Zhou king was originally a subject under the Shang dynasty, but in the end, the Zhou dynasty replaced the Shang dynasty. At the beginning, the Zhou king's strength in politics, economy, and military affairs was no match for the Shang dynasty; they were completely incomparable. However, because the Zhou king continuously grew stronger, he eventually destroyed the Shang dynasty. This is the change of dynasties.

Especially in our generation, you will find that history is vividly unfolding before our eyes. Every small company that later develops into a large company has gone through tough times. For example, Huawei, Alibaba, and Tencent all started small. During the development of these companies, there were countless times when it seemed they were about to fail, but in the end, they persevered. Do not assume that anything is born big. If you are born with a silver spoon in your mouth, you will only decline in the future because you have already reached your peak at the beginning.

When reading history, when one dynasty replaces another, the first thing they face is warfare. The Japanese devils established the puppet state of Manchukuo in Northeast China, and then continuously advanced, expanding their territory and occupying Chinese land. The Chinese army could not resist the Japanese army at all; they were defeated in a one-sided manner. Hitler of Germany continuously advanced towards the Soviet Union, reaching Moscow. All battles are very tragic, a contest of strength, with one side diminishing and the other growing.

Exodus tells the story of a contest between the people of God's kingdom, the army of Jehovah God, and the army of the Egyptian Pharaoh. This contest will certainly not be comfortable; to be comfortable, one can only obediently continue to be a slave. Chinese Mingding Destiny speaks of fighting to win and obtain the promised land. From Genesis to Deuteronomy, and all the way to Revelation, it all speaks of warfare. Only by winning the battle can one obtain the promised land.

You have been following me in our church, believing in the Lord until today, so you must be very clear about how many churches outside are engaged in battle? There are too many churches that do not want to fight or do not fight! Without fighting, one can only be a slave; as a slave, one can only barely survive, and it is difficult to live well. To transform from a slave into a free person, one needs to fight.

Have you all read Spartacus? Spartacus was a slave who rebelled and fought because being a slave was too hard. The process of fighting from being a slave to becoming a free person is even harder. If you are willing to be a slave for life, to be manipulated and humiliated, and to do whatever the master says, then live that way. If we choose not to be slaves, we must rise up and fight. The army of Jehovah God makes us free; there is no such thing as a free lunch. If everyone had just laid down and accepted defeat when Japan occupied China, they might as well have laid down directly into their coffins.

As for me, as long as I am alive, I will certainly rise up and fight. I came into this world to serve my God, to be free in God. I want to live a prosperous life; I am not willing to be a slave. All who are unwilling to be slaves must rise up and fight! The Israelites could not compete with Pharaoh because they were incomparable in terms of army strength, weapons, ammunition, and equipment. It was like heaven and earth. But I tell you, we are God's army, fighting a spiritual battle. The target of our battle is the devil who controls this dark world, and the devil is the root of all the problems in our lives.

Whether you like it or not, that is the way it is. Once you choose to fight, what will happen? The devil will come up and drain you of all energy. These days are actually not easy to live. Some of our brothers and sisters are now in a situation where they are unsure whether to leave Egypt, in a dilemma. This is facing the beginning of warfare, the beginning of salvation. The most difficult time is at the start of the battle, before victory has been determined. Once you win, you no longer need to fight. I give you all encouragement: Whenever you are about to be released and become free, things will actually get worse.

At the beginning of the battle, you are always knocked down by the devil first. If you can persevere until victory, you will certainly obtain the promised land. The problem now is that there are too few people who can persevere until they obtain the promised land, almost none. Among the people in Exodus, only Joshua and Caleb were able to persevere and enter the promised land. When you see a worse situation appear, what is your reaction? Do you know that this is the beginning of warfare, the beginning of salvation? You must believe that no matter what, I will prevail through God!

If you are well-versed in history, you will grasp a basic law. When Shang Yang arrived in the Qin state to help with reforms, the situation was not good at the beginning; he encountered many obstacles, and it was not easy later on either. When Mr. Deng Xiaoping launched reform and opening up, there was also great resistance. Anyone who initiates change in history will face traditional and powerful resistance. We are the same; this is how history is written!

Throughout history, both ancient and modern, in China and abroad, warfare has almost permeated the entire history of mankind. Few people record who cooked a bowl of soup at home today, cooked another bowl of soup tomorrow, and yet another bowl of soup the day after, and the two brothers chatting idly, etc. If they were to chat, it would be about “If we become rich, let us not forget each other.” This means that the two of us are farming together here, and if one of us becomes rich in the future, do not forget the other. These were the words of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. Then someone would say, “Stop dreaming of becoming rich; you are just a poor ghost, and this is how you will be for the rest of your life.”

There is also a famous saying in history: “How can a sparrow know the ambition of a swan?” This means how can a sparrow know the ambition of an eagle? Although I am now a tiger fallen in the plains being bullied by dogs, what does it matter? In the future, I will certainly be a tiger, the king of the mountains. Never mind the sparrows chirping non-stop; although I am now a fledgling eagle that cannot defeat sparrows, when I grow up, I will certainly be an eagle. The ambition of a swan is to spread its wings and fly ninety thousand miles. Do brothers and sisters have the ambition of a swan? Even if we suffer a little loss or endure a little hardship, it does not matter. Believe that God will certainly make us victorious in the future! God's good will for me is to make me an eagle, not a sparrow, let alone an insect.

Everyone must know that no matter what you do, it is very difficult at the beginning. Today's China has such development and changes after how many years of韬光养晦(Tāoguāngyǎnghuì, literally "hiding brightness, fostering obscurity", meaning concealing one's strengths and biding one's time)! Would other powerful countries allow you to emerge? For a weak person to achieve great things and stand out in the future requires wisdom and ability; it is not an easy thing. Some of our brothers and sisters have illnesses. It is okay if they do not pray, but as soon as they pray, the illness becomes more serious. Then they say that God has never healed or saved us. You must know that once the situation changes, it means that prayer has begun to be effective, and you must continue to fight. Jehovah our God has long predestined us to victory! Whether the situation gets better or worse, believe that our God will certainly make us victorious.

What we fear most in battle is tickling the devil, as there will be no change. Some Israelites were selected by the Egyptians to be foremen. They were traitors and collaborators, only speaking to the Egyptian Pharaoh and his taskmasters: “I will work hard, and there are no problems.” They were beaten when they should be beaten, and they did what they should do, living a normal life. Do not expect things not to change; we are fighting against the devil who controls this dark world, not joking. Do not tickle the devil; when you cannot defeat the devil, it will always torment you.

I have a calculation in my heart. The devil cannot torment me because I am not afraid of anything; I only love to risk my life, trusting in my God. The devil should not disturb me because I have the mark of Jesus Christ on me. Even if I am nailed to the cross, I am willing. Now let us carefully look at the state of many churches and the state of the gospel. How much are God's people being trampled under the iron hooves of the devil? But we are a victorious army.

I have a good friend who is a very devout Christian. I have shared the concept of Chinese Mingding Destiny with him many times. But unfortunately, he recently told me that he has cancer. Why would he get cancer? We are all very confused. I tell you, if a Christian does not prevail, the problems are very serious, and they can only be trampled by the devil. Can everyone understand?

Only those who prevail can enter the promised land! What about those who do not prevail? If he wants to stay in his own church, then let him stay there! We do not lack people here; we do not need to pull people over. But because he is my good friend, I often talk to him about the issue of prevailing and not prevailing; there is a world of difference between building a victorious church and building a non-victorious church; the difference between preaching a victorious gospel and preaching a non-victorious gospel is also huge.

Do you think that if you do not provoke the devil, the devil will let you go? I tell you, the devil will not let you go! I ask you, if the Chinese people had not risen up to drive out the Japanese devils back then, the great rivers and mountains of China would now be under the rule and control of the Japanese devils, and China would have become a colony, and you would be a second-class citizen. So as Christians, we only have one choice: to prevail! Either be a slave under the devil's hand, or trample the devil under your feet and be a victorious person. Building the army of Jehovah God is a key concept of our Chinese Mingding Destiny.

Fighting, overcoming the devilish enemy, and building a victorious church, the initial situation is very painful. We crawled through those days of not prevailing. Have you all heard of “Han Xin enduring humiliation under the crotch”? We crawled under people's crotches. Even so, we must prevail. Although we have endured many humiliations, we do not think much of ourselves, and others do not think much of us, but we must still prevail.

Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’” Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:1-2)

The Israelites said that we want to worship God, and what was the Egyptian Pharaoh's reaction? Who is Jehovah God? I do not know him! Look at this reaction! Among us, there is a sister whose husband never opposed her believing in the Lord before, and even supported her, but when she came among us, he began to oppose her. Do you not find it strange? It is indeed very strange. Why would he oppose? The reason is simple: because there are dark forces behind it! You will certainly be persecuted and hindered, and you must go through a battle. The question is whether you will compromise? If you compromise as soon as the situation is not good, I ask you, how long can you compromise?

I tell you, once salvation begins, the situation will certainly get worse because the beginning of salvation is the beginning of warfare. When the army of Jehovah God is about to come out of Egypt, you need to be prepared. Will you be a mighty warrior in the army of Jehovah God? Or just an ordinary person? If you say you only want to be a sweeper, then you must know that even the fire-starting maid in the Yang family army is highly skilled in martial arts, and can fight with a fire poker, not joking. No matter who it is, even the Egyptian Pharaoh or anyone under Pharaoh, anyone who hinders God's army from coming out of Egypt will pay a heavy price! It is just that God allows them to be stubborn, so that He has the opportunity to deal with them.

No matter how much power or wealth you have on earth, how can a person compare with God? So brothers and sisters, when you encounter someone saying, “Who is Jehovah God?” do not follow them and say that. Try it if you do not believe. In the previous chapter, God said that He would kill all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. Who are you? How dare you oppose God! Whether it is the Babylonian Empire, the Persian Empire, or any empire, can they oppose God? No, you are just a small fry! So brothers and sisters, have faith, and do not be afraid even if the situation gets worse.

What happened later? The Egyptian king made the Israelites make the same bricks, but did not give them straw, so the Israelite officials were beaten. Because they could not deliver the required amount, they were beaten on any day they could not deliver. I ask you, how many buttocks do you have to be beaten? Unless you have seven, lining up from Monday to Sunday to be beaten one each day. But by the second week, the buttock that was beaten last week has not yet healed. All seven buttocks are like this, let alone if you only have one buttock.

The Israelite officials are a group of traitors. Can the lives of traitors be good?

Then the Israelite officials went and appealed to Pharaoh: “Why do you treat your servants this way? Your servants are given no straw, yet we are told, ‘Make bricks!’ Our supervisors beat us, but it is your people’s fault.” He replied, “You are lazy, lazy! That is why you keep saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’ Now get to work. You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks.” The Israelite officials realized they were in trouble when they were told, “You are not to reduce the number of bricks required of you for each day.” (Exodus 5:15-19)

What Pharaoh said was even harsher than what the Egyptians said. The Israelite officials knew that they were in trouble. They had no concept of freedom in their hearts, no concept of God, and only knew that they were finished, that they were in trouble this time! Is Pharaoh not using a borrowed knife to kill people? If they cannot deliver the work day by day, they may be beaten to death one day! Who told you to be the officer of the puppet army? Not only can you not get over your conscience, but you also have to manage the Israelite people on one hand and report to the Egyptians on the other. How can you live that life? You cannot live it! I tell you, do not do this kind of thing!

When they left Pharaoh, they found Moses and Aaron waiting to meet them, and they said, “May the Lord look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious in Pharaoh’s eyes and in the eyes of his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” (Exodus 5:20-21)

What kind of people would be officials in the puppet army, traitors? They are all people who want to live a good life and are afraid of death. They are best at bullying the Israelite people, but they can only be beaten in front of the Egyptians. In anti-Japanese dramas, those officers of the puppet army are very conflicted. They are bullied by the Japanese, and they cannot express their suffering. Later, when the Japanese devils were driven away, the lives of those traitors became even worse. So we must know that people who are greedy for life and afraid of death are prone to becoming traitors, but the more they are greedy for life and afraid of death, the more they will die.

Seeing the Laws of Spiritual Warfare

What should we do if we see the situation getting worse? We must learn a basic principle, a law of historical development. Once we see the situation getting worse, we know that we have hit the other party's sore spot. Once we hit the devil's sore spot, the devil will certainly fight back, and we know it is effective, and the battle has begun! Once the battle begins, either give up and honestly be a slave, or fight to the end and persevere until victory! Because God has long predestined us to victory! So brothers and sisters, if we lack this kind of vision and do not know that we are doing something very effective, then we are in trouble.

Once, a sister needed me to minister to her because of pain. After I prayed, she felt even more pain, and her whole condition became very bad. When I saw this, I immediately released faith to her. I told her: “Sister, now is the time when it is effective; the devil is manifesting!” Does everyone have this feeling? When the devil manifests, it is not far from being defeated, and victory is coming soon. Everyone has experienced this. When I imparted faith to her, I continued to pray for her. Even if the situation got worse, I did not care. I continued to pray and release faith. Eventually, the situation began to turn around, and the devil was defeated and collapsed. How good is the feeling of victory!

Can we look at problems with a developmental perspective, come out of a one-sided, isolated, and static perspective, and begin to use a developmental perspective, perceive the future outcome, and see the connection between things? When the devil manifests, it will release many lies. Many people I have ministered to immediately retreat when they encounter such a situation. I want to give everyone a suggestion: know that our God wants to bring His army out of Egypt, and that is one battle after another. Jehovah God will fight for us, and even if the situation gets worse and worse, we do not care.

We must use a changing and developing perspective, not a one-sided, isolated, and static perspective to look at problems. How good it is to have this kind of vision! What is victory? Victory must begin with both sides fighting and wrestling with each other. Have you ever watched a boxing match? Even the boxing champion has been beaten a lot on the ring, and sometimes he has been beaten quite badly. Have you all seen Bruce Lee's movies? The plots are all evenly matched. They do not easily knock down their opponents as soon as they come up. They are constantly fighting. The protagonist is beaten black and blue, almost failing, and then becomes powerful in the end. Otherwise, the movie would not be good.

Almost all battles are in an evenly matched, seemingly difficult situation, where one side prevails and the other is defeated. It is like playing Go. If you are not on the same level at all, people do not like to play with you. You must be evenly matched, entangled fiercely, you eat me, I eat you, and the victory or defeat depends on one breath in the end. Today, when we fight with the devil, do not look at whether the situation gets better or worse; that is not important! The important thing is to persevere until victory! Chinese Mingding Destiny has a slogan: Persevere one minute longer than the devil! When it retreats, I am still standing there!

Victory is God's Promise to Us

Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued them at all.” (Exodus 5:22-23)

When Moses said this, would you consider it a complaint? God did not! Because Moses had not yet seen God's salvation, and the situation had indeed worsened. At this point, Moses had not yet learned his lesson, and there was still some resentment within him. He killed the Egyptian, but God did not help him, and he felt as if God was there and yet not there. For Moses, his experience of miracles was very limited at that time, and he felt very insecure. His faith was only like a mustard seed, and all he could say was, "God, you have not rescued us at all."

Moses was just starting out, and this was his level, so God did not blame him. Then God told Moses what would happen next. When Moses went to see Pharaoh again, he learned his lesson. He understood that God was not unwilling to save, but that God wanted to train His army to come out of Egypt. It had to be done this way! It was necessary to fight and win on the line of life and death.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, you must know that God wants to bring us out of Egypt. To be released from this world, is it to travel, to eat and drink, to play mahjong, to play chess, to play all day long, to be happy, to sing karaoke? No! God wants to bring us out to become an army of the Lord God! This is not a game, it is real swords and real guns, a real deal.

God puts everyone's faith, whether Moses, Aaron, or the Israelites, on the same starting line, and it depends on who's faith grows the fastest. Moses and the other Israelites had a similar starting point of faith, perhaps a little better than those Israelite officials. In fact, faith grows from a mustard seed. Later on, Moses hardly said such things anymore.

So we must learn a spiritual lesson, that is, we often feel why God does this? How great is God's power, wouldn't a gust of wind be able to bring the Israelites to the wilderness? In "Journey to the West," Tang Sanzang needed Sun Wukong to lead the horse and carry the burden, and he had to go through eighty-one tribulations. Why not have Sun Wukong carry his master on his back and fly there? How great would that be! But "Journey to the West" is not written like this. If it were written like this, it would be over after the first page, it would not be fun, it would not be good to read, and the book would not be passed down to this day.

Many of us do not understand why God did not use a great wind to blow the Israelites to the Promised Land? Because that would lose the meaning of training God's army! That is not God's plan, and it does not edify or benefit people in any way. It is in the process of warfare that it is revealed who can persevere to victory, who has faith, and who is to be destroyed. Therefore, many who should be destroyed, who are displeasing to God, and who do not have the faith to persevere, are sifted out and die in the wilderness.

The question then arises, we know that God does this to sift out the treasures, so are we to choose to be treasures or garbage? To become a swan or a sparrow? To be an eagle or an insect? The elimination rate is very high. You can take a closer look at how many churches there are that win in warfare! Some people say: Are you the only one who can do it? I really have nothing to say in response, because he is absolutely right! Whether I can do it or not is not important, what is important is how many churches today can cast out demons?

In a typical church, if a brother or sister gets cancer, then they can only do chemotherapy and radiation therapy, and they can be treated however they want, and it doesn't matter to us if they die in the hands of the doctor. Would you be willing to go to such a church? We want to build a church that wins in warfare! Seeing brothers and sisters oppressed by demons, we must, by faith, knock the demons down and bring God's people out of Egypt to build the army of the Lord God. To become a victorious army, to become a victorious people, to be the elite soldiers of the Lord God, and never give up until we obtain the Promised Land!

Did everyone grasp the theme of this chapter? The beginning of warfare is the beginning of salvation!

May God bless everyone!