Técnica de Evaluación y Revisión de Programas PERT

We have traveled the highway that is central to the main purpose and goal of the history of the world for about 9,500 years. To review briefly, thus far, God has used single families as He focuses on the unfolding of His purpose for the existence of this world. He began with the family of Adam and Eve who are the ancestors of each and every individual who would ever live on planet Earth (Genesis Chapters 1-5; I Corinthians 15:22, 45-47). Then, about 6,000 years after Adam and Eve, God again put the spotlight on a family, that of Noah (Genesis Chapters 5-11).

Then, about 3,000 years after the time of Noah, God placed another family in the position of continuing God’s major plan and purpose for the entire world. That family consisted of a man named Abraham together with his wife Sarah and a nephew named Lot (Genesis Chapters 11-12). With this family as the centerpiece, God began the preparations to expand the focus of the earth’s timeline. His plan was to develop a land and a nation instead of working through a single family. The land was the land of Canaan; the nation, Israel (Genesis Chapters 11-35). The land of Canaan was established as an external representation of the kingdom of God even as the nation which was to come from the family of Abraham had become an external representation of the kingdom of God.

Then, remember we learned from the Bible that to facilitate this important change from a family to a nation, God caused Abraham’s grandson Jacob, and Jacob’s family, to leave the promised land of Canaan and take up residency in the land of Egypt. That was in the year 1877 B.C. (Genesis Chapters 37-47).

But now, 430 years have passed since the family of Jacob came into Egypt to escape the famine. Seventeen years after they had come into Egypt, father Jacob had died, in the year 1860 B.C. (Genesis 47:28). Fifty-four years later, in the year 1806 B.C., Joseph died at the age of 110 (Genesis 50:26).

One practical result of Jacob’s family coming to Egypt was the protection of the bloodline of Abraham. Sons were born to the descendants of Abraham, and they needed wives. Except for the family of Abraham, all of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan were heathen. How were his grandsons and great-grandsons to obtain wives who trusted the God of the Bible? Abraham, for example, worked very hard to obtain a godly wife for his son Isaac (Genesis Chapter 24). In the heathen world of that day, this was a difficult task. Through

the marriage of Isaac and Rebekah, God gave Isaac twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau married Canaanitish women (Genesis 26:34-35; 28:6, 8). On the other hand, Jacob traveled hundreds of miles to the land of Haran to find a godly wife. Fact is, he ended up being married to four wives through whom God gave him twelve sons and one daughter (Genesis Chapters 28-29; 30:1-24; 35:16-18, 22-26). These sons also began to marry Canaanitish women. The Bible records that one son of Jacob, named Simeon, married a Canaanite (Genesis 46:10), and Judah, another son of Jacob, also married a Canaanite (Genesis 38:2).

As God was planning the unfolding of His salvation program, it is clear that He planned to

transition from a family to a nation.

As God was planning the unfolding of His salvation program, it is clear that He planned to transition from a family to a nation. But how could this be done when the family is intermarrying with the heathen of the world? One thing was certain, and that is, down in the land of Egypt, this intermarrying would be very difficult. The family of Jacob was a shepherd family, and shepherds were an abomination to the Egyptians. We read in Genesis 46:34b:

. . . for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.

Thus, one principle reason God brought the family of Jacob to Egypt was so that the unfolding of God’s salvation program could transition from a family to a nation with little interference from other nations.

Year followed year. Finally, a Pharaoh began to reign who knew nothing about Joseph (Exodus 1:8). Meanwhile, the family of Jacob was multiplying so rapidly that the Egyptians began to fear that the Israelites might attempt an overthrow of Egypt. To prevent this possibility, the Israelites were made slaves. At one point in time, the year 1527 B.C., when Moses was born, the reigning Pharaoh even decreed that all the Israelites’ boy babies were to be killed. Indeed, the people who had been promised they would forever inherit the land of Canaan seemed inextricably trapped as slaves in Egypt. At the same time, the land of Canaan, which God had given to Abraham and his seed, was securely in the hands of wicked nations who had no knowledge of the God of the Bible.

But God had not abandoned this nation of Israel. In His divine mercy, He provided an individual named Moses to bring them out of Egypt (Exodus 3:6-10; Hebrews 11:24-28). By the year 1447 B.C., Israel had grown in size so that it numbered perhaps as many as two million people. We do know from the Biblical

record that Israel had over 600,000 men who were twenty years old and older. Adding all the women and children could bring the total population to possibly two million (Numbers 1:45-46). And now, the unfolding of the timeline of history would no longer be focused on a family. It would be focused on a nation. For the next 1,480 years, the nation of Israel was to be prominent in the unfolding of God’s salvation plan.

God Sets the Stage for Israel’s Departure From Egypt

Never before or since had a nation been presented to the world as a special people in such

a spectacular way!

How is a slave nation consisting of perhaps two million people to be delivered from a nation that had total control over them? Israel’s enslavement set the stage for God’s great announcement to the world that Israel was to become known as God’s special people on earth. In the process of freeing them from their terrible enslavement, God would show His tremendous power and authority. God would send ten severe plagues upon Egypt, the impact of which would ultimately leave Pharaoh with no choice but to expel the people of Israel out of his country (Exodus 3:19-20; 11:1;12:39). Never before or since had a nation been presented to the world as a special people in such a spectacular way! The drama that was to unfold as God prepared to free them from bondage to Egypt has never in the entire history of the world been equaled.

To prepare for His announcement, God first of all raised up perhaps the greatest Pharaoh of all of Egypt’s history. Because of the exquisite accuracy of the Biblical Calendar, together with the available secular historical records, we can be certain that this Pharaoh was Tuthmosis III. The secular record shows that he was such a mighty military king that the archaeologists speak of him as the Napoleon of Egypt. The secular record disclosed that in his lifetime as Pharaoh, he carried out seventeen successful military campaigns. The Bible describes him as a Pharaoh who had “six hundred chosen chariots, and all

the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them” (Exodus 14:7).

The Bible says in Exodus 9:16:

And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

Thus, the stage is set for the great announcement of the power of God. On the one hand, there was this nation of slaves with no weapons of any kind. On the other hand, there was this despotic king of great military strength.

To further enhance the announcement, God gave this mighty Pharaoh an enormous determination to keep the nation of Israel in bondage. Even though again and again God commanded Pharaoh, “Let my people go,” the Bible repeatedly declares that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus Chapters 7-14). Thus, even though the land of Egypt was suffering increasing destruction by plague after plague falling upon Egypt, Pharaoh refused to let the nation of Israel leave.

We must understand that the Bible teaches that the heart of man is desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Mankind by nature is in complete rebellion against God and His commandments. The only reason unsaved mankind lives with any sense of decency and morality is because God to some degree restrains sin in the lives of individuals (Psalm 76:10). Otherwise, mankind would quickly destroy themselves. Thus, when God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, we must understand that this means that God took away all restraint on sin in Pharaoh’s life. Thus, in response to God’s command to let Israel go free, Pharaoh absolutely refused to allow Israel to go.

The more sinful he becomes, the deeper he will go into sin.

It might be noted that this is the essential nature of every human being. The more sinful he becomes, the deeper he will go into sin (II Timothy 3:13). This is so even though he is destroying himself and others. This is true of the alcoholic, the sex pervert, the thief, and the murderer. The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is similar to the language of Romans Chapter 1. In that citation, God speaks of giving people up (verses 24 and 26) or giving people over (verse 28) to a reprobate mind. Romans Chapter 1 then names more than twenty gross sins which become abundantly evident in their lives. This is why mankind so desperately needs salvation. Only through the saving work of Jesus Christ can the power and enslavement to sin be broken (Romans 6:6-23; I John 3:8).

Only through the saving work of Jesus Christ can the power and enslavement to sin be broken.

The Ten Plagues

Returning to the Pharaoh who refused to release Israel, this nation of slaves that God called “my people,” the Bible tells us that God brought a series of ten great plagues upon Egypt (Exodus Chapters 7-12). Each was preceded by a demand by God through Moses, God’s prophet, to let God’s people go free from Egypt. In each case, Moses warned Pharaoh that the plague was coming. In each case, except immediately after the tenth plague, Pharaoh refused to free this nation of slaves.

God describes the purpose of this whole scenario of the ten plagues as being twofold. The first purpose was to teach succeeding generations the greatness of the God of the Bible. We read in Exodus 10:1-2:

And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him: and that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son’s son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the LORD.

The second purpose was to declare to the world the mighty power of God. We read in Exodus 9:13-16:

And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth. For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.

The plagues were incredibly awesome. Each one demonstrated in an astounding way that God is the Creator and that God can and will accomplish whatsoever He threatens to perform. They also give abundant evidence that God is the Judge of all the earth and that His perfect justice will prevail (Genesis 18:25). For example, as God brought the first plague upon Egypt, He declared to Pharaoh in Exodus 7:17-21:

Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water of the river. And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

For seven days (Exodus 7:25), the great Nile River was turned into a river of blood. How dreadful! God had created water to give life to plants, animals, and mankind. But blood signified death and destruction. To change water into blood is an act of creation. Thus, in this first plague, God is demonstrating that He is both the Creator as well as the Judge of all the earth.

The second plague consisted of enormous quantities of frogs coming out of the river (Exodus 8:1-15). God is showing that, from a river devoid of life, He creates life.

The third plague was that enormous quantities of lice were in all the land. The Bible reports in Exodus 8:17:

And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

Thus, God demonstrated His enormous creative power over the insect world.

The fourth plague consisted of great swarms of flying insects that came

“into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm” (Exodus

God added a further aspect of His power as He declared in Exodus 8:22- 23:

And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people