TD Jakes - No Other Gods
Now the text takes us to a place where there is a battle between gods. Can I go deeper? There’s a battle between various Elohim, the God of the universe, and there is Pharaoh, who sees himself as God. Pharaoh thought he was a god, but God will remove anything and anyone who stands in between us being reconciled to Him. The most dangerous thing you can do is get in between me and God. If I stand up for Him and Pastor Sarah, if Sarah and I get mad at each other, it would be smart not to get involved, because whatever we’re arguing about isn’t going to last long.
After a while, we’re going to come back together, and both of us are going to jump on you. So yes, I’m telling you right now what’s going to happen. It would be foolish for you to get in between us because the time that binds us is bigger than the argument that divides us. It’s a temporary argument, and it’s not going to last, because love will win the fight. It would be foolish to get in between me and my wife, so don’t come in the house trying to broker any division between us. We might be mad at each other when you come in, but before the week is over, you’ll understand.
Now, if you think that’s bad, getting in between me and my core, how are you going to get in between me and God? Understand that this is a metaphor for getting in between me and God, when I was created in His likeness and image. If you try to get in between me and God, Pharaoh, you’re going down, bro. You’re going down, dude. You’re going down. You’re going down, and you’re going down because you got in the way of me and God. Lastly, Paul and Silas were praying in the jailhouse at midnight. The jail was trying to stand in between Paul and Silas and God. God sent an earthquake that tore down the whole jail. Start crying out to God! I don’t care who your oppressor is; God will defeat your oppressor when you want to be connected with Him.
Do you hear the words that are coming out of my mouth? Woe to the man who tries to stop a woman from going to church! You must want to die, because if you get in between that woman and her God, I don’t care how big you are or if you work out in the gym eight days a week; God will bring you down. You’re a Pharaoh! Somebody give Him 30 seconds of Crazy Praise! Crazy Praise! I said Crazy Praise! I can’t explain it, but He loves me. I can’t explain it, but He’s for me. I can’t explain it, but He wants me. He literally moved Heaven and Earth to be with me! He came down through 42 generations to be with me. He wrapped Himself in human flesh to be with me and called Himself Emmanuel, to tabernacle with us just so He could be with me.
Even though you think I’m a funny-looking, out-of-shape, no-good man, He thinks I’m the apple of His eye, altogether lovely, full of truth and glory, the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. If you get in between me and Him, He will move you out! I’m about to get fired up, and I’m not supposed to be fired up because I’m still in Oakland. I know I’m not going to finish, but I hope to get a little bit further than this. I started on this hunt to figure out which Pharaoh was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Some people said it was Ramesses the Second, but other theologians disagree.
Ramesses the Second lived from about 1300 BC to about 1213 BC. He’s commonly called Ramesses the Great. He was an Egyptian Pharaoh who stood above all other Egyptian Pharaohs; he was in a class all by himself. He was the third ruler of the 19th Dynasty, along with Thutmose III of the 18th Dynasty. He is often regarded as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful Pharaoh of the New Kingdom, which itself was the most powerful period of ancient Egypt. Egypt was not just a country like it is now; it was the superpower of its era. I want that to sink in—it was the superpower! This is not just a bunch of men wearing funny hats; this was the superpower of its time. There was no Supreme Court, no jurisdiction of court, no lawyers, no attorneys; there was no one to plead your case.
Whatever Pharaoh said, that’s what it was. If he said, «Cut her head off,» it was off. If he said, «War him in all,» he was fried. Pharaoh was the boss; that’s why he thought himself to be God. There was no system in place of checks and balances that diminishes power, and power corrupts, and total power corrupts totally, and he was in total power. I was in a country I want to name, but it has a king—not a democracy, not a government, just a king. The king was nice to me; we had a great time. But I was sitting on the plane thinking to myself, if he says I can’t fly out, I can’t get out of here. He doesn’t need a rule; he doesn’t need a reason. He’s a king. Real power.
Real power never has to explain itself; real power just is. That’s why your mama said, «Because I said so!» Now you want to have a debate and a council meeting in a boardroom? When we grew up, it was «because I said so.» If you’re staying here, it starts with that. If you don’t want to sleep out on the snowy back porch, you better find yourself a place to stay. I’m not advocating for it; I’m just explaining it. Ramesses is often considered a possible Pharaoh during this period, in part due to the references in the Bible about him and the development of cities assigned to the growth of Egypt, of which the Hebrews were building. He built more; he did more; he had in place economic systems that thrived. He had an army to be revered.
All of these are signs of a superpower: economic wealth and military power, and he had both simultaneously. He had 600 chosen chariots. That wasn’t the entire fleet; those were just the chosen chariots out of the mass of fleets. So he released the 600 chariots after a bunch of farmers. It’s like dropping a nuclear bomb in the hood—the odds were totally stacked against him. When they heard the hoofprints coming after them, they were afraid. Are you hearing what I’m saying? Or it could have been Akhenaten; he was the 10th ruler of the 18th Dynasty. I don’t know; the theologians don’t know. I can’t figure it out; I’m not going to worry about it. What is important is that Moses asked for the liberation of the Semites or Israelites or Hebrews—however you want to phrase it; it all points to the same thing. Pharaoh’s response was increased affliction.
Can I go deeper? I want to go deeper! I’ve been getting ready for you. I’m locked, I’m in place, I’m on fire, I’m ready to go. I’ve got something to say. Now Pharaoh is chasing them, trying to get them back, but I wonder if he wasn’t trying to get the gross national product back. They had borrowed so much economic wealth that they survived 40 years in the desert and never went broke. They had enough wealth that Moses was raising an offering and had to say stop! I have never raised an offering. Moses said y’all are giving so much that they had so much wealth, left with the slaves when they were leaving Egypt that they had to put it on the backs of their children—generational wealth!
Little Johnny had a bag of gold, Mary Sue had a bag of gold, and my grandma had a bunch of bracelets and silver on her head. Everybody was dragging something out of Egypt. They didn’t steal it. The Bible says they borrowed it, but it was really due to them because after 400 years of not getting paid, this is what reparations look like in the book of Exodus. They were dragging the wealth of 400 years of back pay. I don’t know who this is for, but God’s about to give you back pay! He’s going to give you double for your trouble! He’s about to restore unto you the years that the cankerworm, the palmerworm, and the locusts ate up.
Who am I talking to in here? All that stuff you did for people and they never paid you back; every time you helped somebody and they forgot you; every time you delivered somebody, encouraged somebody, and they stabbed you in the back—every time they borrowed money and never paid it back. You may not get it back from them, but God will send it from somewhere! He’ll give you houses you didn’t build and vineyards you didn’t grow! God’s going to make sure you get it back because God is a just God! God is a just God!
God isn’t going to let me work that hard for you and not bless me somewhere! Y’all don’t hear me! God is going to bless me! He’s going to always bless me; He’s always blessed me. Not because I’m good, but because He’s good! Blessed people, holler at your boy! My God! I feel like something’s about to happen in this place! Something’s about to happen in this place! You might want to stay in Egypt, but I don’t. You might want to be buried in Egypt, but I don’t. You might think your story is as a slave, but I don’t. You might think you were just created to serve somebody else, but I don’t. I believe I’m going to be the head and not the tail. I might start at the bottom, but I’m not going to stay at the bottom. Glory to God!
I’m going to be like the Beverly Hillbillies; I’m going to move on up! Come on, I’m coming up a little higher! I’m loading up my trunk—God’s got something else for me! God didn’t let me die in Egypt because He has prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies, and you’re going to watch me eat before it’s over! Sit back and watch me, watch me, watch me, watch me, watch me! I feel the Holy Ghost about to break loose in this place! I feel the anointing about to have a fit in this place! The glory of the Lord is about to break loose in this place! You’re coming into an eating season! You’ve been through a weeping season; you’ve been through a working season; you’ve been through a waiting season, but now you’re coming into an eating season! Somebody praise Him for what you’re about to receive!