Exodus Series

March 13, 2021

My favorite thing about Exodus is a theme = “I AM who I AM”. The entire book is about what God does on behalf of His people. Even though the people, both Egyptians and Israelites, were proud, pig-headed, fickle and faint hearted, He was not constrained by their expectations or skepticism. He rescued and sustained His people and He did it in a way only HE CAN.

The children of Jacob were enslaved in Egypt and they must have wondered if God had completely forgotten about them. Moses had been a good option --- 40 years ago, but he had committed murder and was hiding in the desert of Midian herding sheep …. A long way from the Nile.

The time had come and God showed up and He did so in a way that only He could – in a bush that was on fire but that did not burn. Not only that, He called a man that everyone had written off – the very old (80) former prince and murdering fugitive, Moses.

After much resistance, Moses agreed to go back to Egypt and be the conduit through which God would work. But from the very beginning things did not go well. Pharaoh denied Moses’ request and he was the laughing stock of both Egyptian and Israelite.

Moses wanted instant success. He assumed that because God had commissioned him, he could walk into the throne room and Pharaoh would immediately submit, but that’s not what happened, so Moses went to God, “Why did You send me here? I have gone before Pharaoh in Your name, but he just laughed at me and placed a heavier burden on the people AND YOU HAVEN’T DELIVERED THE PEOPLE”

Not put off by Moses’ frustration and accusation, God responded, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he shall let them go, and under compulsion he shall drive them out of his land. I am the LORD…. I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage; and I have remembered My covenant. 6 "Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 'Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 'And I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the LORD.'" {Exodus 6:1-8} And that is exactly what Yahweh – the “I AM” did.

10 plagues – Pharaoh put up a fierce fight and refused to back down – a finite man went to war against infinite God. He believed the gods of Egypt could stand up to anything the “insignificant” God of an enslaved people could throw at him.

He was wrong. At any point Pharaoh could have chosen humility and released Israel. Several times he came close, but his pride and arrogance and stubbornness would not allow it and it wasn’t until his country was destroyed and his first born was dead that he relented…. But only for a moment.

Crossing the Red Sea – Hemmed in by mountains and sea and angry Egyptians, Israel was in trouble:

• Exodus 14:10-12 - … they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11 Then they said to Moses, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 "Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."

“Why”, you might ask, “would God lead Israel to a place from which they could not escape?” Because it was not about what the people could do or what Moses could do – it’s about what GOD WOULD DO and He was leading them through the educational process of learning to trust and depend on HIM – Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent." {Exodus 14:13-30}: