THE LORD IS OUR GREAT “I AM” (Outline)
August 7, 2022 – Pentecost 9 – EXODUS 3:7-14
INTRO: The LORD is serious about his name. The LORD wants his people, actually also all people, to respect his name. "I am the LORD; that is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to idols" (ISAIAH 42:8). The name of the LORD is not meant to be misused. All honor and glory belong to the LORD. The strength of his name is our comfort and joy. THE LORD IS OUR GREAT “I AM”.
I. The LORD sees our oppression, hears our cries. II. The LORD delivers the sinners, his children.
I. THE LORD SEES OUR OPPRESSION, HEARS OUR CRIES
A. Our verses today follow the account of Moses and the burning bush.
1. Moses was a shepherd in Midian. He sees a bush on fire but not being consumed.
2. Moses approaches. God tells him he is on holy ground. Remove your sandals.
B. Verse 7. God lets Moses know he is fully aware of the suffering of his people in Egypt.
1. Verse 9. The cries of the Israelites have reached God’s ears. God has seen their oppression.
2. God repeats what he said in verse 7. God is serious about seeing, hearing, and delivering.
C. Verse 10. God calls Moses, the shepherd to go and stand before Pharaoh. To deliver his people.
1. “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I…?’” Moses did not seek this call. The call came to him.
2. Moses feels unworthy. Humbled. “Who am I…?” (More on this later.)
D. In a world that does not seem to listen our Lord always listens. Our loving, heavenly Father is always waiting to hear the cries of his children. Our great comfort. Joy. Strength. The Lord God of Armies sees our oppression by an unbelieving world. Good is called evil. Evil is called good. Sweet is exchanged for bitter. Bitter for sweet. We cry out about these injustices in our daily lives. The Lord is not indifferent concerning the wickedness all around us. "In my distress I called to the LORD. To my God I cried out. He heard my voice from his temple. My cry for help reached his ears” (2 SAMUEL 22:7). God hears.
E. As God’s children we know that our perfect, loving heavenly Father invites us to come to him. Any time. All the time. Any place. In every place. The Lord encourages us to pray, pray, and pray some more. “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened for you” (MATTHEW 7:7). The verb tense in Greek is an imperative. This means the action of the verb is to continue. Keep on asking, seeking, and knocking. When visiting someone we will usually knock more than once before that person answers. Our heavenly Father invites his children to keep on coming to his throne of grace. God’s ears are open to hear. He sees our oppression.
F. Job faced great losses. Raiding parties stole his herds (cattle, donkeys) and flocks (sheep, goats). Personal property was lost. All his sons and daughters died in a storm. As did their spouses. But Job did not curse God. Job blessed the name of the Lord. He knew it was the Lord who gives. It was the Lord who takes away. "God delivers the afflicted by means of their affliction, and he gets their attention through their suffering" (JOB 36:15). Job’s afflictions focused his attention on the Lord. The Apostle Paul also knew that in his weakness he was strong in the Lord. It is exactly the same in our lives. We are weakened by sickness. Accidents. Our bodies endure physical hardships. It is during those weak times that we come to know better and place our complete trust in God. The Lord is always aware of all of our sufferings.
THE LORD IS OUR GREAT “I AM”. The LORD sees our oppression, hears our cries.
II. THE LORD DELIVERS THE SINNERS, HIS CHILDREN
A. God declared: “Yes, I am aware of their suffering.” God’s time had come to deliver his people.
1. Verse 8. God would deliver them into the Promised Land: “flowing with milk and honey…”
2. The list of people living there were enemies of God. Enemies of Israel. Challenging.
B. Verse 11. God called Moses to deliver his people. “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh…?”
1. Who really was Moses? First 40 years lived in Pharaoh’s palace. Adopted as grandson.
2. Visited fellow Israelites. Killed a slave driver. Fled Egypt as a murderer. Fugitive.
3. Now spending 40 years as a shepherd. “Who am I…?” Pharaoh would demand his life.
C. Verse 12. God: “I will certainly be with you.” Powerful reassurance. Moses will worship here again.
1. Verse 13. Moses asks to know the specific name of God to tell the Israelites God’s identity.
2. Verse 14. God replied: “I AM WHO I AM.” God is unlimited. No beginning or end. AM!
D. “I will certainly be with you” declares the LORD. What a blessed assurance the LORD speaks to us! We are not left alone to fend for ourselves. The LORD is with us today. Tomorrow. Forever. It is the LORD who delivers his children from eternal death. Grace. Forgiveness. "He rescued us from such a terrible death, and he will continue to rescue us. We have set our hope on him that he will also rescue us again…" (2 CORINTHIANS 1:10). Notice how the LORD has saved. Continues to save. Saves us in the end. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection is our guaranteed salvation from sin…Satan…death itself.
E. The LORD also cares about and for us in our daily lives. God does not abandon us to our own devices. Left on our own we would certainly fall. Fail. Perish. Like Job and the Apostle Paul, we seek the LORD in our weaknesses. "Return, my soul, to your rest, for the LORD has accomplished his purpose for you. Indeed, you have delivered my soul from death, my eye from weeping, my foot from stumbling, so that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living" (PSALM 116:7-9). The Lord does indeed have a purpose for us. Like Moses he has called each one of us to be his own. To be his children. The LORD delivers from eternal death to life. The LORD wipes aways our tears of grief. He guides our footsteps on the straight and narrow path of life. We walk with the LORD in the land of the living. Our nation is a nation “flowing with milk and honey”. We are blessed beyond all comparison. This is from the LORD
F. The great one and only I AM is our LORD. The LORD God of Armies. The LORD our heavenly Father. Unlike earthly fathers our heavenly Father loves us with a perfect love. What great love this is that the LORD would call us to be his children. Children of God dearly loved by the LORD. "But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (ROMANS 5:8). We are like children. Sometimes obedient. Sometimes not. Christ still died for us. We are delivered from death.
CONC.: There is no greater comfort…no greater joy than knowing that the LORD is our great I AM! In all of our afflictions the LORD sees. Knows. In all of our cries for mercy the LORD hears. Answers. In all of our sinfulness the LORD delivers. Forgiveness. I AM, the One without beginning or end is our LORD! "’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, the one who is, and who was, and who is coming, the Almighty” (REVELATION 1:8). The great I AM is aware of each of our lives. The LORD is well aware. He sees. Hears. Delivers. Freely. Fully. Rejoice every day and celebrate THE LORD IS OUR GREAT “I AM”! Seeing. Hearing. Delivering. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
PENTECOST 9 readings.: GENESIS 18:1-14; COLOSSIANS 1:21-29; LUKE 10:38-42; (PSALM 119a)
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