“My Deliverer”
The Old Testament Challenge
FCC – February 5, 2006
Text: Exodus 1-15
Introduction: We are well into the Old Testament Challenge. In four weeks we covered the book of Genesis and now we are ready for the book of Exodus. Remember that we are covering the highpoints of the OT! In Genesis, all you really need to remember is that God created the world, man fell into sin and death, God promised to make a great nation of Abraham, and he continued His covenant love with Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
You may remember that God had brought Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to Canaan, the Promised Land. He used circumstances in Joseph’s life to bring the Israelites to Egypt.
Exodus 1:6-7 (NIV) Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.
Joseph had found favor with the Pharoah, but Joseph was dead and buried, and a new King ruled the land. Exodus 1:8-10 (NIV) Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous…" Israel would have their children murdered and become enslaved by the king of Egypt. They would cry out to the Lord as they were in desperate need of a deliverer. This is a theme throughout the Old Testament.
Psalm 18:1-3 (NIV) I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies…
Have you ever found yourself in way over your head and needed someone to save you! The children of Israel were in need of a Deliverer! I believe the same God who used Moses to deliver Israel, is standing by to deliver you this morning. I created an acrostic EXODUS to guide us through today’s story. The message is entitled, “My Deliverer.” God’s story today reminds us that first there was an…
Emergency (Ex. 1-2)
The children of Israel were in a dire emergency and in desperate need of a deliverer. What was the nature of the emergency? Exodus 1:11-14 (NIV) So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.
The children of Egypt were enslaved by a king who didn’t know Joseph. This is a picture of a desperate people in need of deliverance! They had a bitter life, but it gets worse…
Exodus 1:15-17 (NIV) The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah, "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live.
The emergency grows as the king of Egypt orders the midwives to kill the Hebrew boys but they refuge. How about Shiphrah and Puah? They are two of the nsung heroes in the Exodus story. Pharaoh finally became frustrated with the growing Israelite population. Exodus 1:22 (NIV) Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: "Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live."
You know the story of baby Moses. His mother hid baby Moses in a papyrus basket and placed him in the Nile River. Pharaoh’s daughter finds him among the reeds and takes Moses to be raised in Pharaoh’s court. This is just a foreshadowing of God the deliverer responding to the emergency of His people.
Xtreme call (Exodus 3: 1-10)
God’s people were in a desire emergency, and God the deliverer chose to extend an extreme call to Moses. He was in the desert tending the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro near Horeb, the mountain of God.
Exodus 3:1-8 (NIV) Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up." When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey….
My Deliverer chose an instrument to do deliver His people. That concept blows my mind, but God still extends extreme calls to ordinary people to deliver others. His plan is to use us, to answer the emergency of someone else for the Kingdom’s sake. Have you asked God, what He is calling you to do?
(Gave several personal examples of mission/ministry opportunities through our church)
You may not have a burning bush experience, but God is calling you just the same!
Overcoming obstacles (Exodus 3:11-6)
God the deliverer saw the emergency His people were in, extended and extreme call to Moses and then listened to excuse after excuse. God overcame every obstacle, and had an answer for every excuse.
Obstacle #1 – Feelings of inadequacy. Exodus 3:11 (NIV) But Moses said to God, "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" What was God’s answer: “I will be with you!”
Obstacle #2 – Question of authority. Exodus 3:13 (NIV) Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ’The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ’What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?" What was God’s answer: “I AM has sent you.” You go in the power of God’s name.
Obstacle #3 – The ‘what if’ game. Exodus 4:1 (NIV) Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ’The Lord did not appear to you’?" God’s answer was to give him signs to perform as proof God was with him.
Obstacle #4 – The question of gifts. Exodus 4:10 (NIV) Moses said to the Lord, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." God’s answer was that He was in charge and empower Moses, and give him his brother Aaron to be his spokesman.
We all have excuses when it comes to serving the Lord. The truth is that He has an answer for every excuse we come up with. Moses was obedient to the Lord. Exodus 4:20 (NIV) So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.
Demonstration of God’s Power (Exodus 7-11)
Exodus 7:1-6 (NIV) Then the Lord said to Moses, "See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it." Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them.
You can read about the 10 plagues in chapters 7 through 11. In summary the 10 plagues were:
1. Waters on the Nile River were turned to blood.
2. Swarms of frogs everywhere.
3. Mosquitoes and gnats covered the land.
4. Flies covered the land
5. Cattle got sick and died
6. Boils broke out on both man and beasts
7. Hail, which destroyed more crops
8. Locusts
9. Thick darkness covered the land (except for the land of Goshen)
10. First born sons died, where the blood of the Lamb was not placed over the doorposts and lintels.
Each time Pharaoh rejected Moses offer from God, his heart got harder and harder. God demonstrated his power, and yet Pharaoh remained stiff-necked until He lost everything. God does attempt to get our attention, and I see people in desperate situations crying out for help, and soon as they get some relief they forget all about God, and they really don’t seek a deep permanent change. God’s power is evident, and yet they don’t allow it into their lives because of the hardness of their hearts.
Unique sacrifice (Exodus 12-13:16)
Exodus 12:3-13 (NIV) Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats… Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast… This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover. "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
So as God the Deliverer had said through Moses, all the first born of Egypt died and Pharaoh led God’s people go. All the first born of the Israelites were saved by the blood of a lamb painted on the doorpost of the Israelite houses. And Jesus Christ became our Deliver, when He became our Passover Lamb. 1 Cor. 5:7 (NIV) Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. It is the blood of Jesus that allows death to pass over us and allows us into the very presence of God.
Hebrews 10:10 (NIV) And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Salvation (Exodus 13:17-15)
The death angel pass over the Israelites and salvation was secured when they crossed the Red Sea. Pharaoh had said that Israel could go, but then he changed his mind and came after them with chariots and horses. Exodus 14:13-14 (NIV) Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."
You know the story…God used Moses to part the Red Sea and the children of Israel experienced salvation from the Egyptians. They crossed over to dry land on the way to the Promised Land. When Pharaoh’s army tried to follow, they were drowned by almighty God. This is arguably the most important event in all the Old Testament. God had heard the cries of his people, called out Moses, demonstrated His power, and delivered His people
Exodus 15:1-5 (NIV) Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: "I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a warrior; the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone.
Conclusion:
Emergency
Xtreme call
Overcame obstacles
Demonstration of God’s Power
Unique sacrifice
Salvation
“My Deliverer” by Rich Mullins
Joseph took his wife and her child and they went to Africa
To escape the rage of a deadly king
There along the banks of the Nile, Jesus listened to the song
That the captive children used to sing
They were singin’
My Deliverer is coming – my Deliverer is standing by
My Deliverer is coming – my Deliverer is standing by
He will never break His promise
He has written it upon the sky
My Deliverer is coming – my Deliverer is standing by
