Interlocked Lesson 11 part 2

God’s Sovereignty

SONGS:

Reckless Love

God of Revival

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QUICK REVIEW:

God is Sovereign!

Sovereign meaning - God is in control.

Isaiah 46:9–10 “9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. 10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’”

The same God who told Abraham what would happen to his family, also used Joseph’s brother’s evil actions to make good things happen as we discussed last week.

Well over 430 years in Egypt, Abraham’s family grew from about 70 people to about 2 million people.

We estimate this from the census God took of the people in Numbers 1.

God told Jacob (Isaac’s son) about this.

Genesis 46:1–3 “1 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. 2 And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” “Here I am,” he replied. 3 “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there.”

However, just because Israel became great, that didn’t mean Egypt liked what was happening.

Exodus 1:8–14 “8 Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” 11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.”

Man…

This is tough stuff!

What is God doing allowing Israel to now become slaves in Egypt?

***Show graphic Page 9***

In Exodus 2:24–25 “24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”

God remembers His promises.

He is the Promise-Keeper

Not one promise of God will fail.

So in his Sovereignty, God has been working, and now He will continue to work.

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SO What would God do about this situation?

He heard Israel, but what will He do?

Open to Exodus 3:2-10

Exodus 3:2–10 NIV

2 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. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4 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.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 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. 7 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. 8 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—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Why didn’t God reveal himself as the God of “Adam, Eve, and Noah”?

God certainly could have done that. That would be true.

However, what is significant about Abraham?

The Covenant!

Let’s look quickly how God worked through each of these 3 men: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

A. Abraham - Genesis 12:1–3 “1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

- Land, People (Descendants), blessing.

B. Isaac - Genesis 26:1–5 “1 Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar. 2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. 3 Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. 4 I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, 5 because Abraham obeyed me and did everything I required of him, keeping my commands, my decrees and my instructions.””

- God confirming His covenant with Abraham to Isaac.

C. Jacob - Genesis 28:10–15 “10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. 11 When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12 He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.””

God again confirming his covenant with Isaac’s son, Jacob.

You will see this phrase many times through Scritpure.

The God of “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob...”

The reason this phrase is repeated is because of the covenant!

There is a ringing theme throughout Scripture that God promised to make Abraham’s family great, numerous, and a home provided by God.

That God meets the needs of those who love him.

So when you see this phrase in Scripture, that’s what’s really being said.

God, the promise keeper, is speaking.

So when God speaks to Abraham through the bush, God is addressing Himself as the promise-keeper.

But let’s look real quick at Moses’ response.

Exodus 3:13–15 “13 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?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.”

Moses’ hears that this is the promise-keeping God, but what is his name?

God then identifies himself as YAHWEH.

I AM

But what does this mean?

*SHOW GRAPHIC ON PAGE 12*

So what is God going to do?

He’s going to show Himself as the promise-keeper in a way He hasn’t done yet.

Following this, Aaron and Moses go to Pharaoh

Exodus 5:1–2 “1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’ ” 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.””

And now the stage is set for what God is going to do through the Exodus.

THE CONFRONTATION BETWEEN GOD’S KINGDOM AND MAN’S KINGDOM.

What happens in Exodus is one of the most important events in the entire Old Testament.

It’s not just about Moses and Pharaoh fighting with one anther.

It’s not just about 10 plagues happening over the course of several months.

It was literally a clash of two opposing worldviews.

2 Worldviews that could not co-exist with one another.

It was really a war about who was God.

Was the Promise-keeping God, really God, or was it Pharaoh?

*SHOW GRAPHIC PAGE 13*

We are going to dig more into this next week but here is where we will stop today.

What we will see in Exodus is this:

God alone is God. There is no other.

No Government or world system can save man. Only God can save man.

God’s grace is necessary for salvation and redemption. Man can do nothing but respond.

APPLICATION:

And that is where we will apply this today as well.

For Moses at that burning bush and as He approached Pharaoh.

I think He knew this.

This wasn’t really a confrontation of two men.

It was a confrontation of 2 gods.

One false, one true.

DO you know that God is true?

Are you rooted and grounded in that?

Gosh I want to be.

last week My friend I’ve told you about, Austin, and I were talking.

He had met a guy in church whose name is Sebastian.

I’ve been praying for Sebastian all week because Sebastian was close to accepting Christ but He didn’t.

I’m praying even this morning that Sebastian will.

But you know what inward battle was going on in Sebastian?

It was the same battle as Pharaoh and Moses and likely the same battle you face too.

Who is the God of your life? Is idolatry winning the day? or is God?

Friends, this is one reason we need one another.

Why we need to encourage each other.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of worshiping false gods.

But the God of grace, the only one who offers salvation, He is the promise Keeper.

Are we staying close to those promises today?

I pray we are.

I pray you are constantly running to the father, leaning into His reckless love.

Experiencing His grace.

That is our only hope.

Let’s run quickly to Him today.