Redeemer, the God who saves is the God who sends

Redeemer: The God who saves is the God who sends.

Exodus 3-4

Context of Exodus 3-4

At the end of Chapter 2, God has heard Israel’s cry for rescue from slavery, and 2:24 says, “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.”

We mentioned last week that Exodus begins differently than the other books that Moses wrote. Genesis begins with…

Genesis 1:1, “[1] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Leviticus 1:1, “[1] The LORD called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying,

Numbers 1:1, “[1] The LORD spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

Deuteronomy 1:1,3, “[1] These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab… [3] In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them.”

But Exodus begins Exodus 1:1-7, [1] These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household: [2] Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, [3] Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin, [4] Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. [5] All the descendants of Jacob were seventy persons; Joseph was already in Egypt. [6] Then Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. [7] But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

It’s not until we get to verse 17 that God is mentioned.

So, The book of Exodus begins at a time when Israel had lost sight of who God is.

Moses was a Hebrew, saved by his mother, raised by the Pharoah’s daughter, and who has fled into the land of Midian where he works with the priest of Midian. Moses marries one of his daughters, Zipporah, and they had a son.

Exodus 3:1-6

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro. One day while taking care of the sheep he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to a place known as Horeb, the mountain of God.

This place is significant… it is where God speaks to Moses, and it is also where later in places like 1 Kings 19 that the Lord will speak to Elijah… It’s where here in this book we see God send Aaron to meet with Moses and where the Israelites are camped later in Exodus 18 when Jethro and Moses’ family come and visit him.

God speaks to Moses from a burning bush…

God tells Moses this is a holy place… (aside about holy places in Christ?)

“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

Exodus 3:7-12

God has seen the affliction of his people… and God has come down to deliver them and bring them up to a land flowing with milk and honey… to the promised land.

God commissions Moses to go to Pharaoh on His behalf and lead them out of Egypt and to the promised land.

And Moses questions God (verse 11)

God responds with the promise of His presence with Moses and the Israelites. (Verse 12)

Exodus 3:13-17

Moses, still in a posture of questioning God says,[13] Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

And God says to Moses…

[14] God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” [15] God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘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, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. [16] Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt,

Here God responds to Moses with an answer that is more than Moses was asking for.

God does more than give his name, God reveals His nature and character to Moses.

God reveals Himself as having always been.

God reveals Himself as Yahweh, the one who is and who causes all things to be. (This is translated as Lord in English, but is the Hebrew word Yahweh.)

God reveals Himself as the same God of their fathers- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses is not coming on behalf of some new god…

Yahweh is the one true God who has always been, always will be, and caused all things to be.

Moses is told to gather the Israelite elders together, tell them that He sent them, and tell them that He is going to deliver them and take them to the land that He promised to Abraham.

God commissions Moses to deliver His message to Pharaoh and to Israel.

Exodus 3:18-22

God tells Moses what to say to Pharaoh… and he also tells Moses what will happen. That Pharaoh won’t let them go. But, that God will strike Egypt on their behalf in such a way they send the Israelites out with their gold and jewelry.

Exodus 4:1-9

Even with all of this- the burning bush, the promises of God’s covenant, name, and promised land… Moses doubts.

Moses doubts that they will believe him. And God gives him two signs to strengthen his faith.

The staff and serpent

A leprous hand

Exodus 4:10-13

Even after this! A burning bush, the staff and his hand, Moses still doubts… but now he doubts his own abilities.

Exodus 4:14-17

God responds, but with his anger kindled against Moses… God reminds him that Aaron can speak well, and sends Aaron to him. God doesn’t wait for any more responses from Moses, and Moses Is sent out from that moment with his command and his signs.

Exodus 4:18-20

Moses goes back to Jethro, tells him he needs to go back, and loads his family up and they set out to Egypt.

Exodus 4:21-23

Israel is God’s firstborn… Israel has an inheritance-the land of Canaan, Israel has a responsibility- to represent God to all the other nations.

Because of what Egypt has done to Israel, God tells Moses to tell Pharaoh of the judgment that is coming to the Egyptians for their first born sons.

Exodus 4:24-26

These verses show us how serious God is about His people following His instructions. In Genesis God gave clear instructions to Abraham about circumcision, and the consequence of not following through with God’s commands.

Genesis 17:12-14, [12] He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, [13] both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. [14] Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Because Gershon is not circumcised, and because God is remembering and acting upon his covenant with Abraham, Gershon’s life is in danger- just as the first born of the Egyptians will be when the Lord visits them.

The judgment upon the first born of Egypt would be upon the first born of Moses if not for the urgent circumcision of Gershon by his mother Zipporah. As the daughter of the priest of Midian, she would have been well versed in what to do and what to say…

Exodus 4:27-31

God sent Aaron to Moses in the wilderness. They met at the same mountain were God spoke to Moses. Moses told him everything and then together they went and assembled the elders of Israel.

Aaron spoke, Moses did the signs, and the people believed what they heard and saw. They knew God had seen their affliction and they worshipped him in response!

Points us to Jesus…

God’s redemption of Israel from Egypt is foundational to our understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s covenant promise to Abraham.

Jesus came down to deliver His people from slavery to sin.

Jesus commissions every Christian to take the gospel message to their neighbors and the nations.

Matthew 28:16-20

At this spiritually critical moment in our nation, the world needs to know Jesus.

Who do we tell them sent us? Jesus, the one who is, who was, who caused all things to be, and who is to come.

Revelation 1:8, [8] “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 21:3-7, [3] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [4] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” [5] And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” [6] And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. [7] The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

But, how do we get there… we know the situation, and we want to be a part of what God is doing around us… but how do we get there?

Repentance is the path toward revival and reaching the lost.

Revival is for those who have a faith to be revived. A love to return too. And, for the Christian who isn’t sharing the gospel and making disciples- revival is necessary and depends on personal repentance.

2 Timothy 2:20-21, [20] Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. [21] Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

God visited Moses because of his son. We can take from this the message that we too need to be walking in obedience to the Lord if we want to be used on mission for the Lord.

The revived church prioritizes reaching the lost.

The last few weeks have solidified that the future of Christianity in our country is not people coming back to their faith or the church. The future of Christianity in our country is evangelizing the culture that doesn’t have a faith to return to.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t people who have fallen out of church or who have wandered from their faith… there absolutely are. But 1/5 people in American don’t know a Christian… 66% of Americans reject the idea of absolute moral truth.

Applies to us today… here’s one of the most shocking revelations of recent studies in America. (The American Worldview Inventory 2025)

George Barna has reported that only 40% of Americans believe in the God of the Bible. This is a massive drop over the last 30 years… and we are a point where we have to ask what people mean when they say they believe in God. According to Barna, over 95% of Americans have actually developed their own personal mixture of religious ideas about God. This is called syncretism, which is when someone pulls ideas from multiple religions and philosophies and melds them into a personal religious view.

Startling data in the most recent studies reveal that only 45% of people who identify as Christians say they worship the God of the Bible. And, of those who identify as Christians, just under 75% say they worship Jesus Christ.

I’m not sure how 25% of Christians can say they don’t worship Jesus but consider themselves Christian.

Now why point this out? Because, similar to the Israelites, the people around us may know of a god, or even believe in the existence of a supernatural power. But if 25% of people who call themselves Christians don’t worship Jesus… and if only 45% of Christians believe in God as revealed in the Bible, then we are at a place where we need to take the name of Jesus and the truth of God as revealed in the Bible to our neighbors and the nations.

In a time of trouble and crisis there is a natural temptation to reflex toward self-focus and self-preservation. But, it is in these moments that God calls His church to get right with Him, put their interests to the side, and take the truth of Jesus to their family, neighborhoods, work, where they shop and play.

You’re right about all of your weaknesses, but Jesus has promised to be with you!

Just like God promised to be with Moses, Jesus promised to be with us to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:16-20

God is still the God who saves and the God who sends.