Chapter 4: Deliverance ("Who is Yahweh?")
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Chapter 4: Deliverance ("Who is YHWH?")
Main Idea of The Story: God is redeeming a people for himself from every nation, tribe, people, and language, for his own glory through Jesus Christ.
Text for the Chapter: Exodus 1-17 (pp. 43-57 of The Story)
Text for the Sermon: Exodus 1-10; Exodus 3 (pp. 43-50 of The Story)
Main Idea—In the Exodus, God reveals himself as “YHWH,” the self-existent, covenant keeping God who saves his people, God above all gods, who does all that he does because he desires to have a relationship with you.
Intro:
Exodus 1:6-14, 22
Hebrews multiply greatly
Pharoah who did not care about Joseph comes to power, fears the Hebrews, puts them to harsh slavery
Orders midwives to kill any Hebrew sons born, midwives disobey, Pharaoh orders his people to cast every Hebrew son into the Nile (Ex. 1:15-22)
Exodus 2:1-25
Moses born, hidden in the Nile, rescued by Pharaoh’s daughter, nursed by his own mother, raised in Pharaoh’s household
Moses kills an Egyptian slave master, flees to Midian (East or Southeast, either to the Sinai Peninsula or the Arabian Peninsula)
Moses marries Zipporah, has a son
Hebrews cry out for deliverance, God hears
23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,
8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
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?”
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,
17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’
18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’
19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
21 And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22 but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”
Prayer
The story of the Exodus centers on a question that Moses asks God in this passage:
The Question of Exodus: “Who is Yahweh?”
The Question of Exodus: “Who is Yahweh?”
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?”
Moses’ question is about more than simply what to call God. The name represents and reveals the character. Moses is effectively asking, “Who are you, God?”
Now, Moses is, in one sense, trying to come up with every excuse he can muster to avoid doing what God has called him to do.
But, what begins as an excuse for Moses tuns, over time, into a genuine plea to know God more. By the end of the book Moses is asking the same question, but from a very different heart:
18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”
The words are different—Moses isn’t asking “what is your name,” but the sense is the same—“Lord, I want to know you more deeply. I want to experience your glory.”
But, Moses and the Israelites aren’t the only ones asking this question...
When Moses confronts Pharaoh as God as instructed him and demands that Pharoah let his people go, Pharaoh asks the same question, but from a very different reason:
Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’ ”
2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”
See, Ancient Egyptians had a pantheon of gods, perhaps as many as 1,500 over time. And Pharaoh himself was thought to be a god. Pharaoh was responsible for maintaining order, and he did so through the power of the gods.
For ancient peoples, it was pretty obvious that the gods of the conquering people were stronger than the gods of the conquered. So, when an exiled member of the people who are serving as slaves approaches the king of the most powerful empire in the known world and says, “My God says you need to let all of his people go,” it’s not surprising that Pharaoh laughs it off.
When Pharaoh says “Who is the Lord...” he’s not asking who God is—he’s saying “I don’t know your God, but he must not be very powerful if you’re a slave.” Pharaoh is claiming that his gods are stronger than the God of Israel.
See, it matters how you ask that question. Some people ask, “Who is God?” out of a genuine desire to know him and have a relationship with him. To those people, God reveals himself as the loving, covenant-keeping God. But others ask, “Who is God?” out of a sarcastic, dismissive heart, because they refuse to acknowledge his rule over their lives. They want to be god, and they don’t want anyone telling them how to live their lives.
But God always answers that question. And so, both Moses and Pharaoh get an answer. Moses is drawn into a relationship with God, while Pharaoh will come to regret having asked that question.
The Answer: “Yahweh is God.”
The Answer: “Yahweh is God.”
When Moses asks God, “What is your name?” or effectively, “Who are you, God?” this is how God replies:
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?”
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.’ ”
Now, the Hebrew behind God’s answer here is rather difficult to figure out the meaning.
Hebrew didn’t used to have written vowels, only consonants, so we can’t be 100% certain how it was pronounced. But most scholars think that it was probably “Yahweh.” (If you have a KJV, it probably reads “Jehovah” instead, which is an alternate possible pronunciation.)
What we do know is that the name seems to be derived from the Hebrew word “be.” But, it doesn’t have tense on the verb here, so it could mean “I was what I was,” “I am what I am,” or “I will be what I will be.”
But, if we put it in context, it is almost like God is refusing to answer the question. If you asked someone, “What is your name?” and they responded with “I am who I am,” you probably wouldn’t be satisfied with that answer. It’s effectively like saying, “I don’t answer to you. I don’t have to tell you who I am.”
And as frustrating as that is, it reveals something about the character of God that we need to understand...
Yahweh is the God who Is.
Yahweh is the God who Is.
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am (YHWH) has sent me to you.’ ”
All throughout the story of the Exodus, and the whole Bible for that matter, we see people questioning God and demanding that he justify himself and his right to make demands on their life.
Later, when Moses first approaches Pharaoh and demands that he let his people go, it doesn’t go so well.
1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’ ”
2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”
Pharaoh’s response is a challenge to God’s authority. Pharaoh basically is saying, “Who do you think you are, Yahweh?” He refuses to let the Israelites go and instead, doubles down on the people and forces them to go gather their own straw to make bricks with, but demands they keep the same output. Pharaoh demands that God justify himself.
Then, when the people complain to Moses, Moses questions God, too. Moses wants God to justify himself as well:
22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? 23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”
And God doesn’t really justify himself or give an explanation, he basically just says, “Just watch and see what I do next.”
1 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”
Many times in our lives, when life gets difficult, we begin to question God. We want him to justify himself and give an explanation for why he’s doing what he’s doing. But one of the most fundamental truths we need to learn about God is that he answers to no one.
In our culture, every authority answers to another authority. We answer to our government, and lower leaders answer to higher leaders, but even the President is accountable to the people and other branches of the government. Every human being is accountable to someone, and every human is accountable to God.
But God is not like us—he is accountable to no one but himself. He IS the highest authority. There is no court of appeals beyond him. He does not answer to his creation, he just IS. He is who he is and he does what he does.
In the book of Job, God allows Satan to inflict horrible suffering in Job’s life. All of his his livestock, his livelihood, and his servants are killed, and then his children are killed in a tornado. And at first, Job takes it all in stride and says,
21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” 22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
But, then Satan, with God’s permission, afflicts Job with terrible boils all over his skin. And then, to add insult to injury, his “friends” come to comfort him, but instead end up interrogating him for 35 chapters trying to figure out what sin he committed to deserve all of this. Job argues that he hasn’t done anything wrong, and he gradually starts to question God.
3 But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God.
And after 35 chapters of back and forth between Job and his friends, and Job wishing that he’d have never been born, and asking God to justify himself, God finally replies...from out of a tornado.
1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?
God says, “Ok, you want to argue your case with me? You think you’re qualified to question me? Where were you when I created the world?!?!”
1 And the Lord said to Job: 2 “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.”
7 “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. 8 Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
And Job finally gets the point.
1 Then Job answered the Lord and said: 2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted....I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; 6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
There are times that my kids want something and I have to say “no,” because either it’s not good for them, or it’s dangerous, or some other reason. Sometimes I have to discipline them for something they’ve done that, in their minds, doesn’t seem that serious, but I know is extremely dangerous or could have had terrible consequences for them.
Oftentimes, especially when they’re young, I can’t even explain the reasons to them because they can’t even understand the reasons. How do you explain to a 3-year old the dangers of wandering off in a crowded parking lot? Can they understand what getting hit by a car would mean? Being abducted by a predator? There are things that are simply beyond their comprehension. And even if they could somehow understand the danger, the knowledge of that danger would scar them for life. A child can think of no good reason that a parent might spank or ground them. But that doesn’t mean that a good reason doesn’t exist.
In those moments, what the three year old needs to know is that daddy loves them and know what’s best for them. They need to learn to trust their father when they don’t understand, because they can’t possibly understand. A father doesn’t owe his children an explanation when he says “no.”
And our Heavenly Father owes us no explanation, either. We need to learn to trust our Father and stop questioning him. He is not answerable to us because his existence is something that we can’t even begin to comprehend. He’s the God who is so holy that we can’t even approach him or look upon him.
5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
He’s the God of Abraham—the God who led and protected people that lived 4,000 years ago. He’s the God who was, and is, and always will be.
He’s eternal. He didn’t come into being, he always has been. He’s the God who speaks matter into being when I can’t even draw a horse that’s even remotely recognizable.
And do you think that if he were to explain his divine plan to you that you’d be able to comprehend it? Do you think that if he were to answer all of your “why” questions that you’d be able to handle it? It would break your brain. He doesn’t owe you and I an explanation, he just IS.
And that’s a good thing. Because if God had to give an account of himself to someone else, then he has a higher authority. Whoever has the highest authority IS God.
And that truth is what makes the other side of this so amazing...Despite the fact that this God is self-existent, not dependent upon us, not accountable to us, eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent...
Yahweh is the God who saves.
Yahweh is the God who saves.
7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
At least three times it’s repeated in Exodus that “God saw” or “God heard” his people’s suffering.
He sees the suffering of his people. He hears their cry. He comes down to them. He reveals himself to them. He brings them out of their suffering, leading them himself. He goes with them.
And this God, who doesn’t have a need for any human contribution whatsoever, includes his people in his plan.
God could have just struck down the Egyptians and transported them wherever he wanted. But instead, he chose to work through Moses and Aaron. He chose to let the people have the experience of witnessing his mighty works.
He didn’t need the Israelites’ contributions, but he delights to work through us, to allow us to be a part of his salvation.
And even though God owes Moses no explanation or justification, God patiently answers Moses when Moses objects or resists God’s calling on his life. Five times in this passage Moses objects to going to Pharaoh:
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
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?”
1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice...”
10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent...”
And God is patient with Moses through the first four—which is more than I can say for my own patience when my kids give excuses like this—but finally, when Moses outright refuses, God reminds him who is in charge.
13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.” 14 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses...
Even though God owes us no explanation, even though we have sinned against him, Yahweh is the God who keeps his promises, who saves us, and who uses us to advance his kingdom even though he doesn’t need us.
But as Pharaoh found out the hard way, God has other ways of answering that question, “Who is God?” The answer Pharaoh got was...
Yahweh is the God above all gods.
Yahweh is the God above all gods.
When we say that “Yahweh is God,” we don’t mean that he’s just “one of the gods,” and when we say that he’s the “God above all gods,” we don’t mean that he’s in the same category. We mean that mean that he’s in a class on his own, a category of one, a totally higher category and class than any other god in this world.
He’s not like the other “gods” that the Egyptians worship, and he makes sure that they know it by the end.
Earlier I said that when nations fought, it was believed that whoever won had the stronger gods. Well, Yahweh makes it very clear in Exodus that he is stronger than all the Egyptian gods.
19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.
So, Moses goes to Pharaoh finally and demands that Pharoah let his people go. Pharaoh scoffs and says, “Who is this Yahweh?” and so Moses performs the signs that God had given him.
The first sign is casting his staff down, which turns into a snake.
10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.
12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
Ever wonder why Moses turns his staff into a snake? Of all the signs he could do, why that?
Well, it just so happens that one of the gods that the Egyptians worshipped was represented by a snake.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy: Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary (Old Testament), Volume 1 The Ten Plagues (7:14–11:10)
the goddess Wadjit...functioned as the protective and representative deity of Lower Egypt, the Delta region. She was normally portrayed as an upreared cobra...ready to strike.
Pharoah wore a headdress which had an upreared cobra on it representing the goddess Wadjit, and this was a symbol meant to protect Pharaoh and Egypt and strike fear into his enemies.
It was referred to as a “fiery serpent” and supposed to strike fear into Pharaoh’s enemies, and this was what Pharaoh and Egyptians believe gave Pharaoh the power to maintain order and prosperity in Egypt.
So, when Moses’ staff turns into a snake—probably a cobra—and then eats all of the magicians staffs that turned into snakes, it sends a very clear message. Moses demonstrates that Yahweh’s power is greater than Pharaoh’s gods.
When God sent ten plagues upon Egypt, each of these plagues challenged the Egyptian gods and demonstrated that God alone had the power to command nature.
1. Nile to Blood—Hapi (Nile)
1. Nile to Blood—Hapi (Nile)
20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.
21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
Know Your Bible from A to Z: A Quick Handbook to the People, Places, and Things Ten Plagues
Nile River turned to blood.
This could also be an indictment upon Pharaoh for making the Nile run with the blood of the Hebrew children.
Now, Egypt had a lot of gods, and the Bible doesn’t give us a one-to-one correspondence between each plague and a particular god. So these are just educated guesses, and the point of these plagues was not just an indictment on one or two gods, but upon the entire system that rejected the one true god. So, don’t think that these are the only gods being challenged, or that these connections are infallible. These are simply illustrations of some of the ways that Egyptians might have interpreted these signs.
2. Frogs: Heqet (fertility; rep. by frog)
2. Frogs: Heqet (fertility; rep. by frog)
6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
Know Your Bible from A to Z: A Quick Handbook to the People, Places, and Things Ten Plagues
Frogs...
Pharaoh’s magicians had been able to successfully duplicate the first couple of signs. Their doing so only made things worse, but they had been able to duplicate them. Until the third plague...
3. Gnats: Thoth? (magic)
3. Gnats: Thoth? (magic)
17 And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.
18 The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast.
4. Flies: Ptah? (creation)
4. Flies: Ptah? (creation)
24 And the Lord did so. There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants’ houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.
Know Your Bible from A to Z: A Quick Handbook to the People, Places, and Things Ten Plagues
Flies...[possibly directed towards] Ptah, who according to Egyptian mythology created the world, apparently could not stop this plague...
5. Livestock: Hathor and Apis (rep. by cow and bull)
5. Livestock: Hathor and Apis (rep. by cow and bull)
6 And the next day the Lord did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died.
Know Your Bible from A to Z: A Quick Handbook to the People, Places, and Things Ten Plagues
Livestock...probably challenged the Egyptian gods Hathor and Apis, the former depicted as a cow, and the latter depicted as a bull.
6. Boils: Imhotep (healing)
6. Boils: Imhotep (healing)
7. Hail: Nut (sky)
7. Hail: Nut (sky)
8. Locusts: Min (fertility)
8. Locusts: Min (fertility)
9. Darkness: Ra (sun)
9. Darkness: Ra (sun)
10. Death of the firstborn: All Egyptian gods, esp. Pharaoh
10. Death of the firstborn: All Egyptian gods, esp. Pharaoh
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.
29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.
Finally, the battle of the gods was almost over. But what do you do to a defeated enemy? Plunder.
35 The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing.
36 And the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
Yahweh’s victory over the Egyptian gods is so complete that Israelites leave with plunder as if from a battle with a defeated enemy.
What you need to understand is this. Pharaoh challenged God’s right to rule over him. He refused to acknowledge God as God. He thought he and all of his idols were gods.
And so God poured out his wrath and judgement upon whatever Pharaoh and the Egyptians thought were gods. Whatever idols they had in their life, God judged and decimated. God took away whatever semblance or illusion of control and order they thought these gods brought them.
And God will do the same to the idols in your life. Whatever you love more than God—money, power, your job, your family, your health, your pleasure, your comfort, the praise of others—whatever you refuse to submit to the Lordship of Christ in your life, whatever you devote your time, energy, and dedication to more than God, whatever you worship, God will pour out his judgment upon it until whatever hope you have placed in that thing, that idea, or that person is completely stripped away and you remember that he alone is God.
12 ...and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord.
And God doesn’t do this because he’s mean. There’s a repeated refrain in Exodus where God—even though he owes us no explanation for why he does what he does—explains his purpose in his judgements...
The Purpose: “That all may know.”
The Purpose: “That all may know.”
Why does God—who is unaccountable, non-dependent, etc.—reveal himself to Moses, the Israelites, and the Egyptians in the first place? Why does he judge Egypt? Why does he use Moses? Why does he drag it out through plagues, etc.?
Why did God use plagues upon Egypt to deliver his people?
6 Say therefore to the people 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 slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.’ ”
Because God wanted his people, the Israelites, to know that he alone was God. That he was God above all gods, so that they would no longer put their trust in Egyptian gods and idols, but turn to the one true God. He did it because he wanted a relationship with them.
Was it just for the sake of the Israelites?
4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
Even as he judged the Egyptians, God was showing himself as the one true God to them. And we will see all through the Old Testament that God isn’t just saving Israel, he’s drawing people to himself from every nation.
Why did God strike the Nile and turn it to blood?
17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.
Why did God make it so that the land where the Israelites lived didn’t have swarms of flies?
22 But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.
Why did the first seven plagues not suffice? Why did there have to be more?
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”
Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? Why did Pharaoh’s army have to perish in the sea?
4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
Why did God provide the Israelites manna in the wilderness?
12 “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’ ”
Why does God later give them the instructions for the tabernacle and all the rituals they did?
44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. Aaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. 45 I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.
When God pours out his judgements upon the earth, he does so in part to draw his people into a relationship with him. To strengthen their confidence in him. To show them how much they mean to him.
God’s judgement is meant to draw you into a deeper relationship with him.
1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Why does God allow you to go through the rivers? To walk through the fires? So that you will see his deliverance in the most impossible situations of life and know that he is your God.
3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
Why does God pour out his judgment upon others and spare you? So that you will tremble before his power and wrath and realize how precious you are to him.
When we see the righteous wrath of God poured out upon sinners we shouldn’t conclude “Well, they must have been really bad!” We ought rather to say, as Jesus said, “Do you think they were worse sinners than the rest? No, but unless you repent, you will likewise perish.”
God’s judgement upon Egypt is a reminder of his grace towards you. It is a reminder that, were it not for the grace of God, that would be you, and rightly so.
4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.
Why does God allow us to go through the wilderness? To show us how far he will go to bring us home.
5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.
6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
Conclusion: Do you know who God is? I don’t mean “do you know facts about God,” or “Can you describe him in theologically accurate terms?” I mean, do you know him? Do you have a relationship with him? I don’t know what is going on in your life right now, but I do know that God has a purpose in it. And one of those purposes is to remind you to depend upon him, not whatever idols you have in your life.
Adult Devotional Questions:
Adult Devotional Questions:
Family Devotional Questions:
Family Devotional Questions:
