God Hears His People

In this session we move from Genesis to Exodus and continue the story of Abraham’s family well after the days of Joseph. Jacob, his sons, and their families arrived in Egypt as welcomed guests generations before, but now the children of Israel were enslaved in Egypt. Through our study of the Book of Exodus, we will learn much about God’s character and nature: He is a mighty God, all-knowing and all-powerful, and yet, He is also close and personal. God heard the cries of His people in bondage, and He responded with compassion. He was attentive to His people and faithful to keep His promises. As God began His rescue, He revealed to the Israelites, the Egyptians, and to us that He is sovereign over all.

Session Outline:

1. God hears the prayers of His people (Ex. 3:2-10).

++2. God reveals His identity (Ex. 3:11-15).

++3. God shows His power (Ex. 4:1-5).

Session in a Sentence

God is fully aware of suffering and oppression and responds because He is good and just.

Christ Connection

God told Moses His name “I AM” as a revelation of His transcendent self-existence. Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the great “I AM” who came to save us from sin.

Missional Application

Because God has delivered us from the oppression of sin through Christ, we strive to be conscious of the plight of the oppressed in our world as we seek justice for all and show and share the love of God.

Group Time

Introduction

Interact: Ask group members the opening question on page 47 in the DDG.

What are some common perceptions about studying the Old Testament?

(it is dry and boring; it is out of date and irrelevant; it is difficult to understand; it has no impact on me as a Christian)

It can be easy to call the Old Testament dry and boring, but the Book of Exodus is the amazing, true story of the events surrounding the children of Israel’s rescue from bondage in Egypt.

It is the story of plagues coming upon the land.

++The story of a sea being parted.

++The story of manna falling from heaven.

++The story of God’s deliverance of His people.

++It is the story of the Power of God that preserves the People of God, through the Goodness of God, for the Glory of God over hundreds and even thousands of years.

While we are prone to relegate the Old Testament to inconsequential history, it is fundamental to our understanding of who God is and what He has done, and continues to do, in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Specifically, the story of the exodus points us to Jesus in at least three ways.

· Jesus is the Rescuer God sent to free us from slavery, not to Egypt or some other foreign power but to sin.

++· Jesus is our Passover Lamb, whose blood protects us from judgment.

++· Jesus is God among us, the greater tabernacle. In Jesus’ face, we see God’s glory.

DDG (p. 47).

The Book of Exodus isn’t just Israel’s story of how God rescued them in the past; It is also our story.

God is not distant, He is near, attentive, and personal.

In it we learn that God, despite being the sovereign Creator of the universe, is not distant; He is near, attentive, and personal.

We learn that God cares.

He sees us, hears us, responds to us, provides for us, and saves us.

And although His name is not mentioned, the exodus story cries out “Jesus!” on page after page. It is, therefore, fundamental to the gospel.

In this session we move from Genesis to Exodus and continue the story of Abraham’s family well after the days of Joseph.

Jacob, his sons, and their families arrived in Egypt as welcomed guests generations before, but now the children of Israel were enslaved in Egypt.

Through our study of the Book of Exodus, we will learn much about God’s character and nature.

As God began His rescue, He revealed to the Israelites, the Egyptians, and to us that He is sovereign over all.

Point 1: God hears the prayers of His people (Ex. 3:2-10).

In Egypt, the children of Israel multiplied so greatly that a new Pharaoh, one who did not know of Joseph, feared them and oppressed them and even ordered all their male babies to be killed.

It is against this backdrop that we are introduced to Moses. His mother tried to protect her baby by placing him in a basket along the banks of the Nile River. Pharaoh’s daughter happened to find him there and took him in. Moses was spared from death and grew up in Pharaoh’s household.

But years later, Moses defended a Hebrew slave and struck down an Egyptian taskmaster, so he fled to Midian and became a shepherd in the wilderness for nearly forty years.

Read Exodus 3:2-10 (DDG p. 48).

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.”

DDG (p. 48) The Bible does not shy away from the reality of pain and suffering but it also teaches that God hears His people and responds, especially when they suffer.

Years before, God guided the Israelites to Egypt to deliver them from the famine. But now they needed deliverance from that land of deliverance.

They were in pain and desperate for relief.

Here we see a scriptural truth:

Pain is real and people hurt—even the people of God.

But there is another truth:

God hears our cries and He responds.

Why might we struggle to believe God hears us when we suffer?

(help doesn’t seem forthcoming; we wonder if God is aware that we have entered into suffering; we might wonder if we have sinned to deserve it; we don’t know God as well as we should)

God’s conversation with Moses from the burning bush shows us how He responds to His people according to His infinite being and character.

God’s Infinite Being

· When the Bible says God “remembered” the covenant promises He made to His people (Ex. 2:24-25), that doesn’t mean He had forgotten those promises, for God is all-knowing, or omniscient. Rather, it means He had determined it was time to act on those promises. The all-powerful, or omnipotent, God would work through Moses to rescue His people from their distress and further His plan of redemption through them.

God’s Infinite Character

· God is compassionate.

God sees, cares, and acts when His children are in need. God delights in meeting us where we are in our weakness to take us where we need to be through His power and guidance.

· God is attentive.

He hears and responds to the prayers of His children. Despite governing every single working of the universe, our Creator God is attentive to our prayers.

· God is faithful.

He always does what He says He will do. He is always on time. He is always attentive. He is always compassionate. Because of this, He acts in faithfulness to His promises.

Fill in the blanks: DDG (p. 48),

God Is Infinite: God’s infinity means that there are no boundaries on His qualities and existence. God’s infinity also extends to His knowledge of things as well as His power to do all things according to His will.

Essential Doctrine “God Is Infinite”: God’s infinity means that there are no boundaries on His qualities and existence(Job 11:7-9; Ps. 147:5). For instance, God is infinite when it comes to space and time, meaning He is not confined by material space nor is He restricted by time since He is timeless (Ps. 90:1-2). God’s infinity also extends to His knowledge of things as well as His power to do all things according to His will.

Voices from the Church

“God is concerned about the suffering of his people … [The] caring God does not keep away from or ignore his people’s struggles and pain.” 1 –P. G. George and Paul Swarup

Point 2: God reveals His identity (Ex. 3:11-15).

Read: Exodus 3:11-15 (DDG p. 49).

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.

Moses’ two questions in this passage DDG (p. 49).

Moses’ first question was understandable—Who am I to do this? He was a fugitive; who was he to stand up to Pharaoh?

But Moses’ second question revealed the greater cause of his hesitation—Who are You? Moses had just encountered, perhaps for the first time, this God who appeared to him in fire. Moses wanted to understand who this God is so he could answer the questions about Him that would surely come. Therefore, God revealed His most holy, most personal name to Moses—I am who I am.

The revelation of God’s name reveals He is both transcendent and immanent, above us but also among us.

· We see God’s transcendence in Him needing to provide His name.

Neither Moses nor we could know it on our own. All we know about God must be revealed by Him.

· We also see God’s immanence in His desire to share His name.

He wants to be known. He invites us to be in relationship with Him.

Fill in the blanks: DDG (p. 49).

God Is Transcendent: God is distinct from and independent of His created world. He is transcendent over us in regards to His greatness and power as well as His goodness and purity.

“God Is Transcendent”:

God’s transcendence refers to the fact that He is distinct from and independent of His created world. He is transcendent over us in regards to His greatness and power as well as His goodness and purity.

The implication of this doctrine is that God is inherently superior to humanity; His thoughts and ways are higher than ours (Isa. 55:8-9). When God saves us, He restores us so we can fulfill our human purpose; this does not mean that we become God or that distinctions between God and humanity are obliterated. Understanding God’s transcendence evokes awe and wonder at His goodness and power.

God’s simultaneous transcendence and immanence is a distinctively Christian way of understanding how the universe works.

There’s an all-powerful, mighty God who is also intimately involved in our lives.

God is holy, yet God is near.

This is the God whom the children of Israel needed, and this is the God whom we need as well.

Interact: Ask group members the following question.

How should God’s being both transcendent and immanent frame our relationship with Him?

(we should never come before Him lightly, as if He were our peer; we should come to Him as a loving Father who is eager to listen to and to help His children; our relationship with God should be marked by the fear of the Lord, respect, gratitude, humility, and love)

DDG (p. 49) God’s name reveals His identity and His purposes and how we must live as the people of this God.

If we’re honest, God’s name—I am who I am—is confusing. It is odd and repetitive.

But it does bring us clarity about who God is and His purposes.

God is telling us, “I have been who I have always been. I am constant and consistent. I am who I am. I am not shaped by others, and I will be who I will be. I am what matters in the future.”

The story of the burning bush is profound in that it reveals a self-defining God who is both transcendent and immanent. And if we want to be faithful as the people of God, then we must root our identity in Him and live dependent on Him, saying, “I’m with Him!”

We’re in a period of time when we love to create our own identities. There is no root anymore. You can change what you do for a living, you can change where you live, and you can remake and redefine yourself any time you want. When that happens and all of the institutions and history that have shaped and given us identity are gone, we’re only left with ourselves.

When we’re left to our own devices, establishing our own identities, we almost always enslave ourselves and others.

The only true way for the Christian to walk in the peace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit is to say, “I’m with Him.”

This is what is happening in this exchange between God and Moses.

God is giving Moses both an identity and a purpose.

He is saying that He has great plans to use Moses, but He is also saying that He will accomplish those things when Moses realizes that he can do nothing outside of God.

Point 3: God shows His power (Ex. 4:1-5).

Say: The Moses in Exodus 1–2 was raised in Pharaoh’s own household in one of the epicenters of civilization in his day, likely with considerable wealth and authority.

But the Moses in Exodus 3–4 is a fugitive, living modestly as a shepherd in the wilderness of Midian.

If we were to pick a deliverer, we would surely choose the first Moses.

But God wasn’t looking for someone who was perfect, eloquent, and confident.

He didn’t want someone who was a confident king and conqueror.

He wanted a servant of men…that is what Moses was.

He was looking for someone who would rely on Him in this rescue mission, someone who would obey in faith.

Read Exodus 4:1-5 (DDG p. 50).

1 Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’ ” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.” 3 And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

Moses did not feel qualified or believable for the task God was giving him. But God didn’t step in and offer encouragement to boost Moses’ self-esteem. God did not give Moses a divine pep talk: “You can do it, Moses! Believe in yourself!”

Instead, the Lord gave Moses the first of three signs, evidences of His power. This sign of the staff turning into a snake was followed by Moses’ hand turning diseased (4:6-8) and water turning into blood (4:9).

These signs were for Moses to convince the people of his God-given authority.

But they were not about what Moses was able to do; they were about what God was able to do through Moses.

DDG (p. 50) to show how God tends to work: He gives His word for us to obey in faith, then He supplies His power.

Up to this point, God had done a lot of talking to Moses, but when do we see God’s power revealed?

After Moses took a step, even the smallest of ones, in faith, when he threw his staff on the ground.

This is how God tends to work:

He invites His people to trust Him—to step out in faith—and when we do, He is there to supply His power.

We see this in Moses’ calling. We see this in our calling through the message of the gospel. And we see this in our mission, where God calls us to step out in faith to proclaim the kingdom as He draws others to Himself through the power of the gospel.

Interact: Ask group members the following question.

How have you seen the power of God manifested after taking a step of faith and obedience?

(be prepared to give an answer of your own to jump-start the conversation)

· Moses had taken a step of faith and God had revealed His power, but Moses still wasn’t convinced. He next complained about his inability to speak in public (Ex. 4:10).

The sad irony of this excuse is that Moses had just witnessed God’s power, but he could not shake his own inadequacies. To him, his problems and shortcomings made God’s miracles seem rather small. Still, the Lord responded patiently by saying He would help him to speak what he needed to say.

· Moses made one final request for the Lord to send someone else. He just didn’t want to do it. At this point, God’s anger burned against Moses (Ex. 4:13-17). He had given him enough. He had showed His power, promised His presence, and foretold the success of the venture—God’s people would be delivered (Ex. 3:19-22). But Moses’ initial step of faith failed to produce further obedience because...

It was sidetracked by his inability to remove the focus from himself and to fix his gaze upon God.

Moses is not alone, so often we do the very same thing.

Yet God did not take no for an answer from Moses. God sent him a helper in his brother, Aaron, but Moses could not escape his call from God to deliver the people of Israel from their bondage in Egypt.

DDG (p. 50).

God uses His power to fuel our obedience, but all of us can relate with Moses. We all struggle to trust God and step out in faith and obedience.

But there is joy when we follow the Lord and walk in obedience. We get to see the power of God in our lives.

We cannot let our past define our present, nor our future.

We aren’t perfect. We’re broken people.

But God isn’t calling us to perfection before He uses us. He’s calling us to obedience rooted in faith in who He is.

He is ready and able to draw near to us with His presence and work in and through us with His power.

My Mission

The Book of Exodus recounts a vital part of God’s redemptive plan but also reveals who God is—the great I AM who would bring about the salvation of His people in compassion and with power.

In this way, the story of the exodus helps us better understand the God who took on flesh to dwell among us.

Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the great I AM who came to save us from our enslavement to sin.

When we were living in darkness, desperate for deliverance, and cried out for salvation, God heard our cry and sent Jesus. And now, God calls us to step out in faith and obedience and to carry the gospel to the nations in His power so that others might hear the call of the Savior and respond in faith.

DDG (p. 51),

· What steps of faith and obedience do you need to take because Christ has freed you from sin?

· How can your group be conscious of and seek justice for the oppressed as you share the love of God with them?

· Who needs to hear that God is the great I AM, both transcendent and immanent, powerful and compassionate? How will you share Jesus, the great I AM, with them this week?

References

1. P. G. George and Paul Swarup, “Exodus,” in South Asia Bible Commentary, gen. ed. Brian Wintle (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015), 82.

2. C. H. Spurgeon, “Israel’s Cry and God’s Answer,” Christian Classics Ethereal Library, April 23, 1882, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons45.xxix.html.

3. Robert D. Bergen, “Exodus,” in The Apologetics Study Bible (Nashville: B&H, 2007), 89, n. 3:6.

4. P. G. George and Paul Swarup, “Exodus,” in South Asia Bible Commentary, gen. ed. Brian Wintle, 83.

5. Abel Ndjerareou, “Exodus,” in Africa Bible Commentary, gen. ed. Tokunboh Adeyemo (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006), 91.

6. Dorian G. Coover-Cox, “Exodus,” in CSB Study Bible (Nashville: B&H, 2017), 94, n. 4:1-9.

7. Douglas K. Stuart, Exodus, vol. 2 in The New American Commentary (Nashville: B&H, 2006) [WORDsearch].

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