God's Sovereignty: The Promise of Redemption - Saved for the Glory of God | Studies in the book of Exodus

If you have your Bibles, do turn there to Exodus chapter six

as we take a look at this chapter or this first half of this

chapter this morning together.

And we're moving into chapter six after leaving quite a desperate

situation in chapter five.

And that desperate situation led to really more and more trouble

for God's people.

They were being punished more and more because of what Moses and

Aaron had simply done in going to Pharaoh and asking him to let

them go.

And remember what that request was.

It was so that they could leave and go into the desert or the

wilderness to worship God.

But also remember what God has told us in Exodus, that he would

harden Pharaoh's heart.

So this should come as no surprise to us, but it is because

of the hardening or the hardness of Pharaoh's heart that

he did reject Moses and Aaron's request that the people be

allowed to travel into the desert to conduct that worship.

That was rightly God's to be had.

Now Pharaoh then dictated to the slave masters what was to happen

by way of punishment to the Israelites.

And we have it there.

In Exodus 5.

7, Pharaoh said, you're no longer to supply the people with

straw for making bricks.

Let them go and gather their own straw.

Now you might think, well, straw and bricks.

This is all sounding a little bit like the three Little Pigs and

what they built their houses with.

But whenever you look at those ancient pyramids of Egypt, whenever

you look at the buildings that still remain in the antiquities of,

of Egypt, you will see that the bricks are actually very well

made.

And last time we looked at Exodus, you saw some of those that

are now sitting in the British Museum that I saw in October.

Straw was a vital component of making bricks.

Imagine today trying to make bricks without cement or blocks without

cement.

It just wouldn't work.

You'd have to go back to an old fashioned way of digging clay

out of the ground, letting it dry in the sun.

If we could get any son and then build what you need.

See, this was now a critical moment for the people of God.

Not only would they have to go and collect their own straw, which

they would have to do, that was cut low.

It was simply left behind at the outskirts of the field.

But they had to continue making the same quota as before.

They had to keep going with what they were doing.

And it was a truly hopeless situation.

And you know, we would expect them to turn around and blame the

one who gave the decree.

But they don't do that.

They don't turn around and blame Pharaoh.

Rather they blame Moses and they Blame Aaron.

Because verse 21 at the end of chapter 5 recorded the response of

the Israelite foreman for us.

And they said, may the Lord look upon you and judge you.

You have made us a stench to Pharaoh and his officials and have

put a sword in their hand to kill us.

Now this was not supposed to be how things were to go from Moses

perspective.

He was called in Midian to go back to Egypt, the place that he

had fled from, to rescue the people.

And now they were rejecting him, rejecting him as their rescuer.

And as that chapter closed out, Moses had some questions for

God.

Moses wanted to know from God why he had been brought back from

Midian.

What was all this about if he was just going to be rejected by

the people and rejected by Pharaoh.

They didn't want him to be their rescuer.

And in fact, since Moses came back, God had only, it appeared,

brought more trouble on the people instead of the salvation that

he had promised.

Well, as we get into chapter six, we see God answering my Moses

questions and Moses concerns.

And what God does is he makes it clear what he will do, but it

will be in his time.

And so God begins in verse one by stating what the ultimate outcome

will be.

In verse one of chapter six, the Lord said to Moses, now you will

see what I will do to Pharaoh.

Because of my mighty hand, he will let them go.

Because of my mighty hand, he will drive them out of his country.

As the Lord answers Moses, he begins with an overarching promise.

It is the Lord who will send forth his strong hand.

And in sending forth his strong hand, he will display his

power.

He will display his might by great acts of judgment on Pharaoh

and the Egyptians.

And this will lead Pharaoh not simply to release, release the people

reluctantly, but God says he will make it so that Pharaoh will

actually drive them out urgently.

He'll want to get rid of them.

And it is God who will work to force the Pharaoh to let the people

go.

It will not be the convincing or eloquent words of Aaron or of

Moses.

It will be God who will truly rescue his people.

Pharaoh's hard hearted refusal was part of the plan of salvation.

God was setting things up so that Pharaoh would not only let God's

people go, but he actually would drive them out himself.

And the all wise and all powerful God had everything, absolutely

everything, under his control.

But the Lord doesn't stop there.

In verse one he continues.

But as he continues, he also affirms that he is the covenant making

and the covenant keeping God.

Because in verses two and three we read I am the Lord.

I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty,

but by My name, the Lord, I did not make myself known to them.

Now the King James version here actually gives a better translation

of this verse because it says, and I appeared unto Abraham, unto

Isaac, and unto Jacob, and by the name of God Almighty, but by

my name Jehovah, was I not known to them?

You say, well, what's the difference?

Is it just the word Jehovah?

No, there's a slight difference in the translation that

actually says it's not that God chose not to reveal his name,

but that he was revealed to them.

For what they could understand, they knew him by Jehovah.

They knew him as the One who was God Almighty.

And in using this phrase of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he's been

that covenant God, because these are the patriarchs to whom

he made these covenant promises.

So in saying this, God is affirming to Moses that He is the

one who indeed has made Himself known and should not be doubted.

The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew him.

But not only knowing him, they heard his promises to them.

So the Lord's awareness of his people's suffering is what he affirms

then in verse 5.

Because he has this relationship, this covenantal relationship

with his people, and he has been faithful in his covenant keeping.

And it's these covenant promises that are clearly driving

his actions.

So God here just isn't talking about this one moment in Israel's

history.

He's talking about all of their history.

From the first moment he he called Abraham and made those promises

to him.

This has been the driving force by which how God will act.

Because God knows God cares and God acts.

And his first action here, and really his foremost action, is the

keeping of his covenant with his people.

And although in verse 5, God says He remembered his covenant,

the reality is he could never forget it.

His covenants are made and they can never be broken.

He can't break them.

And it is this steadfastness to which Moses is called to trust

in these moments.

And so in these opening five verses, we see God for who he is.

He is not a God who is distant.

We've said that often it was easy for the people to blame God's

representatives, but their problem was in blaming them.

They were really blaming God.

And it's easy for us all to blame God when things don't go our

way and whenever we don't get what we want.

But in these verses we are assured that God is not ignorant

of us.

And because he doesn't take action when we think he should or

when we want him to, doesn't mean that he isn't at work.

And so this morning, I want to encourage you to take heart.

Take heart in the midst of the difficulties of life, because there

are many.

Look at the children of Israel in this account in Exodus.

They had hardship and more hardship and more hardship.

And although we may not be enslaved to a master in this world,

although we may not have to make bricks and go and get straw

to make them, we know that at times it just feels like the world

is a wave coming over us, ready to crash on us.

And in these times, we are to take heart because we can trust God.

And as we trust God, as He's revealed Himself here in Exodus today,

as we trust him through His Son Jesus, then we see that he is

the one who is working so that we will know him more, that we will

trust him more and see his mighty hand working for us and not

against us.

That's why Paul could write such assurance in Romans 8:20, at

Romans 8:20

a time when he spoke of his own sufferings, of what he was enduring.

And he said to the Christians in Rome, and we know that in all

things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been

called according to his purpose.

What we have here in this verse is wonderful hope.

And it's not only wonderful hope, but it's actually true direction

for us.

It's the way that we are to go.

And I wonder what Paul is writing here and what we're seeing

of God in Exodus chapter 6.

Exodus 6 · chapter mention

Is this your wonderful hope?

Is this your true direction?

Maybe it's even in these days you feel the wave mounting up against

you, ready to crash, and you're just waiting for it to crash.

Well, take hope, because there's wonderful hope and there's

true direction here, that indeed God is the One who's in charge.

God knows us.

He hasn't abandoned us, and he will keep us.

So is this truly yours?

Do you know this deep down in your heart, that whatever you are

facing, the Lord is still with you?

As you trust in Jesus, he'll never let you go.

In fact, he will be greater than the sum of the fears and suffering

that we may have to endure for his name.

So I encourage you this morning to take heart, take heart

in the Lord Jesus, knowing that God is the One who has everything

in his control.

And although he may not work when we want him to, we do not dictate

to God we trust that is the One who made us and the One who keeps

us.

Indeed, he will do just that as we look ever to him in Jesus Christ.

Well, that's what God has assured us of in these first five

verses.

He's told us of who he is himself.

But as we move into verse six, so God moves on to direct Moses in

what to say to the Israelites, because this has now become the problem.

He assures them of his work, of salvation when he says, therefore

say to the Israelites, I am the Lord and I will bring you out

from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem

you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

So the Lord promises to redeem them from their slavery and bring

them into freedom.

And do you see that it is the might of his hand that would move

Pharaoh to force them out of Egypt.

But now it's his outstretched arm that is their salvation.

And so the word redeem or redemption is used here.

And in biblical times, redemption was always the right of

a near kinsman.

We see this in the story of Ruth.

So what this is saying is that only a family member or close relative

could ever redeem you.

I remember my Old Testament professor at Union College trying

to help us to understand redeem.

And he said, redeem simply means bought back.

It's something that's given to get you back.

And a very funny ministry student of mine loved singing that

course.

Redeemed.

Redeemed by the blood of the lamb.

Well, he changed it to bought back.

Bought back.

Bought back by the blood of the lamb.

The same meaning, but yet deeper understanding of what that

redemption means.

We are bought back.

And so it is only God who can buy his people back.

And how is he going to do that?

Well, ultimately it will be the blood of a lamb that will be

shared and spread on the lintels of the doors so that indeed

they may be bought back.

But verse seven tells us a little bit more of what God will

do, because he says, I will take you as my own people, and I

will be your God.

Then you will know that I am the Lord, your God, who brought you

out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

And what we're seeing here in this verse, what we're understanding

of what it really means, is that God's going to adopt his people.

What these words mean is that he will take them as his own and

give them his name.

And so we have here to the people the promise of adoption by

God.

And adoption is something that we see Throughout Scripture, as God

buys his people back from their slavery to sin.

And so what this promise is to them is a family promise.

And this family promise is at the heart of the covenant that he

made with Abraham.

That I will make you a great name, a great family, a great nation.

And so God takes on himself this people, and he gives himself

to them to be their God.

And that's what he said to Abraham in Genesis 17 and verse 7,

I will be God to you and to your offspring after you.

And in Exodus, God proved his fatherly affection.

He warned Pharaoh in Exodus 4, verse 22 that Israel is my firstborn

Exodus 4:22

son.

So when he brought his son out of slavery, that is the children

of Israel, it was not simply a stroke of justice, but it was a great

act of love of what God was willing to do to redeem, to buy back

his people.

God brought Israel out of Egypt and into an intimate relationship

of mutual affection, where they would love him and he would

love them.

And in verse 8, this adoption is demonstrated in the fulfillment

of covenant promise, because the Lord tells Moses that he will

bring the people into the land of promise and provide them there,

as any loving father would.

So we're not simply seeing the movement of a people here.

We're actually seeing the demonstration of God's act of love

towards these people.

Remember the smallest of the nations all around.

And it's a wonderful.

In fact, it's a beautiful picture of who God is to his people.

And with this, you would expect them to take a deep breath

and to trust in the very word of the Lord.

Here was the promise that they had been waiting for.

Here was the promise they'd been wanting.

And now Moses will bring it to them.

And in verse nine, we read, Moses reported this to the Israelites,

but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and

cruel bondage.

You'd think, what a response.

This is not the way things should be going.

Yet again, they have the full promises of God told to them and

they reject them.

And as Pharaoh intended in Exodus 5, 9, they have given up hope

in, in Moses words, because of their frustration and anger at their

hardship.

You see, without faith, our hearts are overwhelmed.

Our hearts are embittered by trials making God's promises impossible

to believe.

And so we do have to look to our hearts.

We have to see how we are responding to the God who loves us

and makes it possible for us to be bought back, to be redeemed.

But this attitude of heart of the people won't stop God and the

keeping of these promises that he's made.

He gives Moses a stronger message to give to Pharaoh.

This time Moses is to go to Pharaoh and tell them to let the

Israelites go out of his country.

No longer was it simply to go and worship.

This was to be the long term solution, that God's people would

be free.

But such a message of freedom now falls on the disheartened Moses

and he is still licking his wounds after the rejection of the

people in verse nine.

And so he replies to God, if the Israelites will not listen to

me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering

lips?

And Moses once again is pointing out his weaknesses.

And let's face it, in good ulster fashion, we see nothing wrong

with this because we interpret this as simply Moses being humble.

But Moses has been called by God to speak hard truths to Pharaoh

and to give a voice of leadership to the Israelites.

This is not a time of humility that simply wants to get out of doing

the job.

The mighty arm that would force Pharaoh to drive the people

out of his country and the outstretched arm of their salvation

is now recorded in putting Moses and Aaron in their place to

do the job that God had called them to do.

And as this section closes, we read about this meaning in verse

13 or this meeting that they have now.

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh,

king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites

out of Egypt.

Strong words.

Maybe we don't recognize them as strong words, but what's God doing

here?

He's commanding.

He's telling them this is what you must do.

You can't get out of it.

I have called you for this purpose and this purpose you will

serve.

And after all Moses has been through, you would expect him to

take this seriously?

Well, we'll have to see if he is going to take it seriously over

these next number of weeks.

And in many ways this meeting in verse 13 feels like a calling

into the headmaster's office as these two men are getting a telling

off.

But this is not what it is.

God is reminding them that it's not of their own strength that

they will rescue the people.

Their calling is given by him, so he will be the one that will give

them what they need.

God has called them to lead the people out of Egypt because the

plight of the people was known by God.

Aaron was brought on board because of Moses excuses as to why

he couldn't speak.

And now they're reminded after a section full of promises of God

that this is the task that they've been called to.

And they're now commanded by God to bring the Israelites out of

Egypt.

God will not be deterred, as Moses and Aaron perhaps were by the

rejection of the people.

God will be true to his word and he will rescue the Israelites.

And as we conclude today, we look back at a text that tells us

who God is.

And God has not changed.

He is still all knowing.

He is still all powerful.

He is still all loving.

And it is with these qualities that he saves.

But in this passage, we also see ourselves not in Moses, not in

Aaron, not in the person of God.

We see ourselves in the Israelites, refusing to listen to

the truths of God's word, rejecting his offer of salvation

and being swallowed up by the lies of the world.

The Israelites weren't so much afraid of their situation or of the

future.

They questioned God's authority, just as Eve did in the

Garden of eden in Genesis 3.

And we often interpret the authority of God in terms of the

world because we've often experienced authority that is harsh

and at times uncomfortable and unfair.

And so we start to see God within those earthly parameters.

But this is not who God is.

Whenever we think about the authority of God, we actually look

to Revelation 1:8, a passage that we've been looking at in evening

Revelation 1:8

worship.

And there we read God saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega says

the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Here we have the same language that's used in Exodus where he's

telling the people who he is, the Lord Almighty.

And here in Revelation 1, verse 8, he affirms that this has

Revelation 1:8

not changed, because this verse tells us exactly who God is.

He is the Almighty.

He is the One who has been with us.

He is the One who is with us, and he is the One who will be with

us.

But we can only know his salvation through His Son, Jesus.

Looking at the Israelites, all they had to do was obey God's word

to trust and leave Egypt.

They won't have to fight, and they will be blessed for their faithfulness.

And this is the same for us.

We don't have to fight for our salvation.

The battle has already been won for us because of the death and

the resurrection of Jesus.

So this morning, stop questioning the authority of God

as if it is just another, or as if he is just another human being

who will come and go.

He is the Lord Almighty who is and who was and who is to come.

He has been and will be the only way that we can know salvation

from slavery and from sin.

And so this morning, each of us are to trust in Christ so that

we may know complete forgiveness of our sins as we look

to Him.

And we need him for our salvation, and we need him to see

us through whatever we face as we trust in him, as Paul writes in

2 Thessalonians 3:3 but the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen

2 Thessalonians 3:3

and protect you from the evil one.

Let me ask you, do you believe what Paul says here?

Do you believe that the Lord is faithful?

Do you believe that he will strengthen?

Do you believe that he will protect you from the evil one?

Because if we do, then we are accepting the authority of God and

taking him at his word.

To say that, no, this is not what he's going to do then means

we reject that authority and we're left to our own devices.

And our own devices will get us absolutely nowhere that we think

we're going.

You see, the Lord is faithful.

He will strengthen and he will protect Will each of us place our

trust in Him.

Older folks, you've lived life longer than I have.

I was tempted to bring a record this morning to maybe remind

you of the music you used to listen to.

You're not too old to place your trust in Christ and to know

him as the One who will see you through perhaps one of the hardest

years of life.

For those of you who are now facing retirement or in those early

years of retirement and wondering what you're going to do

with yourself, trust in the Lord.

He is the One who will keep you.

He is the One who will lead you through.

For those who are parenting and wondering what to do with teenagers,

wondering what to do with those who are going through primary

school, wondering what to do about television and phones and what

can be seen and what can't be seen and how do you parent well will

Trust in the Lord, Trust his authority.

Young people at secondary school and primary school, trust

in the Lord each day and he will see you through.

Because these words are true.

And I stand here saying I know them in my life to be true.

Will you know them as well?

For the Lord has never let me down in what has been particularly

a difficult two weeks.

He has never let me down, and I know he will never let you down.

Exodus 6 seems to be a passage of grumbling by humanity, but it

is a passage that shows us who God is, what his authority is, and

how we can take him quite literally at his word.

Trust in him so that indeed you will know salvation in him alone

and that you will have the confidence that he will see you through

whatever it is you will face.

Let us pray.

Our Father God for this, your word.

We give you thanks knowing that this Old Testament passage has

so much to speak to us about who you are, but more so how we know

you and see you through your son Jesus.

So as we learn these stories of old, as we learn of our own biblical

history, Father, may we trust you more as we see you at work in

ways that perhaps we haven't before.

From the youngest here to the oldest.

Father, thank you that you love us and you're the one who rescues.

Lord, we don't have to fight for our salvation because Christ

has already done it.

Christ has won and we are more than conquerors, we are victorious

in him.

So Father, may we know Christ more this day.

May we know him for our salvation and may we delight to live

in him and live by the way that he has set before us as we eagerly

await his return when he will take us home.

So we pray these things and ask that you will help us to respond

well in Jesus name, Amen.

Sam.