Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Well, good morning. We're in Exodus chapter 6, so you can go ahead and turn there.
[00:00:08] Growing up. So I actually go by my middle name.
[00:00:12] I could have been a Billy. That's my first name. I could have been Billy. Some of y' all are like, that makes sense.
[00:00:20] But I always kind of wondered. I was like, you know, middle school, elementary school, it's like they'd ask, what's your name? And I was kind of in this place where it was like, well, my real name's this, but everybody calls me this. So, like, what are they really asking? But I'll tell you that there was no question when my mom used my full name. I knew what she meant, right?
[00:00:43] That's, I think why they give you middle names is so that when a parent uses it, you're like, oh, something's different. Maybe some of y' all with spouses, you don't actually call each other your real name. And so, like, when that happens, it's like, oops, something's different, right? Like, I'm like, kristen, it's like, what'd you call me? Right? Like, that's what happens in my house.
[00:01:08] But there's something that names communicate, right?
[00:01:13] That there's something to. When a name is spoken and the name that's used is spoken, it communicates something.
[00:01:23] We're going to actually see in this story of Exodus. We're going to pull from last week just a little bit, because the setup for this week comes as a response to what was asked last week. And it all kind of hinges on this name that happens here, that God in Exodus chapter three has revealed himself and given his name.
[00:01:47] That he has told Moses, I am.
[00:01:50] And he says, I am the Lord Yahweh.
[00:01:54] But then what happens actually at the end of chapter five is that because of circumstances going on, Moses goes back to God and he uses a different name.
[00:02:08] He says in verse 22, then Moses returned to the Lord, to Yahweh, and he said, oh, Lord, using the name Adonai.
[00:02:19] He doesn't actually use the name that God had given him. He uses Adonai. And it's interesting because the writer is cueing us into. Something's going on here, so pay attention, and it's what's going to set up the rest of what we see.
[00:02:37] The context for this passage is that the circumstances of life had caused Moses and the Israelites to question who God was.
[00:02:51] The circumstances in life had become more real to them than the promises of God.
[00:02:58] And God's going to remind them that his promises are connected to his name, and that when he promises something, his name is at stake if he doesn't follow through.
[00:03:12] And what we know from the Scripture is that God always keeps his promises.
[00:03:18] The Old Testament actually says this multiple times. He says, not because of anything that you've done and am I going to keep this promise, but because of my name.
[00:03:27] He keeps his promises.
[00:03:29] So before we jump into this, would you bow and pray with me as we go to the Lord?
[00:03:36] God, we're desperately dependent on your spirit to move, Lord, that your spirit would give us eyes to see, would give us ears to hear, would give us a heart that would not harden to your presence and to your revealed nature, but that would bow in submission to that.
[00:03:54] And so, Lord, we ask that your spirit would move among us this morning, Lord, that you would encourage us, Lord, that you would convict us, that you would humble us in your presence, Lord, that we might live a life that you have created for us to flourish and thrive and to bring you glory and honor. We ask it in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:04:17] Well, what I'd like to do is walk through this text, and it gets a little deep, a little theological, but I wanna walk through this and say, okay, what is he saying?
[00:04:29] And then I wanna go, what does he mean by this? And then I wanna, at the end, make our application. So I want us to see this story, but we're gonna hold a lot of application until the end.
[00:04:42] Some people got onto me in the first service, and they were like, listen, you gave too much good stuff at the end. I had to turn to the back of my notebook to write stuff. So I'm just giving y' all a warning. Leave yourself some room. Apparently, there's some good stuff coming at the end. All right, well, let's read our text. Beginning in chapter six, verse one, says this. But the Lord said to Moses, now, this is a response that God is responding to Moses. Moses has said, God, why this? God, why me? And God, you're not keeping your end of the promise to rescue your people. That's what Moses has just said at the end of chapter five. Why? Why this? Why me? And you're not keeping your promise? So the Lord said to Moses in response, now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh.
[00:05:33] For with a strong hand, he, Pharaoh, will send them out. And with a strong hand, he, Pharaoh, will drive them out of the land.
[00:05:42] Pharaoh has already said, no, I will not let you go.
[00:05:46] Moses. Now goes, God, you're not keeping your promise. And God says, no. Pharaoh's about to actually flip and he will push you out.
[00:05:55] You will leave the land of Egypt. Verse 2. So God spoke to Moses, and he said to him, I am the Lord.
[00:06:05] I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty.
[00:06:10] But by my name, the Lord, I did not make myself known to them.
[00:06:17] I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groanings of my people, the people of Israel, whom the Egyptians hold as slaves. And I have remembered my covenant.
[00:06:34] Say therefore to the people of Israel, I am the Lord.
[00:06:39] I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will deliver you from the slavery to them.
[00:06:46] And I will redeem you with an outstretched arm. And with great acts of judgment, 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.
[00:07:04] I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
[00:07:10] I will give it to you for a possession.
[00:07:13] I am the Lord.
[00:07:16] Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses because their broken spirit and their harsh slavery. Let's see if we can begin to make sense of this.
[00:07:28] That what is God doing here? He's responding to Moses question. And what is the response to that question is that God would double down and say, let me introduce you to my character, to who I am. That in the midst of the circumstances which they were facing, which caused questions, God reveals who he is.
[00:07:53] It just sets up a precedent, a model that we see used over and over and over throughout the Scripture. That the thing that we need in the midst of persecution, the thing that we need in the midst of pain, the thing that we need in the midst of sorrow, the thing that we need in the midst of oppression, the thing that we need when the circumstances cloud our gaze and blind us is we need to see who the Lord is.
[00:08:19] We need that reminder. And so what is it that God's doing here? Look at what he says.
[00:08:25] The first thing he says when God spoke to Moses, beginning in verse two, he says, I am the Lord. Now, he's gonna book in this section with this phrase, I am the Lord. It's actually gonna be used four times throughout this. Three of them are God directly speaking, and then one of them is an indirect speaking.
[00:08:46] So four times in this text we get this singular phrase, I am the Lord. Now, real quick, when you see this Word Lord in your Bible, you'll see that it's capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D.
[00:09:03] That word right there is referring to the specific name of God, Yahweh.
[00:09:09] It was a.
[00:09:11] It's a name that we really don't know a ton about. Commentators are in different places that it's connected to. The first time that we see it introduced as a name is actually in Exodus 3. But let me clarify a little bit as we go on to verse three. He says, I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as God Almighty.
[00:09:35] That this name, God Almighty is El Shaddai. That's the name that's actually used in Genesis mostly as God appears to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
[00:09:49] Genesis 17, Genesis 35, Genesis 28. We see that God appears to them, and he appears to them as El Shaddai. And yet if you go look at those, you'll see this L O, R D capitalized. And Genesis uses the name Yahweh. And so we go, well, wait a minute. If God appeared to them as El Shaddai, and then he says in verse three, but by my name, Yahweh, I did not make myself known to them, then does the Bible have contradictions? And what is going on in this text? And so stick with me, there's a lot to do in these names.
[00:10:32] God has revealed himself as Yahweh in this passage of redemption that we see in Exodus that God is the king, the sovereign ruler of the universe, that when he appears to Moses, he says, I am.
[00:10:57] That there's no one in comparison to him, that he is supreme.
[00:11:03] Now, what we see in Genesis is that God reveals himself as God Almighty, this El Shaddai.
[00:11:12] But Genesis has Yahweh. So what is going on? Well, I think it's like this, that the compiler of the Pentateuch that put the Pentateuch together was using Yahweh in reference to what was going on in Genesis. The same God is working in Genesis that we see revealed in Exodus. It's the same God.
[00:11:37] Let me give you an example of this. Some of y' all know a great boxer by the name of Muhammad Ali. Let's say a biographer is writing about Muhammad Ali and he says, muhammad Ali when he was 12, or Ali when he was 12, did this.
[00:11:53] Well, some of y' all know that Muhammad Ali didn't change his name until he was 22. That when he was 12, he was Cassius Clay.
[00:12:04] But in order that we would know exactly who he's talking about, that there would be no confusion, then we're being told. Information that we now know is being applied to earlier. Y' all tracking with me.
[00:12:19] So what we see here is that God is revealing Himself more clearly in Exodus as Yahweh. It's a name that is going to follow and going to be used throughout the rest of the Scriptures.
[00:12:35] Similarly, we know that God has again revealed Himself more clearly when Jesus Christ came to earth, that God was making a promise about a Savior.
[00:12:47] And yet when Jesus came, we now know that Savior's name.
[00:12:52] It's also the passage that I read in Hebrews that in former times, God spoke to us through his prophets. But in these last days he's spoken to us through His Son, that He's revealed Himself more specifically, more clearly, that he's showing his character and his nature of who he is. And in this particular text, it's all connected to his name.
[00:13:17] So he's revealed Himself. And what is it that he's revealed? Look at the language that's used here.
[00:13:25] He says in verse three that he appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is establishing that God is a covenant God. That God has made promises to people and God intends to keep those promises. The promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which we're again going to see a little bit later in our text, are that that God is going to give them a land. God's going to make them into a great nation of people. And that God's going to make them a blessing to the nations, that through them, in the way that he dwells with his people, they will be a blessing. And so he's made those promises.
[00:13:57] And those promises have been passed on from generation to generation to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And God is still keeping that promise. And now he's reinvigorating this covenant language.
[00:14:09] It's a language we've already seen, that God says, these are my people, this is my Son, that they're mine in possession. Verse 4.
[00:14:18] I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived and sojourned, that God is again concerned about keeping this promise of the land.
[00:14:33] Now, again, we. You can't miss the context of this.
[00:14:37] These people were brought into Egypt in order to rescue them. And now they're staying in Egypt. But God has already told them, before they even went into Egypt that I'm gonna bring you out because this is not your home.
[00:14:50] I'm taking you to a new land.
[00:14:53] Listen, this casts us forward that God has already said, I went to prepare a place for you, that where I am, you can be. Also, he's told us a very, very similar promise.
[00:15:08] This is not your home.
[00:15:10] I went to prepare a place, and I'm gonna come back and get you.
[00:15:15] So when we get so focused on this being our home, we're missing the promise of God.
[00:15:21] Let's keep going.
[00:15:22] It's connected to this covenant, verse 5.
[00:15:25] But moreover, God says, I have heard the groanings of my people Israel, whom the Egyptians hold as slaves. And I have remembered my covenant. That again we see this covenant. And we see again that God says he remembers this covenant. Now, God is not amnesia, that he forgets things. He doesn't struggle with that. So this remembering of his covenant is again that he's being moved to action, that he sees their oppression, and he's moving to action.
[00:15:55] That this has been 400 years of the people going, where are you?
[00:16:01] And yet God has seen, he's heard, he knows, and now he's acting. What's he acting for? He's acting because he always keeps his promises, his covenant that he made with his people.
[00:16:15] Verse 6.
[00:16:16] So he tells Moses, he says, moses, I need you to go back to these people.
[00:16:23] The people who at the end of chapter four saw the incredible signs that God did, heard what God was doing, and they believed and they worshiped. But then chapter five happened.
[00:16:37] Circumstances came that the world crashed in on them and became very hard and difficult to where they look at Moses and they go, this is your fault. You made us stink before Pharaoh.
[00:16:54] What is the message that Moses needs to take back to them? Look at this with me.
[00:16:59] Verse chapter 6 or verse 6. Chapter 6, verse 6. Say therefore to the people of Israel, I am the Lord. I'm Yahweh.
[00:17:11] Four times, I am.
[00:17:13] Seven times. I will listen to this. I am, I will. I am, I will. I am. I will.
[00:17:23] That he tells them what he's doing based off of who he is.
[00:17:28] I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will deliver you from the slavery to them and will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. The first three I wills that we see here, based off of the character of who God is, is that he will. Will bring salvation.
[00:17:48] I will rescue you.
[00:17:52] I will rescue you. I have heard and I have seen and I know. And I will rescue you. Exodus is the greatest rescue story, second only to the rescue that we see on the cross, where God says, based off of who I am, I will rescue my people.
[00:18:16] He brings a rescue.
[00:18:19] The second aspect of what he will do that we see here Is that I will take you to be my people and I will be your God. That the second things connected to who he is is that he will make them his own.
[00:18:35] This is that possessive language.
[00:18:39] What is God doing here?
[00:18:40] He's putting his endorsement on this people group.
[00:18:44] Just think about that. We sang about some of these songs. What would cause a God to step out of glory, to put his name on a broken, sinful people?
[00:18:55] Like, it doesn't make sense except for the love of God.
[00:18:59] Like, when you give an endorsement of something, some of y' all that are maybe our builders or you know that someone will ask you, like, hey, can you give me a recommendation of someone?
[00:19:12] What's happening there is that you're putting your name connected with those people that are doing that work. I know some of y' all don't do that. You're like, I don't recommend people because I don't want to put my name on their work.
[00:19:24] God is putting his name on this people.
[00:19:29] I will take you to be my people.
[00:19:32] I will be your God.
[00:19:35] That there's this covenant language of back and forth that God's taking them. It almost gives this picture of marriage we see throughout the rest of the Scripture.
[00:19:46] It's actually what we see in the New Testament, what God does with his church.
[00:19:53] He says, these are my people and I am their God.
[00:20:00] He says, not only will I save you, but I will claim you.
[00:20:05] Third, what do we see here? We're going to skip this next little section. He tells them that there's one response of what the people will do. He says, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. But look at verse 8.
[00:20:20] Here come the next two I will statements that finish up this section. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession.
[00:20:33] I am the Lord.
[00:20:36] The last aspect of this is connected to the future.
[00:20:39] It's connected to the land, that he's going to rescue them, that he's going to claim them, and then he's going to bless them, that he's going to give them a land.
[00:20:52] This is all connected to his covenant promises, and it's all connected to his name. That what God promises is written in his word and anchored in his name.
[00:21:06] He says, that's why I'm doing this. I am the Lord.
[00:21:12] So the people should hear this and should go, yes, but that's not the response. Look at verse nine. Moses Goes back to the people.
[00:21:22] He tells them who the Lord is, and he reminds them of their promises. And he tells them what God is going to do.
[00:21:30] All that they have to do is know. Look at verse 8 or verse 7 here.
[00:21:39] Their response. The only thing that they need to respond is that they should know. It's the only verb that's connected to the people.
[00:21:48] You shall know.
[00:21:51] That God's revealing himself in such a way that people would know who he is.
[00:21:59] Oh, man, come on.
[00:22:03] That Jesus stepped into this world in order that everyone would know who he is.
[00:22:15] That he walked upon the earth, ushering in the kingdom of God, revealing that he has all power and authority. That he calmed the storms. He has authority over creation. That he cast out the demons. That he has authority over evil spirits. That.
[00:22:32] That he healed sickness and blind and lame. And that he has power over sickness and disease. And that he raised people from the dead. That he has authority over death.
[00:22:43] That he has all authority and all power in order that we might know that he is the Lord.
[00:22:52] But again, what was the people's response?
[00:22:57] Look at what it says. Moses tells them this, but they did not listen to Moses.
[00:23:05] Why?
[00:23:08] Because of their broken spirit and the harsh slavery.
[00:23:14] The pain was too real.
[00:23:18] The hurt was too acute.
[00:23:22] That. That the pain and suffering that they had experienced had narrowed their vision, that had put blinders on them, that they could no longer see that God was still at work.
[00:23:32] You know when you walk through a movie and you get to the middle of the movie and you're at that suspenseful place and you're like, how's this gonna work out? What's gonna happen here? You know, the director knows exactly what's gonna happen. He's not worried there.
[00:23:44] He's never concerned.
[00:23:46] Because he knows.
[00:23:50] He knows that it's going to finish well.
[00:23:54] He knows what the future is.
[00:23:58] And God is telling them.
[00:24:02] I'm the sovereign king of the universe. I know how this works. I know how this ends.
[00:24:09] And yet the pain and the suffering were more real than the promises of God.
[00:24:18] It's exactly what Pharaoh set about to do.
[00:24:22] Pharaoh desired to crush their spirit with the work which he forced them into.
[00:24:29] I just wonder how many of us have fallen to that same place that Satan's schemes and devices and that the things of this world have crushed your spirit to where you can't believe that God would do it.
[00:24:48] To where you've become so blinded by the current circumstances that you can't lift your head to go. I know how it ends, that this isn't the end.
[00:25:03] I want to give you what Jonathan Edwards, in a sermon, he talks about three promises for the believer. Three promises for those who are in Christ Jesus.
[00:25:16] That as we begin to apply this. How do we apply. What are the promises for us?
[00:25:23] God's people who by faith have trusted in Jesus Christ? What are the promises for us? I want to give you these three.
[00:25:31] The first one is that our bad things work out for good.
[00:25:36] Our bad things work out for good.
[00:25:39] This comes out of Romans chapter 8, verse 28 to 30.
[00:25:43] That for those who love God and are called according to his purposes, that he works all things for your good.
[00:25:53] That when those who are in Christ Jesus get to heaven, that we won't look at any of the pain and the suffering of this world and say it wasn't worth it. Because we'll see that God was at work.
[00:26:08] That our bad things work out for good. That the bad things which come into our life in this life, in this world, God says, those don't define you.
[00:26:21] And those aren't the end. Those are just a means of me working for your good.
[00:26:27] Romans, chapter eight tells us, but that we see that picture throughout all of the scripture, that through all of the hardships God is working his promise. We get ultimately to the cross of Jesus Christ where we see that this looks like the worst day in all of human history and God redeems it for good.
[00:26:47] It's the greatest day for all of humanity.
[00:26:51] That Jesus Christ rose from the dead. That he accomplished and fully satisfied the penalty of sin.
[00:27:00] We have a promise from God that in the midst of the pain and the hurt, we need to remember our bad things work out for good.
[00:27:10] The second promise that we see in the scripture is this. That our eternal things can never be taken away from us.
[00:27:18] Our eternal things can never be taken away from us. Romans chapter 8, 35, 39.
[00:27:24] That what can separate us from the love of God?
[00:27:28] He goes through this list of angels or demons or high or low, or things present or things to come. What can separate us from the love of God? That there's nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God. That our eternal things can never be taken away from us. See, sometimes we get in a place and maybe you've experienced this, that.
[00:27:49] That it feels like every good thing you've ever had got ripped out from you.
[00:27:56] And so you've become cold.
[00:28:00] That you've moved to a place where it's better not to hope than to have hope stolen.
[00:28:07] Listen, I just encourage us that maybe our hope has been in the wrong things.
[00:28:15] Because we have a promise that's written in the Scripture and anchored in his name, that our eternal things can never be taken away from us.
[00:28:27] You can put your hope in that.
[00:28:31] The third thing that we see is promises from God that our best things are yet to come.
[00:28:39] Our best things are yet to come. Revelation 21:1 7 gives us this picture. It gives us this glimpse. It's what Jesus was talking about. It's what the promises of Scripture were pointing us forward to. That there's coming a day where there is going to be a new heavens and a new earth, and God's going to gather his people.
[00:28:59] There will be no more tears.
[00:29:01] He will wipe away every tear.
[00:29:04] That he will make all things right, that justice will reign.
[00:29:12] And in Revelation 21, it says that the dwelling place of God is with man, that he will dwell with us.
[00:29:23] That our best days are yet to come.
[00:29:27] That whatever you're going through, whatever is to come in the future, it will not compare to eternity.
[00:29:36] That we're living in this life as if it's our home. We sang about it.
[00:29:43] I wasn't called to be tending a grave.
[00:29:46] Listen. This life will come to an end, but we're not living for this life. We're living for eternity.
[00:29:55] And our best days are yet to come.
[00:29:58] That God has rewritten the story that when Jesus rose from the grave, it took away the sting of death.
[00:30:05] Grave.
[00:30:06] And my best days are yet to come.
[00:30:09] Listen.
[00:30:10] These are the promises. Edwards then goes on to say that this is the peace which surpasses understanding. That when we hold on to these promises written in God's word, anchored in his name, that I am the Lord, and I will do it.
[00:30:26] That we can lift our head out of the pain, that we can encourage one another through the trials to go.
[00:30:38] These are the promises. And these promises are more real than any pain and suffering that we go through.
[00:30:46] And yet, just to finish, Moses comes to God frustrated, disappointed, discouraged, weary.
[00:31:00] And you know what God doesn't do?
[00:31:03] He doesn't put him on blast and say, how could you?
[00:31:07] He just says, this is who I am, and this is what I'm doing.
[00:31:11] Keep watching.
[00:31:14] He says, come along.
[00:31:16] Come along.
[00:31:17] Keep watching. So if you're in the middle of it and you're struggling, keep watching.
[00:31:25] God's at work.
[00:31:27] Keep watching.
[00:31:29] Every one of us has to make a decision. What are we gonna do with this God?
[00:31:35] Who is the Lord that I should obey Him? Who is He?
[00:31:40] We can either harden our heart as he reveals Himself, or we can allow it to soften us as we see him continue to work and he woos us back to himself and he says I told you I'd keep my promise and I'm doing it.
[00:31:57] Would you pray with me?
[00:32:01] Lord we thank you for your word which tells us your promises and we thank you that you have revealed yourself by your name Lord that you have you have revealed yourself and your character of who you are Lord that we would trust you Lord I pray that your promises that our bad things will work out for good that the eternal things can never be lost and that our best days are yet to come that those promises which are anchored in your word Lord that are revealed by your name Lord I pray that those would be the most real things to us as we walk through this life that we would remember those and that as we walk and live according to that by faith with hope Lord you would use us to draw others to yourself Lord help us to walk by faith in Jesus name we pray Amen.
[00:33:06] Sam.
