by Lakeshore Christian Church on Apr 08, 2024
In my sermon, I began by introducing the new series through the book of Exodus, emphasizing the overarching theme of God drawing His people out to draw them into something better. I explained the relevance of Exodus to our contemporary lives, addressing the common question of why we would spend time in this ancient text amidst the pressing issues of today. I highlighted the importance of understanding God's character and His faithfulness, which underpins the themes of Exodus and relates to our struggles and joys.
I then delved into the background of Exodus, connecting it to the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12. This covenant set the stage for the themes of God's presence and faithfulness, which are evident throughout Exodus. I discussed the five key themes of the book: God's presence, faithfulness, deliverance, liberation, and power. Each theme was illustrated with scriptural examples, such as the story of Moses' birth and the burning bush encounter, where God revealed His name as "I AM."
I recounted Moses' reluctance to accept God's call, his questioning, and God's patient responses, including the signs of the staff turning into a snake and Moses' hand becoming leprous. Despite his hesitations, Moses eventually went to Egypt, where he confronted Pharaoh with God's demand to let the Israelites go. The subsequent plagues demonstrated God's power over the false gods of Egypt, culminating in the Passover, where the blood of the lamb protected the Israelites from the final plague.
I emphasized the theme of liberation, contrasting the world's view of God's authority as oppressive with the biblical teaching that true freedom comes from surrendering to God. I challenged the congregation to consider how fully embracing God's truth could lead to a life of freedom.
Finally, I recounted the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, their crossing of the Red Sea, and the constant presence and provision of God, even amidst their complaints and doubts. I stressed that God's desire is not only to free us from sin but to lead us into a life of abundance and purpose.
Key Takeaways:
1. God's presence is constant, whether we are obedient or not. His presence does not fluctuate based on our actions, and this is a comfort to us in times of disobedience and struggle. We must remember that God is always with us, ready to guide us back to the right path. [38:46]
2. God's faithfulness is unwavering, even when we are unfaithful. The story of Moses and the patriarchs shows that God keeps His promises despite our flaws and failures. This should encourage us to trust in God's faithfulness and to be faithful in return. [46:03]
3. Deliverance is a central theme of Exodus, and it is through God's mighty hand that we are set free from bondage. This deliverance is not just from physical slavery but from the slavery of sin. Understanding this can transform our perspective on obedience and freedom. [53:45]
4. Liberation from sin comes through surrender to God. The world may view submission to God as restrictive, but the truth of Scripture reveals that it is through God's teachings that we find true freedom. Embracing this truth can lead to a life of joy and peace. [55:06]
5. God's power is supreme, and He demonstrates this through acts of deliverance and judgment. The plagues on Egypt and the crossing of the Red Sea are powerful reminders that God is in control and that His plans will prevail. We can take comfort in knowing that God's power is for our good and His glory. [01:02:09]
### Bible Study Discussion Guide
#### Bible Reading
1. **Exodus 3:1-15** - The Burning Bush and God's Call to Moses
2. **Exodus 12:1-13** - The Passover and the Plagues
3. **Genesis 12:1-3** - God's Covenant with Abraham
#### Observation Questions
1. What was Moses doing when he encountered the burning bush, and how did God reveal Himself to Moses? (Exodus 3:1-4)
2. What specific instructions did God give the Israelites to protect them from the final plague? (Exodus 12:1-13)
3. How does the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12 connect to the events in Exodus? (Genesis 12:1-3)
#### Interpretation Questions
1. Why do you think God chose to reveal Himself to Moses through a burning bush? What significance does this have in understanding God's presence? (Exodus 3:1-4)
2. How does the Passover event illustrate the theme of deliverance and God's power over false gods? (Exodus 12:1-13)
3. In what ways does God's covenant with Abraham set the stage for the themes of Exodus, such as faithfulness and deliverance? (Genesis 12:1-3)
4. How does Moses' initial reluctance to accept God's call reflect our own hesitations in following God's commands? (Exodus 3:11-13) [42:59]
#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you felt God's presence during a difficult situation. How did that experience shape your understanding of God's constant presence? (Exodus 3:1-4) [38:46]
2. How can you remind yourself of God's faithfulness, especially when you feel unworthy or have failed? What practical steps can you take to trust in His promises more fully? (Exodus 3:15) [46:03]
3. The Israelites were instructed to follow specific steps to be delivered from the final plague. What steps can you take in your life to ensure you are living in obedience to God's commands? (Exodus 12:1-13) [53:45]
4. Consider the world's view of God's authority as oppressive versus the biblical teaching that true freedom comes from surrendering to God. How can you embrace this truth in your daily life? (Exodus 12:1-13) [55:06]
5. Moses made several excuses to avoid God's call. What excuses do you find yourself making when God calls you to a task, and how can you overcome them? (Exodus 3:11-13) [49:45]
6. The Israelites often complained and doubted God's provision despite witnessing His miracles. How can you cultivate a heart of gratitude and trust in God's provision in your life? (Exodus 14:10-12) [52:23]
7. God's power was demonstrated through the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea. How can you rely on God's power in your current challenges, and what steps can you take to acknowledge His control over your life? (Exodus 14:21-22) [01:02:09]
Day 1: Embracing God's Unfailing Presence
God's presence is a steadfast anchor in life's tumultuous seas.
In the midst of life's uncertainties and our own failings, it can be easy to feel as though we are alone. Yet, the truth remains that God's presence is a constant in our lives, irrespective of our actions or circumstances. This assurance is not based on our obedience or disobedience but on God's unchanging nature. Just as the Israelites were accompanied by God's presence during their journey, regardless of their frequent disobedience, we too are never forsaken. God's presence offers guidance and comfort, even when we stray, and is a testament to His desire for a relationship with us. It is in recognizing this unwavering presence that we find the strength to return to the right path and the courage to face our struggles with hope.
Exodus 33:14 (ESV)
"And he said, 'My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.'"
Reflection: In what situation do you need to be more aware of God's presence today, and how might this awareness change your perspective or actions? [07:40]
Day 2: Trusting in God's Unwavering Faithfulness
God's faithfulness outlasts our unfaithfulness.
The narrative of Moses and the patriarchs is a powerful illustration of God's unwavering faithfulness. Despite human inconsistency and failure, God's promises remain sure. He is not deterred by our weaknesses; instead, He works through them, fulfilling His covenant and demonstrating His steadfast love. This faithfulness is not only a historical account but a present reality. It invites us to trust in God's character and to rely on His promises in our own lives. As we reflect on God's faithfulness, we are encouraged to respond in kind, cultivating a life of faithfulness to Him and to others, even when it is challenging.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)
"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
Reflection: How can remembering God's faithfulness in the past help you to trust Him with a current challenge or decision? [07:40]
Day 3: The Transformative Power of Deliverance
Deliverance is God's hand reaching into our bondage.
The central theme of deliverance in Exodus is a powerful metaphor for the spiritual liberation we experience through God's intervention. Just as the Israelites were delivered from the physical bondage of Egypt, we are offered deliverance from the bondage of sin. This deliverance is not a passive occurrence but an active transformation that redefines our understanding of obedience and freedom. It is through God's mighty hand that we are set free, and this freedom allows us to live in a way that honors Him. Recognizing God's role in our deliverance can shift our perspective from seeing obedience as a burden to viewing it as a joyful expression of our liberation.
Psalm 34:4-5 (ESV)
"I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed."
Reflection: What is one area of your life where you need to experience God's deliverance, and how can you actively seek His help in this area? [07:40]
Day 4: True Freedom Through Surrender
Surrender to God unlocks the door to true freedom.
The world often misconstrues submission to God as a form of restriction, yet the biblical narrative reveals a starkly different picture. True freedom is found not in autonomy but in surrender to God's will. It is through embracing God's teachings that we are liberated from the chains of sin and are able to live a life characterized by joy and peace. This paradoxical truth challenges us to reevaluate our understanding of freedom and authority. As we surrender our lives to God, we discover the abundant life He has designed for us, free from the entanglements that once held us captive.
Galatians 5:1 (ESV)
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."
Reflection: What is one area of your life where you find yourself resisting surrender to God, and what practical step can you take today to begin that process of surrender? [07:40]
Day 5: God's Power Manifested for Our Good
God's supreme power orchestrates our deliverance for His glory.
The plagues on Egypt and the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea are vivid demonstrations of God's supreme power. These acts of deliverance and judgment are not arbitrary displays of might but purposeful interventions that reveal God's sovereignty and His plans for His people. God's power is not something to be feared by those who follow Him but to be revered and trusted. It is for our ultimate good and His glory that He exercises His power. As we acknowledge God's supremacy, we can rest in the assurance that no matter the circumstances, His power is at work for the good of those who love Him.
Daniel 4:35 (ESV)
"All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'"
Reflection: How can the recognition of God's power in your life lead you to a deeper trust in His plans, even when they are not fully understood? [07:40]
And amen, welcome again. We're so glad you're here today. We also want to welcome—we have guests with us today—uh, Ben and Kelly Fulcher from White Mills Christian Camp. Ben is the camp director. You do—thank you, Ben. We want to present to you a check for the camp, just to add some support to what you're doing there. We believe in you and what you're doing at the camp and appreciate all the hard work. Let's pray over Ben and the work at the camp this summer. Okay, Father, we just thank you for Ben and Kelly and all the staff and volunteers that will be serving there this summer and throughout the whole year. We just thank you for their planning, their hard work, and the provision that's being made, and we're happy to partner with them. Father, bless the work of the camp, we ask in Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, brother.
Amen. Welcome, everyone. Welcome, Smart on Campus. We love you guys. Glad you're connected there. Everybody that's connecting with us online, we're so happy to have that connection with you.
Also, as we get ready today to start a brand new series from the book of—through the book of Exodus—and I've preached messages from Exodus many times, but I've never preached straight through the book of Exodus. So be praying for me as I continue to prepare and present messages throughout the whole series. This will be a six to a seven-month-long series, so buckle up, get ready, take notes. We're going to do a study together through the book of Exodus, and I'm excited about it.
I want to start right out by saying the theme is "He draws us out to draw us in." You're going to see some particular major themes throughout the book of Exodus, but the main one is God drawing His people out so that He could draw them into something better.
I want to start out also by saying, you might be asking, "Why in the world we'd be doing six months in Exodus, right?" You might be thinking, "Well, with all this going on in the world, with all this going on in my life, my work, my marriage, the culture, all of those things, why in the world would we not, like, do a 10-week series on marriage, or something like that, instead of six months in Exodus? What in the world does Exodus have to do with you and me in 2024?"
You might be like some people—you don't know anything much about the book of Exodus. Some of you may be really good students of the book of Exodus, and everything in between. Some of your knowledge of Exodus is limited to the movie "The Ten Commandments." If you watch that movie, it's taken directly from events in the book of Exodus.
And it reminded me of this owner of a small town drug store in the middle of a lazy summer day. He got a call—an emergency with his family. He had to leave the store very quickly. The only other person there was a young clerk that he had just hired that didn't know anything about the pharmacy, really. And he was afraid, "What do I do while you're gone?" He said, "Just answer the phone. Everything will be fine."
So the guy leaves, and a little bit later, the phone rings, and the clerk answers it. And a lady on the other end of the line said, "Do you have any streptomycin or aureomycin?" He said, "Lady, when I said hello, I told you everything I knew."
So wherever you are in your knowledge of the book of Exodus, hopefully, if it's brand new for you, you're going to learn a lot of new things. If you're, uh, know a little bit about it, you're going to be able to go deeper. And if you're already a deep student in the book of Exodus, hopefully, we're going to see some things together, learn some things together that maybe we didn't catch in our studies before. Uh, and a good review of the things that we already knew about this book.
Now, if you've come in here and thinking again, "I'd rather have a book of Exodus than a book of Exodus. I'd rather have a sermon series on anxiety. I'd rather have a sermon series addressing doubt," or—here's what I want you to know about Exodus: The themes in the book of Exodus get underneath all of those other things that we struggle with. And so we're going to bring that out—how there's a foundational truth, uh, there are foundational truths throughout the book of Exodus that relate to all of our lives, all of our struggles, all of our good things in life. It's something that goes to the root of all of those things.
I think that when we study the book of Exodus, that it's really all about God. And what's more relatable than that for us, right? To learn to know God better, to get closer to Him, to understand His character, the work of God, the provision of God, the faith—all of those things about God. It's really rooted there in the book of Exodus.
It's a misunderstanding of God that leads to so many of the ills in our culture. And it's a misunderstanding of God that leads to so many of the ills in our culture, in our society, in our relationships with one another.
With that said, I want to tell you a little bit about the book of Exodus before we get into it. Exodus is the second book of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Those first five books make up what is called the Pentateuch. Now, you probably don't go around saying "Pentateuch" a lot, so I want you to practice with me. I'm going to say it; you say it after me: Pentateuch.
I didn't hear the Smyrna campus. Let's try it again. Come on, guys: Pentateuch. Good. All right, just—just hold on to that. That's the first five books of the Bible, and it's really taken—all those books are really to be taken together, and what they're teaching and what they're informing us of, and the history that they—they are talking about, they all go together. But Exodus is the second book. It can stand on its own, but it's best understood in light of all five books. Okay, especially connecting to Genesis, and then going forward from there. And then going forward from there. And then going forward from there.
In fact, what's happening in all of the book of Exodus ties directly back to Genesis chapter 12 and the first few verses there, where God makes a promise, enters into a covenant with Abram, who later changes his name to Abraham. So I want to start there as a series on Exodus, and I'm going to Genesis. Here we go.
Genesis 12, beginning with verse 1: "The Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your—to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.'"
Now, that's a promise God made to Abraham. Now, in that promise, we see that the long-term goal of how God's going to work and keeping this covenant with Abraham is to bring it to this place where it actually blesses the whole world. So I want you to see how that connects from the book of Exodus, Genesis, Exodus, all those first five books, how that connects to where we are now as followers of Jesus Christ because all of that is a part of God's overarching plan. And everything He does in the book of Exodus is leading to the fulfillment of this promise that He made to Abraham.
So there are going to be five themes that I want to cover today. Today, I'm just doing an overview of the book of Exodus, uh, so I got to go through these pretty quickly. So I want you to follow along. If you want to take notes, we've got in your bulletins, there's an outline there you can take notes on. Uh, there's some pens in the pockets around if you want to take notes because this is going to be a study you could keep and go back to and use during the week.
We also, during the week, will provide a daily devotional, a five-day devotional that goes along with a message each week. If you—we have your email address in our database, we send you a message every week, and we send you a message every week—send that out every week, so you can follow along daily with a devotion that connects to the messages. So you can do that as a part of your daily study and devotion time as God's people. We love doing that together as God's family.
So five themes that we're going to talk about that consistently show themselves throughout the book of Exodus. I want to start with the first theme is the theme of God's presence, uh, that's revealed to us in Exodus. The theme of God's presence. Let's look at—with each one of these things, I'm just going to look at each one of these themes. Let's look at one example in Scripture in Exodus of this theme of being lived out with God's presence.
In Exodus chapter two, beginning with verse one, it says this: "Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could not hide him—when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him, coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the river." And she was able to take him to the Nile. "His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him."
Now, why in the world would the mother do that with a fine child? It's because the Pharaoh—the Israelites are now captive as slaves in Egypt, and Pharaoh of Egypt was concerned that the Israelites were multiplying in numbers so greatly that they would be able to overthrow the Egyptians. So Pharaoh's plan was to kill every male child that was born. And so this mom has this male child, and she's a child that's born and wants to be sure he's protected as best she can for what Pharaoh was trying to do.
Look at verse five: "Then Pharaoh's daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. 'This is one of the Hebrew babies,' she said."
Then his sister asked Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for me?" Oh, listen to this plan. This is the baby's sister that was watching, who goes up to Pharaoh's daughter and says, "Hey, would you like for me to get one of the Israelite women to take care of this baby?"
Verse eight: "Yes, go," she answered. So the girl went and got the baby's mother. Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you." So the woman took the baby and nursed him. When the child grew older, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and said, "Hey, would you like me to take care of this baby, Pharaoh's daughter?" And he became her son. She named him Moses, saying, "This is what Moses means: I drew him out of the water." That's how Moses got his name.
Isn't it amazing? You see, the reason the Israelites are in bondage in Egypt is this: they had rebelled against God, and this is God's discipline on them. They weren't living like they should. They weren't honoring His teachings and His—His guidance and His direction. They weren't teaching for them. They were allowing themselves to get involved in things they shouldn't be involved in, and God allows them to be punished. You see, sometimes we forget, God—God does not wink at sin. He brings consequences with sin, and it's to keep us from sin. That's why the consequences are allowed.
So the nation of Israel is suffering greatly as slaves in Egypt, and this baby's born. But here's the thing: the nation of Israel is suffering greatly as slaves in Egypt, and this is the thing about the theme of God's presence. Was God present with them when they were being obedient? Yes. Is God still present with them now, even in their disobedience and their bondage? Yes. God's presence doesn't come and go. It's consistent. That's the theme you're going to see throughout the book of Exodus.
You see, there's this repeating cycle with the people of God, where even when God blesses them, they enjoy it for a while, and then what do they do? They go away again. They fall away. They get back into sinful behaviors. But God's presence never leaves during those times. So you need to know this is a theme that goes forward throughout all of God's Word into the new covenant we have with God today, so that even when we're not doing what we ought to do, here's the thing about God: He doesn't go anywhere. He's right there for you. Doesn't mean He's pleased with you. Doesn't mean He won't let you suffer some bad consequences. But where is He? He's right there.
He's right there for you and for me, and we can count on the presence of God. Later on in chapter two, He says He sees them, and He hears them. Near the end of chapter two, it says He's heard their cries, and He's seen their affliction. So the presence of God is with His people, even when they're in a season of their story where it seems that they've been forgotten by God.
So you have the presence of God. The second thing we see throughout the book of Exodus and throughout Scripture is God's faithfulness. The theme of God's faithfulness. Let's look on the Exodus chapter three, begin with verse one. There it says, "Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God."
Moses had grown up in Egypt after he had been given back to Pharaoh's daughter. She raised him as her own child after the mother or his own mother had nursed him to that point. And he saw one of his own people being abused by one of the Egyptians, and he rose up and murdered one of the Egyptians that was abusing one of his brother's Israelites. And when he murdered him, he realized his life was in danger, so he had fled to another country, and he's been there 40 years, tending sheep. He had gotten married to someone out in that country, and this was his father's—the law's herd, and he was out there taking care of them.
He thought he might not ever be able to go back to Egypt, but God had different plans. Listen to the rest of this, okay? "There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up." Would that get your attention? I mean, seeing a bush on fire may not be that unusual, but he watched it for a little while, and he realized something: it's not burning, and the fire is not going out. It's not being consumed by the fire. The fire is continuing in the bush.
He goes on here, says, "So Moses thought, 'I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.' When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' And Moses said, 'Here I am.'"
"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you're standing is holy ground." Then He said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. They had such an awesome respect for God, in the name of God, in the presence of God, that they felt like, in their sin—and rightly so—they could not be in the presence of a holy God like that. And that's true. In our sin, we cannot be in the presence of a pure, holy God like the God of the Bible.
Verse 7: "The Lord said, 'I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I'm concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites—that's not parasites, that's Perizzites—uh, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I've seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.'"
Even though they were rebellious, and even though God had allowed them to be punished for their rebellion, had God forgotten about them? No. Is God still present with them? Yes. Is God still faithful to that promise He made back in Genesis 12 to Abraham, that He would take His people to this new place, and they would be a blessing to the whole world? God is faithful to His promises to His people, to provide exactly what He says He's going to provide, to do exactly what He says He's going to do.
But Moses, like many of us when God says, "I want you to do something," he tries to backpedal and find some way around it. Moses didn't want to be the guy. Now, remember, Moses—why did he leave Egypt? He had murdered an Egyptian. So his—and his sirs brought him here, and they went after him and brought him back. He looks back on Egypt, and he does not know how things are going to happen if he went back to Egypt. He doesn't know if he'll be recognized, if he'll be—if he'll be treated differently, if he'll be maybe executed himself for what he had already done there many years before. Now he's—he's thinking that might not be the best move for me to go back to Egypt, even though he's got a burning bush, he's got God talking to him, right? He's got the—the promise that God says, "I'm going to deliver my people, people out of the bondage there, out of the
God keeps His promises. God is faithful. And again, if you're still like, "Why are we in Exodus in 2024, and with all we've got going on?" There are two big reasons I think we need to spend some time in Exodus.
One is we need to know because it will greatly change our lives if we understand two things in particular. One is that God sees us and hears us, even in our struggles, even in our misery, even when we brought it on ourselves. God's still there for us. Don't we need to be reminded of that? Have you ever messed up a little bit? Have you ever suffered some bad consequences for it? Or you may be suffering some right now, and you're asking yourself, "Does God care? Is He there for me?" Exodus is teaching us about the character of God. He's faithful, He's there, He doesn't leave you or forsake you, even when you mess up.
The second thing we need to know is that that will change our lives for today is this: God keeps His promises. He's faithful, He's present, and He keeps His promises. This is the theme of the book of Exodus. The presence of God and the promises of God are true and sure, and we can count on those things. We all need that reminder as we go through life in this world.
So, in chapters three and four, we see that God has seen their affliction, He's heard their cries, and He's there for them. And Moses starts off with this safe question, you know, "Well, who should I say sent me?" And then he goes on to other questions because he's still not convinced he needs to do it. He says, "Well, what about Pharaoh? How am I going to convince him?" And all of this stuff. And God gives him a couple of signs. He says, "Moses, throw your staff down on the ground." He threw his staff down, and it turned into a snake. You know what Moses did when his staff turned into a snake? He ran. I can relate to Moses on that one; I do not like snakes at all.
But this is God doing that, where his staff turns into a snake, and it kind of tells me maybe another thing about Moses. He might not have been the best shepherd because shepherds' main job is to do what? Protect the sheep. And if he doesn't protect the sheep, he runs from a snake; he might not be good at protecting his sheep. But then he convinces Moses to come back and pick up the snake by the tail, and it turns back into a staff. Now, you would think that would be enough to convince Moses to go speak to Pharaoh and to the Israelites, but it's not. So God says, "Moses, stick your hand inside your cloak." So he sticks his hand inside his cloak. He said, "Pull it out again." When he pulled it out, it had turned leprous.
Now, leprosy was a deadly disease. It was like a death sentence if you got leprosy; there was no cure for it. It was like a death sentence for it; there was nothing they could do for it, and they had to isolate you because it was so contagious. Moses, when he pulled his hand out, probably thought to himself, "I should have listened to the snake, right? The staff to the snake thing should have been enough, but no, I wasn't convinced yet, so he had to do this to me. Now I'm gonna die with leprosy." And he said, "God said, 'No, Moses, put your hand back in.'" He put his hand back in the cloak, pulled it out again, and it was completely healed of leprosy.
And so Moses is getting a little more convinced now, but he's still not totally convinced. So he uses one more excuse. He says, "No, Moses, put your hand back in." So he uses one more excuse. He says, "No, Moses, put your hand back in." And he says, "No more excuse. I'm not a very good speaker. I'm not eloquent, right? I don't know how you could use me to do this, God. There's better speakers out there you could get that would be more eloquent, especially going before Pharaoh, right? He's the ruler of Egypt and much of the world at that time. And how would I be able to speak eloquently to him? I'm not a good speaker."
And so God, it says, got angry at Moses that he kept making excuses. Now that's a recurring theme in Exodus too. Every time there's delay or unwillingness to obey, it stirs up the anger of God. You think we might need to learn that too? Because in our culture today, we're being told anything and everything is fine, don't worry about it. God gets angry at willful, ongoing disobedience in the lives of His people.
And God got angry at Moses, but here's the thing about God's anger: it did not cause Him to strike Moses. Instead, He kept taking his excuses away. So He said, "Well, your brother Aaron can go with you. He's a pretty good speaker. We'll make sure you've got some company there that can help you out with saying the things you need to say, doing the things you need to do. Aaron will go and be there for you."
So you see God making all of that provision. Now, Moses ends up going there, and when he goes before Pharaoh, he's trying to convince Pharaoh to let the people go, like God told him to do. And Pharaoh doesn't want to hear of it. So Moses decides, "Alright, Pharaoh's not listening, so now I've got these little tricks I could do." So he said, "Okay, Pharaoh, watch this." And he threw his staff down, and it turned into a snake. And he thought, "I got you now, man." And then Pharaoh called for his magicians, and they came out and threw a staff down, and it turned into a snake. And Moses thought, "Oops, I'm standing before Pharaoh. I thought this was going to be the deal that got him to listen to me." And his magicians did the same thing.
And so he's talking with Pharaoh there, and when they weren't even watching, you know what happened next? Moses' snake ate the other snake to show that it was God's power that was greater than these magicians in Egypt. Now, Pharaoh didn't even pay attention to that. He was just determined not to let the people go. So the people get mad at Moses many times because when he goes to Pharaoh and he refuses to let them go, he just makes life harder on the Israelites there. So the Israelites are mad at Moses off and on throughout the whole story when Moses is doing some things that they think are causing them more problems than it is doing them good. But God is present, and God is faithful through it all.
The third theme is the theme of deliverance, and that is known as the main theme in the book of Exodus. Right in chapter six, the Lord said to Moses, "Now you'll see what I will do to Pharaoh. Because of my mighty hand, he will let them go, and he will let them go, and he will let them go. Because of my mighty hand, he will drive them out of his country." And God also said to Moses, "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 fully known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant."
So He said, "Go to the Israelites, tell them I'm a faithful God. I'm going to keep my covenant. I'm going to bring them out of Egypt." And He said that He was going to bring these plagues, right? So the first theme is God's presence. The second theme is the God who keeps His promises. This third theme in the book of Exodus is this theme of liberation or deliverance from slavery.
Now, I get to spend a lot of time with my involvement in the community and with my wife's career in the music industry. I get to spend a lot of time with people who aren't Christians, who aren't Christ followers. And then I get to spend a lot of time with other people in a different category, and I'm not sure how to exactly characterize this, but they claim to be believers, but they're not really sold-out, committed followers of Jesus, right? Not that any of you would be in that category, but there are people out there like that, that claim to be believers, but they're not really sold-out followers of Jesus.
And the one thing I think is a theme I get from them and their perspective of God and the character of God is this: that if they were to fully surrender to God, their lives would become very restricted. They would be oppressed even by a submission to God and the teaching of God and the authority of God. And they have a natural tendency to rebel against anyone else trying to tell them what to do and keep them from doing the things that they want to do, right? And so their idea of God and the character of God is that coming under Him and His authority is going to oppress them. But just the opposite is the teaching of Exodus and the teaching of the whole Bible.
You see, it was in their rebellion to God that led them to what? Slavery. They're in slavery in Egypt because of their disobedience, because of their rebellion. It is actually rebellion that enslaves. It's actually giving into sin and sinful activities that enslaves our lives. It's only when we come under the truth of the teaching of God that we are set free. We have freedom available through God.
So what might happen in your life this year if you really understood and believed that? That full surrender to Christ, full surrender to God and His teaching, is really what will set you free this year. Wouldn't it change everything for you? Wouldn't it be a totally different life when you understood that and stop thinking that doing it the world's way is what's going to keep you from being restricted, and start doing it God's way and understand the freedom that comes from that?
Remember, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you what? Free." Free from bondage and slavery to sin and death and the consequences of sin, which is death. And so the plagues are really interesting. I love how God does this in the plagues. If you go back and study it, I'm going to spend a lot of time as we get to that point in Exodus talking about each of the plagues. But what God is doing in the plagues is revealing that the gods the Egyptians worshiped are not really gods at all. Because every one of these plagues was connected to something that they had a god for, that their god they thought controlled, that they thought their god ruled over.
Like, all the water in Egypt turned to blood. Now, the Nile River turned to blood, right? But so did all the water in the bowls and in the jars that they had. It all turned to blood. But they had a god for the Nile River. They had a god for the water and the weather. And the Egyptian god, they prayed to the Egyptian god, and the Egyptian god couldn't do anything about it. It was Moses' God who had turned the water into blood, who had the power, who had the control.
And then, uh, you had the other plagues, right? The frogs. Frogs everywhere. We've got some fifth-grade boys that would love that, but, uh, but most of us would not like this kind of thing with all these... I mean, they're everywhere. They're all over everything. You had the after the frogs, you had the gnats, you know, that came in. And some of you, if you're not from the South like I am, you may not even know what gnats are. You can Google that later. It's not like snipe hunting. It's a real deal, okay?
I grew up in Georgia, and then I preached while I was a first year in college at a little church down in South Georgia called the Buckeye Christian Church. And they would have dinner on the grounds after homecoming services. And some of you have been in churches; you know we've done dinner on the grounds. And down there, in the summers, when they had their homecoming, and they had dinner on the grounds, what you'd have to do is they kept everything covered until it was time to eat. Why did they have it covered? Because gnats would get all over it if you didn't. Then they would uncover it, and if you had like a chicken leg or something, you'd have to shake it before you took a bite, and then the gnats would land back on it. You shake it again, take another bite, right? It was a battle. The whole time.
It says that the gnats were so dense, there were so many of them that it blackened out the sky with all these gnats. It'd be in your ears. If you open your mouth, it'd get in your mouth and get in your eyes. It was just... it was miserable. Then you had the flies that moved in, just as many of the flies, and then after that, the livestock began to die. And after that, there were boils that came all over the skin of the Egyptians. And after that, hail came and decimated whatever crops had survived the blood thing. And if there was anything left after that, locusts came in and ate the rest of the crops, so they had no more food.
Then the Bible says that God blotted out the sun. There was darkness that overwhelmed Egypt, and it was a heavy darkness, and you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face. And then, for the second time, God warned Pharaoh, and this is two times he warned him to let his people go, that he didn't do it. Even after all these plagues, he said, "If you don't let them go, this last plague is going to be the worst." And it was the death of Pharaoh.
Now, here's what you have to understand about that, is that the Israelites that were there were sinful too. And so, in order for this death not to come into their homes, everybody had to do the same thing, even though they're the people of God. Even though God is there for them, what did He tell them to do? Take a lamb without spot or blemish, sacrifice that lamb, and take the blood of that lamb and smear it over their heads. And so, in order for this death not to come into their homes, everybody had to take the blood of that lamb and smear it over the doorpost of their homes. Then when that death angel passes through, he will pass over any house that's covered by the blood of the lamb.
Can you see God connecting the dots here? Can you see Him working through history to bring about the fulfillment of the covenant that He had made with Abraham, that through Abraham's descendants, the whole world is going to be blessed? And then He told the people of Israel, "Not only to do that, but then to remember that as an annual feast every year, and be reminded of what God did for them there in Egypt through the blood of the Lamb."
You see, He wasn't intent just on getting them out of slavery. He was intent on setting them apart, calling them into being a distinctly set-apart people for God. See, God doesn't just want to set you free from your sin. He wants to bring you out of that into something better than that. He wants to free you up to live life abundantly, to the full, full of peace and joy under His care and His teaching and His guidance and His direction.
So you have these themes going through all the book of Exodus. You see these themes, and the theme of God's power and God's deliverance is powerful throughout the whole book and throughout all of Scripture, which leads to this last one, the theme of God's power. Remember, after He brought that last plague, Pharaoh finally did what? He relented. He said, "Not only do I want you to go, I'm going to set you free, but I'm going to help you get out of town." So all the people were convinced to give the Israelites gold and silver and food and everything they needed to get out of town as quickly as possible. They were grieving because there was death all over Egypt. You see, the death of the firstborn, you forget sometimes, it wasn't just babies. It's any firstborn in every household. That means adults, even people in their 80s and 90s that may still be alive. If they were the firstborn, what happened to them? They died too. This is God's punishment on Egypt, and it would have come to any Israelite homes that didn't obey Him too.
And so Pharaoh's ready to let them go. And they set out to where God is. And God was going to lead them with all these supplies that God had provided through the Egyptians. But Pharaoh started thinking about it again. And his heart hardened again. And he decided it would be totally destructive to the Egyptian economy to lose all of these slaves that did all this work for them and built all the stuff that they built for him and did all the farming for them and all of that. It would be destructive to Egypt. And so he decided to let them go. And so he got his army commander to put together troops and go after these Israelites that he had just set free.
Now, you know probably this story. Again, if you watch the Ten Commandments, you know what happens next. God leads them to this place and says, "Camp here." And when they get there, it's by the edge of the Red Sea. And the Israelite army starts pursuing them. And they've got this pillar of cloud that's leading them to the Red Sea, them, and the cloud is there; it stops there where they're supposed to stop and camp. And the people see the Egyptian army off in a distance beginning to pursue them. And again, they start complaining to Moses, right? As soon as things go bad, what do we do with God? Start complaining. They say, "Moses, weren't there enough graves in Egypt? Why did you bring us out here to die? We could have died just as well in Egypt. Didn't have to get up and go anywhere. We didn't have to come out here to die. Why'd you bring us all the way out here?"
Already they've lost faith. Now, they just witnessed how many plagues that God brought? Ten. They were there; they saw what God did. They experienced every one of those things, and that quickly, they've turned away again and stopped trusting God, even after all of God had already done. And they said to Moses, "We were... listen to how... you have just left us
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1) "So you need to know this is a theme that goes forward throughout all of God's word into the new covenant we have with God today. So that even when we're not doing what we ought to do, here's the thing about God, He doesn't go anywhere. He's right there for you. Doesn't mean He's pleased with you, doesn't mean He won't let you suffer some bad consequences, but where is He? He's right there." [38:46]( | | )
2) "You see, he wasn't intent just on getting them out of slavery. He was intent on setting them apart, calling them into being a distinctly set-apart people for God. See, God doesn't just want to set you free from your sin. He wants to bring you out of that into something better than that." [01:00:08]( | | )
3) "God is faithful to his promises to his people to provide exactly what he says he's going to provide, to do exactly what he says he's going to do. But Moses, like many of us when God says I want you to do something, he tries to backpedal and find some way around it." [42:59]( | | )
4) "It is actually rebellion that enslaves. It's actually giving into sin and sinful activities that enslaves our lives. It's only when we come under the truth of the teaching of God that we are set free. We have freedom available through God." [55:06]( | | )
5) "God keeps his promises. He's faithful. He's present. And he keeps his promises. This is the theme of the book of Exodus. The presence of God and the promises of God are true and sure, and we can count on those things. We all need that reminder as we go through life in this world." [47:15]( | | )
6) "Every time there's delay or unwillingness to obey, it stirs up the anger of God. You think we might need to learn that too? Because in our culture today, we're being told anything and everything is fine. Don't worry about it. God gets angry at willful, ongoing disobedience in the lives of His people." [49:45]( | | )
7) "And then he told the people of Israel, Not only to do that, but then to remember that as an annual feast every year and be reminded of what God did for them there in Egypt through the blood of the Lamb." [01:00:08]( | | )
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