⁷ I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. God was making them a special group of people, His own, adopting them. When it all came to pass, they were to solidify the reality of who God is in their hearts and minds. Notice that God speaks as if taking them out is inevitable because of His eternal perspective. (Ezekiel 12:25[notes1] )

The New Covenant application for us is that God has made us a part of the family of God. He has adopted us and grafted us into the trunk of these ancestors of faith. (Romans 11:19-20[notes2] ) He has become our God and we are His people. The burden of guilt and of fitting in with the world has been lifted off our shoulders. We should know that He is the eternal God. That should affect the way we see every trial and difficulty, good times and bad.

God summed it up with this, ⁸ I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.’ “ The final “I wills” are to bring them into the Land of Promise and give it to them. He brings us out to bring us in. We aren’t meant to die in the wilderness. Then, for the fourth time in this short declaration, God said, “I am the LORD!” If He says it, that settles it.

The first hint of trouble and the Israelites will utterly contradict what God has told them they need to fix in their hearts and minds. They’ll start whining about being brought into the desert to die because there wasn’t enough room in Egypt to bury them. (Exodus 14:11[notes3] ) Can you believe it?

I can, because I look at how I act when the heat is on. Burdens start to pile up. God allows them to refine me and test my faith, and I start whining like the Israelites.

Did He not deliver us? Does He not remind us that He is the LORD, the eternal One? Was our redemption possible any other way? Then why didn’t we get in our hearts and minds that He is the LORD? The fact that I’m whining shows I missed the lesson. If I got the lesson, I would be praising God in every circumstance because He promised to use it all for my good. (1Thessalonians 5:18[notes4] ) He promised to refine my character. He promised to get me ready for heaven. (James 1:3-4[notes5] )

If God can redeem my soul and bring me out from under the burden of the world, then I should know that He can take care of any other situation in life! I should know He is the LORD, YHWH, the eternal One, who is mighty to save! I should be laughing and singing not whining and moaning. (James 1:2[notes6] ) Amen?

25 For I am the LORD; I will speak the word that I will speak, and it will be performed. It will no longer be delayed, but in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak the word and perform it, declares the Lord GOD.”

[notes2] Romans 11:19-20 (ESV)

19 Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe.

[notes3] Exodus 14:11 (ESV)

11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

[notes4] 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (ESV)

18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

[notes5] James 1:3-4 (ESV)

3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

[notes6] James 1:2 (ESV)

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Share on Facebook

⁵ Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. This is now the third time God has told Moses that He has heard their groaning. Perhaps this time there is implied the additional groaning of the new burden of gathering the straw. If the groaning was heard before, the increased groaning must be heard even more. God remembers the covenant with Abraham, the promise to bring them out after 400 years. (Genesis 15:13-14[notes1] )

Though most of this was said before in chapter 3, now, in the midst of the trial, Moses needed to be reminded. Don’t we need a reminder of things we already know when we react to trials with fear? (Romans 15:16[notes2] ) Sometimes we just need someone to speak those old familiar verses to us to help us get our eyes off the problems and on to the truth of God’s word. Don’t feel you are being condescending when you remind someone of a verse they already know by heart. We all need an occasional reminder.

Moses then received his next instructions. The instruction is to speak again to the Israelites. It is a series of “I will…” declarations framed with “I am the LORD!”

⁶ Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. God wants the people to understand what He is trying to get Moses to understand. God does what He does because of who He is. We can believe Him no matter how things appear because He is the eternal One. (Revelation 22:12-13[notes3] )

So first, Moses must again proclaim that God is the Eternal One, and then the vow of God to bring them out, deliver them and redeem them. This is full of Gospel connotations. The Hebrews heard it as freedom from the burden of slavery. How? It will be by God’s outstretched arm.

This is one of the many places when God is speaking on multiple levels. There is what the people hear. There is the reality of its fullness in their lives both physically and spiritually, and there is the greater truth to which the Old Testament shadows point. (Hebrews 10:1[notes4] )

A slavery greater than that of Egypt began in Genesis chapter three. Jesus called it slavery to sin. (John 8:34[notes5] ) He said that anyone who commits sin is enslaved by sin. That’s all of us, just in case you weren’t sure. That enslavement means we need redemption and deliverance. How did God say He would do that? It’s with His outstretched arm. And who did Isaiah say was the arm of the Lord? He is the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. “Who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. He grew up before Him as tender shoot…”and later in the song, “he shall bear their iniquities” and “he bore the sin of many.” Isaiah 53:1, 11d, 12c Jesus alone delivers us from enslavement to sin.

He is the eternal God. He has the big picture in mind, the ultimate fulfillment of the covenant to bless the world, not just Israel. (Genesis 12:3[notes6] ) God has a greater cry in His ears, and greater deliverance in mind, the cross of Jesus. (Revelation 13:8[notes7] )

13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

[notes2] Romans 15:15 (NIV)

15 I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me

[notes3] Revelation 22:12-13 (ESV)

12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

[notes4] Hebrews 10:1 (ESV)

1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.

[notes5] John 8:34 (ESV)

34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

[notes6] Genesis 12:3 (ESV)

3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

[notes7] Revelation 13:7-8 (ESV)

7 Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation,8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.

Share on Facebook

² God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. God is saying, “In case you are wondering if I made a mistake, remember that I am already in the future.” The eternally existent God never has to look back and say, “Whoops! I should have done that differently! ”  (Numbers 23:19[notes1] ) When you are perplexed about how things are turning out, remember, God isn’t. He knows. He knew before He directed you. He sees the results. He is the I AM.  (Ephesians 2:10[notes2] )

That is enough of an answer for all of Moses’ doubts and ours as well. He is! If we could just grab hold of that concept, wrap our minds around it, what a difference it would make in how we interpret the seeming setbacks of life. (Romans 8:28[notes3] )

That alone was enough of an answer, but God continued, ³I 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. The patriarchs may have had an excuse because God had not revealed this aspect of His nature. They called Him El Shaddai, the all-sufficient or Almighty God. But God had revealed His name to Moses, and with that name came an increased understanding of God. With that understanding comes and expectation that we should see life in the light of that new knowledge. (Exodus 34:6[notes4] ) Do we know He knows the outcome of His direction to us and of our present circumstances in life?

What is your reaction when you get in Moses’ situation? You had an expectation, and not only did it not come to pass, but things got worse. You can then blame God or trust God. Which you do, and the attitude you choose are determined by what you really believe about God.

God reminded Moses that He had appeared to the patriarchs. In seeing the burning bush Moses joined that elite group, but with revelation comes expectation. For the most part, they obeyed. Now Moses is expected to obey as well. (John 14:23[notes5] )

⁴ I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. What Moses is about to do is connected with that earlier covenant made with his forefathers. (Genesis 15:7[notes6] ) God cannot lie. He is there in the past, present with Moses, and there in the fulfillment. God isn’t going to let Moses down, even if Moses does doubt and fear. God can’t let him down, because it is about fulfilling the promises He has made. This deliverance is going to happen! There is never a valid reason to doubt God!

After I preached this on Sunday, I realized that every individual that came for counseling on Monday would have been greatly reassured if they had really heard what was preached the day before and believed it! God help us hear.

19 God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

[notes2] Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

[notes3] Romans 8:28 (ESV)

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

[notes4] Exodus 34:6 (ESV)

6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

[notes5] John 14:23 (ESV)

23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

[notes6] Genesis 15:7 (ESV)

7 And he said to him, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

Share on Facebook