Who Is God That He Should Send ?

[0:00] This morning we are continuing in Exodus, we're in chapter 3 and we are zoning in on just a few verses, just three verses, 13, 14 and 15.

[0:19] If you have a Bible please turn there, if not don't worry, it will be read out. Last time, one of the big questions in the passage last time was, who am I?

[0:48] That I should, X, Y and Z, go to Pharaoh, bring the people out. This morning we'll be looking at the question, who is God? Who is God that you should send?

[1:00] Someone like Moses, who is God? Who is this God? Perhaps one of the most significant questions anyone in any age can ever ask. Who is God?

[1:16] People hear the term theology and think, that's for academics. Let me tell you, whether you're a believer or not, everyone has a theology. Everyone has a thought about God.

[1:29] And the question is, what do you think about God? Who is God? Quite often if someone says, oh I don't believe in God, you might want to say, well tell me about the God that you don't believe in.

[1:44] Because it might be that I don't believe in that God either. Because that God might not be the God that is revealed to us in scripture. So who is God? Well let us read Exodus 3, verses 13, 14 and 15.

[2:00] Then Moses said to God, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you.

[2:13] And they ask me, what is his name? What shall I say to them? God said to Moses, I am who I am.

[2:25] And he said, say this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.

[2:46] This is my name forever. And thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Amen. Lord, would you speak to us through your word.

[3:00] Would you help us to see who you are and to trust who you are through your word and in our time together this morning. Stir us afresh in our faith to know you and see you and trust you.

[3:12] In Jesus' name. Amen. Well this is the second of five objections by Moses. The first we heard last week when Moses said, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?

[3:28] And in each of these objections, Moses in some way is focusing on his own ability and his own credibility. But each time God is trying to show Moses, it's not about him.

[3:43] He is only to represent God. And the first objection in verse 11, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring Israel out? It's not like God hadn't thought about that until he answers, I will be with you.

[3:57] Because in verse 8, a few verses before, God said that he has come down to deliver them from the Egyptians. And that he will bring them up out of that land to the promised land.

[4:12] God has already said to Moses, I have come down to deliver them and I will bring them up. God has come down to deliver them from the Egyptians.

[4:48] Why is Moses asking, what is God's name? You see, the second question tells us that Moses is worried about his own credibility. Well, the people might not believe me.

[5:00] If I go and I don't have your name, they might not believe me. Unless I tell them something more about you than simply saying, oh, the God of your father sent me to you. They won't listen if I say that.

[5:13] They will say, well, if you really met the God of our fathers, then who is he? What is his name? You see, one thing that we do know is that the name here was most likely already known by many of the Hebrews.

[5:28] Because this name is used over a hundred times in Genesis. And it's not just retrospectively inserted. Because sometimes the name is used in speech on the lips of people in Genesis.

[5:40] And also we later find out Moses' own mum, her name incorporates God's name into it. So we know the Hebrews had heard this name before.

[5:51] But how much does Moses know at this point? You see, Moses has spent the first 40 years in Pharaoh's palace. And then he's spent the next 40 years in Midian.

[6:05] And perhaps part of the reason is that Moses doesn't yet know his ancestral God by name. Perhaps Moses as an individual doesn't yet know God by name.

[6:16] But we should also be aware that the term God, what do you think of when you hear the term God? The word in Hebrew is Elohim.

[6:27] And it was the term for spiritual beings. And we hear the word God and we think that the word implies that there can be only one of that kind. But the word Elohim didn't imply that Elohim was the only one of its kind.

[6:43] You see, the claim of the Bible is that this particular Elohim is in fact the sole creator and ruler of all that exists. Both spiritual and physical. Invisible and visible.

[6:55] But it doesn't mean that Elohim is the only one. And so it is a question. What is the name of this Elohim? Who is this God? And Michael Heiser, a scholar, puts it nicely when he says this.

[7:15] The Old Testament writers understood that Yahweh was an Elohim. But no other Elohim was Yahweh. That's important.

[7:27] And so although Moses may be asking this question, concerned about his own credibility, there's a real sense as we go through Exodus that there is a question of credibility of the gods. Throughout this story we'll learn about the credibility of the gods of Egypt.

[7:43] What is their credibility? And we'll learn about the credibility of the God of Israel. And behind this struggle between Israel and Egypt is a battle of the gods.

[7:54] Whose God is the true God? Whose God is the most powerful God? Whose God is the one true Elohim? And what Moses and Israel do not yet see is that it's absolutely no contest.

[8:11] There may be many Elohim, but there is only one Yahweh. And so that's what's behind the question. But what about this continual resistance? Why five objections?

[8:23] Why does Moses keep objecting? Why is he so resistant to what God is asking him to do? Well, I'm going to give three quick reasons. The first, remember that Moses' own experience is in many ways a prototype of Israel's experience.

[8:40] As Craig said previously, just as Moses needs to learn to listen and obey God's word, so the nation will have to learn to listen and obey God's word.

[8:53] Secondly, remember that last time Moses tried to liberate his people, he was rejected. And so the first reason for resistance is that he needs to learn to listen and obey.

[9:05] The second reason for resistance is Moses tried this before and he was rejected. And that was 40 years ago. And so 40 years on, 40 years older.

[9:18] I don't know if you can think back 40 years ago and think if you could do what you could do 40 years ago. I look at my boys, I'm not yet 40, I'm two years away, but I look at my boys and I'm like, I just don't have the energy.

[9:32] 40 years on, 40 years older. Another 40 years not with his people. 40 years, again, not with his own people.

[9:47] You see, if they didn't receive him back then, why on earth would they receive him now? And so the second reason is that he tried this before and he was rejected. And that was 40 years ago when he was young and strong.

[9:59] Why would they receive him now? The fire that he had long ago has now been extinguished. But now there is another fire that cannot be extinguished.

[10:12] And he must look to that fire and not his own fire. And so in the first instance, he needs to learn to listen and obey. But in the second instance, he remembers just how incapable he was when he was young and strong.

[10:25] So how can he even listen and obey now if he could never get the job done in the first place? This is going to be a major theme for Israel and for anyone who wants to follow God.

[10:38] We need to learn to listen and obey. But we need to learn that we are incapable. How do we do that if we are incapable? Well, third reason is Moses ultimately needs to learn to have faith in God.

[10:54] He needs to learn that faith is more about who God is and what he can do than who we are and what we can do. Therefore, true obedience can only be, as Hebrews puts it, by faith.

[11:09] When Moses delivers the law of God to Israel, the nation must learn that the law can only be kept by faith. Faith is implicit in anything that God asks us to do.

[11:24] Your brother said that on Wednesday night, didn't you? Having faith in who he is with anything that he asks us to do. Do we trust God?

[11:36] Do we trust him? The nation of Israel must learn to trust their God. And so Moses must learn to trust their God. They must learn to trust God even in spite of what circumstances look like.

[11:51] Because this trust is the basis for life in this covenant relationship with God. And isn't this true of any one of us? You see, knowing the name of the true God and putting your trust in him is only the beginning of truly knowing who he is and what that means.

[12:12] Isn't that exciting? Isn't that exciting? It's only the beginning of knowing who he is and what that means. And this leads us to look properly at the name. The answer that Moses has given.

[12:24] The answer that indicates action and invites trust. Who then is this God? Well, the first thing that God says to Moses is this.

[12:37] Eche asher, eche. I am who I am. I am that I am. I will be that which I will be.

[12:50] This word eche or eche was used a few verses earlier when he said, I will be with you.

[13:03] Eche emak. God has already hinted at this. I am with you. I will be with you because I am who I am.

[13:14] I always have been, always will be. Who will be with you? Who is the one who is who he is? Well, he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

[13:26] And this link to the patriarchs isn't just to say that he's the God of your forefathers, but it's that the promises he made back then directly apply to these people now.

[13:39] Back in Exodus 2.24, God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And in 3.6, God said to Abraham, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

[13:52] 3.15, he says to them, Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has sent me. Now, why is he saying this? Because he's saying, see the God who was with Abraham, who was with Isaac and Jacob, I am.

[14:10] I am who I am. And therefore, I am that God with you just as I was with them. He is the God. It all points back to the promises of God.

[14:23] And God's response, I am, indicates that he is the one who has come down to fulfill all that he has said to the patriarchs. And so, it's, I am as in the present tense, Hebrew verb.

[14:43] It's not past or future tense, because he is. He simply is, I am. And that he has no past, no future, but only an eternal present.

[14:54] As such, he always is. He is immutable, unchangeable. And the Dutch theologian Hermann Bavink wrote this, God is that which he calls himself, and he calls himself that which he is.

[15:16] God is that which he calls himself, and he calls himself that which he is. And so, who is God? Well, so far, just even in the story of Exodus, so far, this God is the God who blesses.

[15:33] He's the God who gives. He's the God who is to be feared. The God who protects. The God who saves. The God who controls all things. The God who hears.

[15:45] The God who remembers. The God who sees. The God who knows. The God who appears. The God who speaks. The God who is holy.

[15:55] The God who comes down. The God who delivers. The God who is with you. The God who is. I am who I am.

[16:07] The one who never changes. Who he was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is who he is forever. It is who he always is, always was, and ever will be.

[16:19] He is the God who relies on no one and no thing. The God who knows all and sees all and is sovereign over all. The God who acts with complete self-reliance.

[16:32] The God who acts with complete self-reliance and unfettered liberty with absolute authority. The God who cannot be compared with any other Elohim. The God who cannot be challenged or hindered in his will.

[16:45] Back in Genesis 15, God said to Abraham, Know that for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs.

[16:57] They will be servants there and they will be afflicted for 400 years. But, I will bring judgment on that nation that they serve. And afterwards, they shall come out with great possessions.

[17:11] And then later, in Genesis 46, by the time Joseph is in Egypt, and Jacob and his brothers are going down, God said to Jacob, Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt.

[17:26] I, myself, will go down with you to Egypt. And I will also bring you up again. He's doing this now.

[17:40] I have come down and I will bring you up. Then in Genesis chapter 50, probably a chapter, a place where we know that Joseph said, What you meant for evil, God meant for good.

[17:54] Well, a few verses later, Joseph said this, Joseph said to his brothers, I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

[18:13] And he made them swear that God would visit them and do this and that they should carry his bones out. And so as they go into this 400 years, God has already said, I am going down with you and I will bring you up again.

[18:29] And Joseph made his brothers and the children of Israel swear that God was going to visit them and bring them up again. And so what God is saying to Moses and to the people of Israel through Moses is that when they consider the covenant, when they consider the promises of old, when they consider their present predicament, who is going to take us out of this land?

[18:52] God says, I am. Because I am who I am. When he said to Abraham, I will judge the nation and Israel will come out with great possessions.

[19:04] When he said to Jacob, I myself will go down with you and bring you up again. When Joseph said, God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land. And then he says to Moses, I have come down to deliver them and to bring them up out of the land.

[19:19] This is what's implied when he says, I am who I am. Who I was then is who I am. Now is who I will forever be. To quote Michael Heiser again, he says, he has come down to act and to fulfill his covenant and he guarantees the outcome by virtue of his presence with them.

[19:41] This takes us back to what we were talking about with Moses and the nation having to learn to trust God. Because if by saying, I am who I am, God is assuring them of his presence and he's also assuring them that he's going to act upon his own promises, their rescue from Egypt and the fulfillment of God's promises relies on who he is, then their response should be trust.

[20:11] Trust. Salvation rests on God alone and it rests on who God is. The scripture says, call upon the name of Yahweh.

[20:26] Call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved. To know his name and to call upon it, trusting wholly in him on his ability to do it and his faithfulness to complete it.

[20:41] Because he is not just any God. He is not any Elohim. What name is the name to be remembered?

[20:52] Lord? What God is the God to be worshipped throughout all generations? Well, it is this God.

[21:05] It is Yahweh. I am who I am. The Elohim who crushes all of the other gods in Egypt.

[21:16] We're going to see that throughout the plagues that this God is the God who defeats all other gods. And further, in Exodus 20, what is it that God says? Yahweh, the God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

[21:36] I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, the house of slavery, into the land of promise. You shall have no other Elohim before me because he is the one true one.

[21:51] He is the one who brought them out of Egypt. This is who he is. And now, what is the difference? We have this difference in verse 14 and 15 between the name that God gives Moses to tell the people.

[22:07] Because what God says here is practically the same. In one instance he says, I am. And in the other instance he says, the Lord in all caps.

[22:18] And in both he says, say this to the people of Israel, name has sent you. So what is the difference between I am and the Lord in all caps?

[22:31] In the Hebrew of the verse 14, I am is echyeh or echweh, which is the first person. This is said in the first person. And so, if you were talking in the first person about who you are, you would say, I am.

[22:48] Levi always says, I am hungry. They say, nice to meet you. I am daddy. Nice to meet you. I am hungry. God, when God says, I am, he's speaking in the first person. And so, it's the Hebrew term echyeh or echweh.

[23:04] And in verse 15, the Lord in all caps, is the word Yahweh, which is essentially the third person of the same term. So when echyeh or echweh means I am, then Yahweh means he is.

[23:21] And so, for everyone else, God can say I am, but for us, we would say he is. We wouldn't say I am. He is. God can say of himself I am, whereas everyone else will effectively call him from this point on.

[23:36] He is. He is the God who is. Whenever you see Lord in all caps in your Bible, it is Yahweh, and it means he is. That is the name of God.

[23:47] And the reason why the word was replaced by Lord has to do with how they viewed the sacredness of the name. And whenever a Jewish person was reading their scriptures in Hebrew, it would say, it would say the name, but they would say, they would know when they saw it to say Adonai, which means Lord.

[24:11] Sometimes they would say Hashem or the name, but Adonai, the Lord, and so it's translated to the Lord. This name was constantly being filled with meaning as he was revealed more and more.

[24:28] Not that God ever changes. He never changes. But, we are always learning more of who he is and who he has always been by how he reveals himself.

[24:41] So at this point in Exodus 3, it's not that they would understand at this point in this Yahweh. Yahweh is four letters.

[24:52] Yahweh, Yahweh, or Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh, Yahweh, which I don't know if you can see that, but it says Yahweh in the gaps.

[25:07] And so, this is called the Tetragrammaton. It sounds like a transformer, doesn't it? The Tetragrammaton. It just means the four consonants. And whenever this was written, this was the name of God.

[25:19] And it's not like at this point, it's not like at this point, the Israelites would know everything of what that means. They wouldn't understand at this point in Exodus all of what it means or why it matters.

[25:35] But, post-Exodus and post-Sinai, entering into the land of promise, facing the tribes, the name would now be filled with meaning of who God is and what he is like by all that he has done.

[25:51] All of what they saw throughout the Exodus, all of what they're going to see, all of what they read about in the patriarchs and all of the wonders that God did in the wilderness will fill in the meaning of what this name means.

[26:05] All of that is that which God is and always is and never is not. And so think about how the same applies to us. You think about this, if you know a person, you know who they are.

[26:20] It's like there was a film called Kindergarten Cop with Arnie Schwarzenegger and he went into a school and they had this session with the kids.

[26:32] Who is your daddy and what does he do? You know, tell me about your dad's work. Who is he and what does he do? And you know a kid, you know, I'm a daddy's daddy and he does this and kids hardly know what their daddies do.

[26:44] But as they grow up, that term is filled in with meaning. And so sitting right here, right now, you could tell me more about someone in your life than you could when you were a child because their name has been filled in with meaning over time.

[27:00] And it's the same with God. And it's the same with us with Jesus. You think about his name, Yeshua or his title, Messiah. Messiah, the Christ.

[27:14] In the Old Testament, people had an idea of what that meant but they didn't know all of what it meant and that was evident when Jesus came along they were baffled because they didn't know all of what that meant.

[27:26] He was going to show them what that meant, who he is because what he did when he arrived, no one really understood what that meant for him to be Christ.

[27:39] And so if Jesus is Yahweh, then who he was is who he is and who he will always be and never is he not.

[27:53] It's not just, I mean, by the time we get to the New Testament and the Old Testament is now translated into Greek called the Septuagint. The New Testament looks, the New Testament time with Jesus and the apostles and the Jews and the people are reading this Old Testament Greek, the Septuagint, and the translation of this name, Yahweh, is Kyrios, which means Lord.

[28:22] The translation of echie, I am, is ego e me, which means I am in Greek, which is the word that John uses, which is the word that Jesus uses when Jesus says, before Abraham was, ego e me, I am.

[28:42] And he's making a great big indication from the Greek Septuagint, I am. He's identifying himself with Yahweh. And so it's not just in the unfolding of what Messiah or Christ means by what he does, but this statement of I am, the title of Lord linking to Yahweh and his name, Jesus, or Yeshua, or Yah saves.

[29:09] Yahweh saves. The Lord saves. What we see Jesus saying and doing in the New Testament is that he is acting and speaking in ways that only Yahweh acted and spoke.

[29:23] Even to the point of that great statement in John 8 when Jesus said, before Abraham was, I am. The New Testament writers using both these references, I am, and the name to explain who Jesus is.

[29:39] And John, the Gospel writer, uses this perhaps more deliberately than others with the I am statements. But when the New Testament writers call Jesus Lord, whenever you see Lord in the New Testament, what is it that Paul says?

[29:56] The Gospel is what we proclaim as Jesus as Lord. And while that has significance in a world where Caesar is Lord, it has even more significance filled in with the Old Testament because what they're really doing is they're equating Jesus with Yahweh.

[30:19] See, all that stuff in our great history with our great God ever to be remembered as Yahweh, Adonai, well, guess who he is? Jesus is him.

[30:34] And so, when the New Testament writers write this, for instance, in Acts chapter 2, Peter quotes the prophet Joel and says that statement, who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

[30:46] If you flip back to Joel, it says, whoever calls upon the name of Yahweh. Yet, Peter says, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord, and he says, and guess who that is?

[30:57] That is Jesus. So, Jesus is Yahweh. It's the same in Romans 10. Paul quotes the same verse in Joel in Romans 10, and who does he say it is?

[31:11] Jesus. And you can flip back and see this. And so, all over the New Testament, Jesus is the incarnate Yahweh. When Hebrews says that Moses saw the invisible God, Jesus is the image of the invisible God.

[31:30] The invisible God has now been enfleshed. Jesus is the great I am. He's the God who is and always will be the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last.

[31:42] Colossians 1 says, by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

[31:57] Therefore, there may be other Elohim, whether visible or invisible, there may be other rulers and authorities, there may be other rulers and authorities, but there is only one Yahweh, there is only one Jesus.

[32:11] He is the sole creator and ruler of all that exists and he himself is the one who exists eternally in and of himself who always has and always will be.

[32:23] You see, the God who was with Moses is the same today as he was then because it is who he is. And how important for the first readers, for the first people who went through the Exodus, knowing that God is who he is, that he is ever existing and never changing, self-sufficient and always will be, that who he was with Abraham is who he still is, who he was to Isaac and Jacob is who he always will be, that who he was in the beginning is who he is now and forever.

[32:59] You see, I don't know if you remember a way back in Genesis 12 when God called Abraham out. Where did Abraham go? Do you remember? Abraham took a little trip down to Egypt.

[33:14] You see, the God who showed himself powerful in Egypt before when Abraham was there and the Pharaoh sent Abraham and Sarah out because of a plague, because of the God of Abraham.

[33:29] For the readers, for the people of Israel who are in slavery, can the God of Abraham not do the very same thing with this new Pharaoh as he did back then and compel him by plagues that he might let the people go and send them out.

[33:46] He's the same God, the same God, the same God who can show this Pharaoh such power to compel him to send the Israelites out. this would have been surely reassuring, reassuring and the incredible thing is, as much as this invites trust in what they didn't know, it also invites trust in what they did know.

[34:09] it invites them to trust because they knew that about their history but it also invites trust because of what they didn't yet know. The name of God was nowhere near as full of meaning to them in Egypt as it was post-Exodus.

[34:24] And so, as we said before, knowing the name of the true God and putting your trust in him is only the beginning of truly knowing who he is and what that means. God will fill in the meaning of his name by all the things that he does.

[34:40] And nothing changes in God, only that he reveals in action who he is in essence. God reveals in action who he is in essence.

[34:52] What we know about God, even today, has always been true about God but not always known. What we do know about God is as true today as it was then.

[35:08] what we do know about God then is as true about God now as it was then even today for us. Knowing all of the above gives us great confidence but it also invites us to trust God and let him give meaning to who he is.

[35:29] When the Israelites and Moses knew about God before the Exodus and what they knew about him and the name they knew, this was massively filled in along the way when they went through the Exodus.

[35:42] Think about how God revealed himself in Exodus itself. Think about how incredible that was. They were learning who God was. Yet even standing on the other side of the Red Sea, we know now looking back that they would see far more in the wilderness, in the foot of Sinai and in the promised land.

[36:06] God was still going to fill meaning into his name. And so think about this for a moment, just where you are sitting today, who you are and your experience of God, how you believe in Jesus, what you know of Jesus and what you know of God right now in this very moment.

[36:23] Think about this. Think about the utterly incredible vantage point we have in history to know about God. you see this is what it says in Hebrews.

[36:39] It says at the beginning of Hebrews that long ago at many times and in many ways God spoke to our fathers by the prophets but in these last days he has spoken to us by his son.

[36:57] whom he appointed to the exodus yet they were still not at a point of knowing God through his son.

[37:09] Think about all the prophets who God spoke through yet even as Peter says the prophets longed to see who this was that they were talking about.

[37:19] Who is the Christ that they are talking about? Yet in these last days he has spoken to us by his son. Whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world.

[37:31] He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. So folks we are at an absolutely incredible vantage point in history to know who God is.

[37:53] The things that have happened whether you believe it or not these things happened in history. They cannot be undone. Jesus came revealed God died on the cross rose again the apostles spread the word that is why we're sitting here today but when you have faith in Jesus when you become a Christian think about how God has revealed to you in him in your life.

[38:22] Think about how much meaning is filled in to everything that has gone before and think about this if it was true of them back in the exodus yet more and more was revealed to them throughout that experience if that was true of them in the exodus and then God filled more meaning along the way then to the extent think about how God was revealed in his name I am Yahweh how he filled meaning in through the exodus but how much more was that filled in when Jesus turned up when his son appeared incredible revelation of God and so if they were at a vantage point of learning who God is through this revelation and yet much more was still to come do you think we've had everything now brothers and sisters we ain't seen nothing yet nothing no eye has seen no mind can imagine we don't know we simply cannot fathom or comprehend who

[39:41] God is he is going to reveal himself in wonderful massive majestic ways still think about when we see him face to face what do you think it will be like like the songwriter says I can only imagine well the scripture says no you can't you can't even imagine that's the majestic nature of it is you can't even imagine it's beyond your human finite imagination Peter says you love him yet you have not seen him think about what it will be like when you see him think about the revelation that the apostles got think think about the revelation that the beloved disciple John one of the closest friends of Jesus the miracles he saw the things that he heard and in his letter he says our eyes have seen our ears have heard our hands have touched we have experienced him first hand yet when you get to revelation and he sees

[40:43] Jesus boy he learns that he has seen nothing yet and he falls down flat and thinks that he's going to die and Jesus says it's me it is I I am the first and the last but you just don't fully know who I am and you will if you're trusting in Jesus then you are trusting in Yahweh you are trusting in the great I am the same God who was with Moses the God who rescued Israel from Egypt and brought them into the promised land if you're trusting in Jesus the one who in Moses day struck down Pharaoh Pharaoh was the symbol of the serpent you see the symbol of Pharaoh's divine kingship was the serpent that's why he's got the serpent on his head you remember God said in Genesis 3 there will be enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman but the offspring of the woman would crush the head of the serpent well in

[41:45] Exodus the serpent crusher the serpent is Pharaoh in Egypt and the serpent crusher is Yahweh the seed of the woman we will learn as Jesus Yahweh incarnate the son of God himself can he not do for you what Yahweh did for the Israelites in Egypt of course he can do so and more will he not be who he is if he is the great I am will he not do what he says do we have a different Jesus than the apostles had no we do not do we have a different God than Moses had no we do not he is who he is forever will be always was Hebrews 13 says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever you see we know his name we know his name he is the name that is above every other name the only name given by which men can be saved in heaven and earth he is the name by which every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that

[43:07] Jesus Christ is the great I am the Lord the Messiah God himself we know his name and we are called to trust him and to remember him forever and forever we will see the meaning of his name filled in with the glory of who he is and all that he does folks we are going to see Jesus more and more we are going to see what that means for him to be our savior in ways that we cannot even imagine yet and so let us have this in mind in a few moments we're going to take bread and wine we're going to remember this name forever and so let that name be filled in with the meaning of all that has come to this point and all that will come because he is who he is he is who he is today yesterday and who he forever will be let me pray oh lord our god jesus you are our great god you are i am you are yahweh you are the one who was with moses who was with abraham isaac and jacob you are the one in the beginning who made all things and made them good you are the one who defeated all gods in egypt and every other god and every other time you are the one who spoke through the prophets you are the law that was given in word you are the word of god and you are the son of god who appeared in flesh and you are sitting at the right hand of god ascended ruling above all things and you are our god you are the same with us as you ever have been and we pray that you would give us the confidence and assurance of that that you are with us that you have said that you will be with us and that is no less true of us than it was with

[45:28] Moses or the apostles and the things that you have done are as true to us as they are when you appeared and the things that you said you will do you will do because you are the one who is and ever will be and so give us confidence and assurance in your name and let us praise and remember and worship your name forever for we pray in the name of Jesus our Lord and our God Amen Amen Well we're going to sing a song and then we're going to stop briefly and then we're going to take communion together