because of their slave drivers, and I am 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, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and Jebusites.
And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me,
and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
So now go.
I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.
But Moses said to God,
Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?
And God said,
I will be with you,
and this will be a sign to you that it is I who have sent you.
When you have brought the people out of Egypt,
you will worship God on this mountain.
Moses said to God,
Suppose I go to the Israelites and they say to them,
The God of your fathers has sent me to you,
and they ask me,
What is his name?
Then what shall I tell them?
God said to Moses,
I am who I am.
This is what you are to say to the Israelites.
I am has sent me to you.
God also said to Moses,
Say to the Israelites,
The Lord,
the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham,
and the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob
has sent me to you.
This is my name forever.
The name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation.
Go,
assemble the elders of Israel,
and say to them,
The Lord,
the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham,
and Isaac,
and Jacob
appeared to me and said,
I have watched over you,
and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt.
And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt,
into the land of the Canaanites,
the Hivites,
the Amorites,
the Perizzites,
the Hivites,
and Jebusites,
a land flowing with milk and honey.
The elders of Israel will listen to you.
Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him,
The Lord,
the God of the Hebrews,
has sent,
has met with us.
Let us take a three-day journey into the desert
to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God.
But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go
unless a mighty hand compels him.
So I will stretch out my hand
and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them.
After that,
he will let you go.
And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed towards his people,
so that when you leave,
you will not go empty-handed.
Every woman is to ask her neighbor
and any woman living in her house
for articles of silver and gold and for clothing,
which you will put on your sons and daughters,
and so you will plunder the Egyptians.
Jonathan.
Thank you.
Let's just bow ahead and pray just as we come to God's word.
Father,
we do thank you for your word,
for that living and active word.
I pray indeed as we hear the words from Scripture
that indeed our hearts will be changed,
that our desire will be to know you more,
to live out our lives in service to you.
Help us, Lord,
to concentrate,
to focus on you,
and to be enthralled once again
at how mighty,
and what a great God you are.
Amen.
I'd like to ask you a question.
Do you like rescue stories?
You do?
You might remember a number of years ago,
there was these miners in Chile
got caught in a mine deep underground.
Do you remember that?
There was 33 men
were stuck over 2,000 feet down,
and for a few days,
nobody even knew they were alive.
Once they knew they were alive,
people made huge efforts to save them.
In fact,
for nearly 70 days,
they made efforts.
They were sending down food and water,
coming up with ways to save them.
By the 69th day,
when the first miners were coming up from the ground,
one billion people, it was estimated,
were watching it live.
So if you can imagine that,
all these people all around the world,
with all that was going on in their lives,
were tuning in to see 33 people
in a small part of Chile
being raised to the ground.
Why were people so interested in that?
Why was it the focus of so many conversations,
the focus of so many news reports?
Is it because we like to see people rescued?
We don't want people to suffer.
After all,
these were real men
who were down underground
in a desperate situation,
couldn't save themselves.
Maybe that's why we were so interested in them.
Our movies.
We do like rescue movies as well,
don't we?
Movies like Spartacus
or Braveheart.
And often in these movies,
there's a hero.
And we like heroes,
don't we?
We want to know what the hero is like.
If we think of Braveheart,
you think of William Wallace.
He was raised up
to try to save,
to rescue his people,
the Scottish people,
from being under the British.
And he said to them,
Scotland needs to be free.
And people were excited about that.
But William Wallace,
who was he?
After all,
is he going to be able to help them?
Because if it's going to be a rescue,
and there's going to be a hero
to do the rescue,
we actually want to know
what they're like,
don't we?
Because a hero needs to be able
to complete what he's doing.
There's no point in giving
false hope to somebody
if he's not going to be able
to do it.
In our reading this morning,
it's from Exodus chapter 3,
and we're going to see
a great rescue.
Now,
if we're familiar with Exodus,
different things will come
to our minds.
For example,
we might think of
the Ten Commandments,
or we might think of
the plagues in Egypt,
or we might think of
Moses in a basket,
going back to perhaps
if you've heard the stories
or seen pictures
in Sunday school
or something of the
Moses in a basket,
and being saved.
Well,
if you have your Bibles open,
turn back to chapter 1 of Exodus.
Our passage is right
at the start of Exodus,
and we see the context
for our passage.
chapter 1,
it speaks of the sons of Israel
who went from their land of Canaan
down into Egypt.
And when they arrived,
they started to have children
and more children and children
until the generations passed.
And for a long time,
everything went well.
Look at verse 7 of chapter 1.
But the Israelites were fruitful
and multiplied greatly
and became exceedingly numerous.
They were prospering.
But in their prospering,
they came to notice
of the king.
Look at verse 9.
Look, the king said,
the Israelites have become
too numerous for us.
Come,
we must deal with them shrewdly
or they will become
even more numerous.
And here was the main worry he had.
And if war breaks out,
they will join our enemies,
fight against us,
and leave the country.
So he came up with a solution.
I'll make them slaves.
And that's exactly what he did.
Look down in verse 11.
He put slave masters over them.
Verse 12.
He oppressed them
and he treated them ruthlessly.
In verse 14,
it tells us that their lives were bitter
and they had hard labor.
They weren't very happy about this,
were they?
How could this actually happen?
Because back in Genesis,
we're told when Israel
and all his sons
came down into Egypt,
the king actually welcomed them.
This was good.
This was a good thing to happen.
Yet, all these years later,
they were being treated as slaves.
And if that wasn't bad enough,
look at verse 22.
Because the slavery wasn't working
and the Israelites were still
growing in number,
Pharaoh had another idea.
And this time he said,
let's kill every boy
that is born
and throw them into the Nile.
This was going to be a solution
to the growing number
of the Israelites.
Now, if this happened nowadays,
there'd be an international outcry.
We'd hear about it on the UN.
It'd be all over social media.
There might even be military intervention
from a neighboring country.
But for the Israelites,
they were stuck.
They were in their slavery.
There was nothing they could do
except groan out and cry.
Look at verse 23 of chapter 2.
It says,
the Israelites groaned in their slavery
and cried out
because they were powerless.
There was absolutely no one
was going to help them.
All they could do was cry and groan.
Now, just pause for a moment.
You've got these people in Egypt.
They were slaves.
They were no power, no freedom.
They were fearing for their children.
They basically had no life.
They were in a desperate situation.
We see something like that
even in modern days
when we see the migrants
trying to flee North Africa,
trying to get to Europe.
They were desperate.
They couldn't do anything themselves.
They were hopping on boats to go across.
In one interview,
one man was interviewed
and he said,
I didn't know
whether I was going to live or die.
And I wondered
how the Israelites felt.
After all,
they didn't know
whether they were going to live or die.
I mean,
did no one care
about their circumstances?
Now,
bear in mind,
these are the children of Israel.
I wonder,
did it come to their mind,
where was God in all this?
Here they were,
slaves,
powerless,
they couldn't do anything.
Is it right to ask,
where is God?
Why isn't God doing anything about this?
After all,
was a promise not made
to their forefather Abraham?
Do you remember back in Genesis,
in Genesis chapter 12 and 17,
God made promises to Abraham.
He said,
I will bless you.
You will be the father of many nations.
I will be your God
and you will be my people.
And not only that,
but I'm going to give you this great land,
a land flowing with milk and honey.
But what were they looking around at now?
They were looking at half-built cities
that they were supposed to be building
or fields that they're supposed to work in
that never seem to be finished.
How could that happen?
Had God forgotten them?
Had God broken his promise?
Maybe God wasn't able
to fulfill his promise.
After all,
he said,
I'll bring you into this land,
but they weren't there.
Or maybe God had chosen someone else.
Maybe he'd chosen another people group
in the world
and said,
I'll forget about these guys.
I wonder if that goes through
the minds of the Israelites.
And so often for us,
when we're going through
different circumstances,
we too might think these things.
Where is God?
We might say it out loud,
but do we often find ourselves
in a situation
where we're thinking,
life isn't great at the moment.
It had so much promise.
I had ideas.
I was going to do this,
this,
and it's working out badly.
And to actually ask ourselves,
where is God in all this?
Did God forget about us?
I cry out.
I don't need to hear anything.
Is God concerned?
Well,
the Israelites were about to find out.
Look in our passage in verse 7,
what God had to say
about their crying out.
Verse 7 of chapter 3,
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 am concerned
about their suffering.
Think about the words
that were used.
The Lord says,
I have seen them.
So he's able to see
what was going on in Egypt.
But not only did he see it,
but he also heard it.
He knew exactly what was going on.
He could see the misery they were in,
the hopeless situation.
But at the end of the verse,
it also says,
I am concerned.
In some verses it says,
I knew God had full knowledge
of what was going on in Egypt.
But not only that,
he was willing to do something about it.
Look at verse 8.
So I have come down to rescue them
from the hand of the Egyptians.
Isn't that going to be wonderful news
for the Israelites?
They're now hearing that God
not only hears their cries for help,
not only does he see it,
but he's actually going to come down
and help them.
He was willing to associate with them,
to identify himself with them
by coming down.
Isn't that an amazing thought
that the God of all creation
was willing to come down
and rescue his people?
We sing a popular song,
My God is Mighty to Save,
and the Israelites were about to find out
the truth of that song.
Now, God could have saved
the Israelites by himself.
Couldn't he?
He literally could have just
opened up the gates of Israel,
let all the people pass through,
and go up to the land.
But he didn't.
He had a certain plan
of action.
Look at verse 1,
when we're introduced to Moses.
Now, Moses was going about
his normal, everyday business
as a shepherd.
And he sees a burning bush,
and this is probably a story
that's very familiar to us.
And being curious,
as any of us was,
he went over to it.
And God calls out to him.
He says in verse 4,
Moses, Moses.
And Moses replies,
Here I am.
And then God identifies himself.
He says in verse 6,
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.
God was identifying himself
to Moses.
He was saying,
I am the God of your father.
He was linking Moses
with his family back in Egypt.
But not only that,
he was also the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob,
linking back to the entire people
of Israel.
And God had something
very important to say to Moses.
Look down in verse 10.
So now go.
I am sending you to Pharaoh
to bring my people,
the Israelites,
out of Egypt.
Moses was about to become
the mediator
between God and man.
Now to say Moses
didn't jump at the idea
of being a mediator
would be an understatement.
Look at verse 11.
But God said,
but Moses said to God,
who am I
that I should go to Pharaoh
and bring the Israelites out?
Moses was immediately
looking at himself
and saying,
I'm not going to be able
to do this.
Now,
God doesn't say,
oh actually Moses,
you're the perfect man
to do this.
You're qualified.
You're going to be able.
Look at what God says to him
in verse 12.
He says,
I will be with you.
Because that's what
Moses needed
to go
and rescue the people.
The fact that God
was with him.
Now,
this actually wasn't
good enough for Moses.
And he had
another question.
Look down
in verse 13.
Moses said to God,
suppose I go
to the Israelites
and say to them,
the God of your fathers
has sent me to you
and they ask me,
what is his name?
And then what
shall I tell them?
For whatever reason,
Moses wanted to know
what God's name was
so that he could
have authority
in going to the Israelites.
And the next two verses
reveal something
about God
that was never
revealed before.
And we learn something
about the nature
and character of God.
Reading from verse 14.
God said to Moses,
I am who I am.
This is what you are
to say to the Israelites.
I am has sent me to you.
Verse 15.
God also said to Moses,
say to the Israelites,
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.
This is my name forever,
the name by which
I am to be remembered
from generation
to generation.
God was giving
a name to Moses
that hadn't been given before.
We know that
because later on
in chapter 6,
God says,
this is something
I've never told them before.
And what is God's name?
Well,
it's a little confusing
when we read it first.
Look at verse 14 again.
He says,
I am who I am.
I mean,
what does that mean?
At the end of verse 14,
he says,
I am has sent you.
And then in verse 15,
look at the word
in caps,
in capitals,
the Lord,
which he's calling himself
the God of your fathers.
What is God
actually saying here?
Is he using the word
I am
and the word Lord
interchangeably?
In other words,
he's saying,
I am the same as Lord.
Well,
first looking at the word Lord.
If you ever see
in your Bible
the word Lord
in capitals,
L-O-R-D,
the Hebrew word
has only four letters in it.
You might be familiar with it.
Y-H-W-H
and we pronounce that word
Yahweh.
So,
God was giving
a name to Moses
that he hadn't given before.
Lord,
or Yahweh.
It was his personal name
or if you'd like,
his covenant name.
But he's also calling himself
I am.
Well,
what's the connection?
Well,
the root word for both
is the verb
to be.
So,
what God was saying was
I am.
I simply exist.
Now,
pause for a moment
to think,
what does that mean?
If God says,
I am,
I just am.
It's a very strange thing to say,
but think about
what it actually means.
If something
is just is,
it's just there.
There's no beginning
and there's no end.
So,
what we could say
is that God
is revealing something
about himself
that we can understand
to be
an exciting
illustration
of what God is like.
We might say
God exists.
That might seem obvious.
We know God exists.
What he's saying is
I never didn't exist.
So often we can live our lives
as if God doesn't exist.
Well,
how are the Israelites
going to hear that?
Here they are
in their slavery.
Nobody seems to be
listening to them
and all of a sudden
Moses is going to come
and say to them,
I am.
In other words,
I exist.
Isn't that going to be
exciting for them after all?
Here they are.
They had no hope
in their lives
and God
was going to tell them,
well,
actually,
I exist.
So,
if there was a time,
no time
that God didn't exist,
then
God is more
powerful
than anything
or anywhere else
because
if God
always existed,
then nobody
created him.
There was no power
or authority
that was bigger than him.
In fact,
God wasn't influenced
or reliant
on anyone.
He was
totally
sovereign.
So when the Israelites
are hearing
that God
is coming
to save them,
they can be assured
of this,
that there was
no one
greater than him.
There was no one
God was reliant on.
there was no one
that was going
to tell God
what to do.
In fact,
if God
always existed
and he just
is,
he also
doesn't
change.
So when
God
was going
to tell the Israelites
that I am
has sent you,
what he was saying
was also,
I'm not going
to change.
I am a God
of love.
I will always
be a God
of love.
I am a faithful
God.
I will always
be a faithful
God.
When I made
you a promise,
when I made
a promise
to Abraham,
I'm going
to keep
that promise.
So,
what's
in a name?
Well,
tied up in
God's name,
the Lord,
is that
he's an
active God.
He's an
ever-present
God.
He's not
going to
change.
We're not
going to be
surprised.
He's not
going to do
anything out
of character.
And no
matter what
place or
what time
or what
circumstances,
any of
us are
in,
God is
always
going to
be there.
So,
we ask
ourselves,
is God
going to
be able
to save
the rest
of the
people of
Israel?
After all,
we always
want to
know,
if someone's
going to
save us,
are they
going to
be able?
Well,
God was
just about
to tell
the Israelites,
there was
no one
else able.
I am
able.
I am
mighty
to save.
So,
if he's
established
that God
is going
to be
able to
save the
Israelites,
how did
the rescue
work itself
out?
Look over
at verse
16.
God was
going to
reveal his
rescue plan
to Moses,
and in a
sense,
it was
actually quite
simple.
He'd already
told Moses
to go,
and in
verse 16,
he now
tells him
to go
again.
But this
time,
he was
going to
go to
the elders
of the
Israelites,
those who
were leading
Israel,
and he
was going
to tell
them the
good news
that God
himself was
going to
do the
rescue.
Verse 16,
go assemble
the elders
of Israel
and say
to them,
the Lord,
the God
of your
fathers,
appeared to
me and
said,
I have
watched
over you
and have
seen what
has been
done in
Egypt.
No doubt
they're going
to be very
excited at
that,
and even
more excited
from verse
17,
and I have
promised to
bring you up
out of the
land of your
misery into
the land of
the Canaanites
and all
these other
people groups,
a land
flowing with
milk and
honey.
So Moses
was going to
go to the
elders,
tell them the
good news
is coming,
and then,
in verse 18,
they were all
going to go to
Pharaoh and
say,
we're going to
take a journey
out into the
desert.
But God in
his providence
tells Moses
something.
He tells in
verse 19
that Pharaoh
isn't going to
like the idea
in fact,
he's going
to say no.
Now,
that's actually
not very
helpful,
really,
if you're
about to
be told
God's going
to rescue
and then
say,
well,
actually,
Pharaoh's
not going
to go
along with
the plan.
But God
was going
to do
something
amazing
in Egypt.
In
verse 20,
we see
that God
was going
to bring
judgment
on Egypt.
You see,
the Egyptians
hadn't treated
God's people
well,
and there was
going to have
to be a
price to pay
for that.
And God
was going
to bring
judgment,
and they
were going
to pay
for what
they've
done.
Look down
in the end
of verse 20.
After that,
he will
let you
go.
And surely
that's what
the Israelites
wanted to hear,
that they
can now
go.
But when
you're being
rescued,
you don't
want to be
just rescued
out of
your own
situation,
you want
to be
rescued
to
something.
Look at
verse 17
again.
The Israelites
are going
to hear
this great
news that
not only
are they
going to
be taken
out of
the misery
of Egypt,
but into
a land
that is
flowing
with milk
and honey.
And this
rescue of
the Israelites
is something
that was
going to be
remembered
for generations
to generation.
If you
think of
even the
passage that
Ralph was
reading earlier
in Exodus
chapter 15,
there were
songs written
about these
rescues.
We see
it in
the Psalms,
in Psalms
77,
78.
We know
it in
the Passover.
It's
remembered
that God
had rescued
his people.
But we
also see
it in
the New
Testament.
If you
ever read
Acts
chapter 7
about the
stoning
of Stephen,
Stephen
refers to
this rescue
from Egypt
by God.
We also
see it in
Hebrews
chapter 11,
that great
chapter of
faith.
the writer
speaks of
being saved
out of
that
exodus.
But this
rescue,
it's been
remembered for
generations to
generations.
But do we
see something
greater than
that?
You know,
if we're
watching a
movie and
we really
like it and
they bring
out a
sequel,
we often
want to go
and see the
sequel,
but it's
never as
good as
the original.
But in
this rescue
that we're
reading about
here, we
see that
there's
actually an
even greater
rescue.
Think of
the similarities
that we have
read in
our passage
just now.
You see,
a lot of
what we
read in
the Old
Testament
finds its
fulfillment in
the New.
There's so
many people
and events
that we read
about and
it's like a
shadow.
We see
something greater
in the New
Testament and
this rescue
is one of
those great
events.
Think of
the position
of the
Israelites.
They were
in slavery
and there
was nothing
they could
do about
it.
Now,
we don't
have slave
bastards over
us.
We're not
forced to
do things
we don't
want to
do.
Not all
the time
anyway.
But are
we still
not in
slavery?
Think of
the words
of Jesus.
In chapter
8, verse
34, he
said, everyone
who sins
is a
slave to
sin.
That's
everyone.
Now, you
might say
to yourself,
well, that
doesn't include
me because
I don't
sin.
But Paul
wrote in
Romans
chapter 3,
verse 23,
all have
sinned and
fall short
of the
glory of
God.
So, in
effect, all
of us were
once slaves
to sin.
Just like
the Israelites,
we were
slaves.
and like
the Israelites,
there is
nothing we
can do
in it.
We're
powerless
in ourselves
to save
ourselves.
Think also
of the
mediator.
God
chose
Moses to
be a
mediator.
Somebody to
come between
God and
the people.
But is
there not
a greater
mediator that
came?
In 1
Timothy
chapter 2,
Jesus is
referred to
as a
mediator.
it says
there is
one
mediator
between
God and
man,
the man
Christ
Jesus.
Moses,
he was
faithful as
a servant
in bringing
the people
out of
Israel.
But Jesus,
it speaks
in Hebrews,
he was
faithful as
a son
because Jesus
is greater
than
Moses and
we needed
a mediator
because there
was nothing
we could
do.
you might
recall we
spoke about
God coming
down to
rescue the
Israelites.
What an
amazing thought
that is.
In the
powerlessness
of the
Israelites,
God came
down.
Aren't there
wonderful verses
in the New
Testament that
speak of
Jesus coming
down to
rescue us
from our
sins?
Think of
Romans chapter
5,
verse 6.
It says,
you see,
at just
the right
time,
when we
were still
powerless,
Christ died
for the
ungodly.
That's all
of us.
There was
nothing we
could do.
God came
down to
rescue the
Israelites.
And we
see it in
the New
Testament,
Jesus coming
down to
rescue us.
Turn back,
if you will,
to verse 12
of Exodus.
Exodus.
When
Moses asked
his very
first question
and God
said,
I will be
with you,
he also
said something
else,
something very
interesting.
He said,
and this
will be the
sign to
you that
I,
who have
sent you,
when you
have brought
the people
out of
Egypt,
you will
worship
God on
this mountain.
So as
soon as
they came
out of
Egypt,
they were
going to
gather together
on the
mountain and
worship God.
And that
was fulfilled
on Mount
Sinai when
they all
came together
and worshipped.
A little
earlier,
Ralph referred
to it,
there's going
to be a
time for
us as
believers in
Christ when
we too are
going to be
finally rescued,
when we're
going to be
in eternity
with God,
when we
will gather
together and
worship.
Let me read
these verses
from Revelation
chapter 7,
which Ralph
mentioned.
And we
also,
you might
recall as
we read
it,
that we
also sang
in one
of our
songs.
In
verse 9
of chapter
7 of
Revelation,
it is
written,
After this
I looked,
and there
before me
was a
great
multitude
that no
one could
count,
from every
nation,
tribe,
people,
and language
standing
before the
throne and
in front
of the
Lamb.
they were
wearing white
robes and
were holding
palm branches
in their
hands,
and they
cried out
in a loud
voice,
salvation
belongs to
our God
who sits
on the
throne and
to the
Lamb.
There was
no one
else that
could save
the Israelites,
and there was
no one else
could save
us.
Salvation
belongs to
our God,
and that
will be
for us,
we can
look forward
to that,
that one
day we
will,
as believers,
we will be
together to
worship the
Lord.
But what
about sin?
What about
sin we've
just said,
that all
have sinned
and fall
short of
the glory
of God?
Think back
on the
judgment
that God
brought on
the Egyptians.
He said
to them
that he
would stretch
out his
hand and
strike them
because of
what they
had done.
But for
us, we
don't have
to pay
that penalty
for our
sin.
Listen to
these words
from 1
Peter 24.
He himself
bore our
sins on
the cross.
You see,
for us,
there was a
penalty to
pay as
well, but
we, unlike
the Egyptians,
didn't have
to pay it.
It was
Christ who
paid for
that penalty
penalty.
But there's
one other
thing that
we can
learn from
this rescue,
and that's
a further
revelation of
God.
We have
seen how
God was
revealing his
name, the
covenant name,
I am.
Does that
sound familiar
to you?
Have you
heard the
words I
am from
the New
Testament?
in John
chapter 8,
Jesus
himself used
that phrase.
In chapter
8, verse
58, Jesus
said,
I tell
you the
truth.
Jesus
answered,
before Abraham
was born,
I am.
Jesus was
using the
very name
of God
for himself.
blasphemy.
Now, if
that was a
mere man
did that,
he would
have deserved
to be accused
of blasphemy.
But Jesus
said, I tell
you the truth,
because this
was the
truth.
And if we
think, oh
well, maybe
that wasn't
what Jesus
was saying,
well, the
people at that
time certainly
understood what
he was saying,
because the
following verse
says,
at this,
they picked
up stones
to stone
him, but
Jesus hid
himself.
They knew
exactly what
Jesus was
doing, because
Jesus was
identifying,
making himself
equal to
God.
And now
we have a
wonderful
opportunity to
know more
about God
through Jesus.
Jesus said
in John
chapter 14,
that anyone
who has
seen him
has seen
the Father.
And Hebrews,
wonderful words
in Hebrews
chapter 1,
they say
that Jesus
is the
radiance
of God's
glory, and
the exact
representation
of his
being.
We now
have the
benefit of
having further
revelation of
God in
Jesus.
So, what
can we learn
from this?
After all,
we've concluded
that God is
able to
save.
But you
know, as
believers, we
can go through
difficult times
we can go
through struggles,
we can get
tired, and
there can be
times, if
we're honest,
that we feel
God isn't
there, or
he's not
listening to
us.
So what
can we do?
Well, we
can reflect on
God's character.
We can learn
from this
passage about
the uniqueness
of God, the
fact that there's
no one greater
than God, and
the fact that he
is able to
save.
We can reflect
on the fact that
he keeps
his promises.
We have
his continuous
presence, because
we can lose
sight of God, but
we can pick up
God's word and
meditate on
various passages
that speak of
God.
Think of passages
such as Isaiah
chapter 40, or
Colossians chapter
1, that speak of
the supremacy of
Christ.
When Moses met
with God and
God spoke, his
reaction was to
hide his face.
he was in
awe of God.
Do we
sometimes lose
that sense of
awe of God?
When we read
God's word and
we realize how
great God is, we
can relive that
sense of awe,
because God is
so much more
wonderful, and
when we think we
might have him
sussed, well, we
don't, because God
is far greater than
we can even ever
imagine.
rest in God.
Do you know when
we get up tomorrow
morning as a
believer, we don't
have to think about
how can we please
God today such that
he'll make sure he
saves us.
We don't have to
worry, well, what
if I do something
today and I don't
end up being among
that great throng in
Revelation.
When Jesus died on
the cross, he said,
it is finished.
We cannot add to
our salvation.
We can rest in
that.
But in that
resting in Jesus, we
can also find
refreshment.
Think of these
words in Isaiah
chapter 40.
Let me read them
out.
Why do you say,
O Jacob, and
complain, O Israel,
my way is hidden
from the Lord?
My cause is
disregarded by my
God.
But look at what
Isaiah says.
He says, do you
not know, have you
not heard, the
Lord is the
everlasting God, the
creator of the
ends of the earth.
We can rest in
that God.
He will not grow
tired or weary, and
his understanding
no one can
fathom.
In verse 29, it
reads, he gives
strength to the
weary, because we
do get weary.
And increases the
power of the
weak.
Even youths grow
tired and weary, and
young men stumble and
fall.
But listen to this, but
those who hope in the
Lord will renew their
strengths.
And when we rest in
God, we can renew our
strength.
They will soar on
wings like eagles.
They will run and not
grow weary.
They will walk and not
be faint.
And finally, we can
rely on God.
We've just read that
about resting in
God.
We can totally rely on
him for our
salvation.
And when he makes
promises to us, he
will fulfill them.
So when he promises
that our sin is
forgiven, it's
forgiven.
And when he promises
that we will spend
eternity with him, we
will do that, because
we can, he is totally
trustworthy.
So is God a mighty
God?
Is he mighty to save?
The Israelites could
say yes, and we too
can say yes.
Let's just bow our
heads and pray.
Amen.
Father, thank you
indeed that you are
mighty to save.
I thank you that, as
we read, when you
saw the Israelites, you
saw, you heard, and
you were concerned.
But you also came
down.
And I thank you that
we can see that as a
picture of what Jesus
did for us in coming
down to take our sin
upon himself.
Unlike the Egyptians, we
didn't have to pay for
the penalty for our sin,
but it was all paid in
Jesus.
I thank you that in
Jesus we see and learn
more about you, Father.
I thank you for the
great truths of your
word that point us to
the promise of eternity
with you, and that as
believers we can look
forward to spending
eternity with you in
worship and in praise.
Salvation belongs to
our God.
Amen.
We're going to sing