30 July 2006: I AM IS THE LORD - He will remember!

TOPIC: Encouragement; faithfulness, God’s grace, and longsuffering

TITLE: I AM [IS] THE LORD - He will remember!

TEXT: Exodus 6:1-8

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land."

God spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD;
and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them. I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned. Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant.

Say, therefore, to the sons 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 their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the LORD.'"

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: How does the Lord encourage Moses?
CONCISE OUTLINE:

I. HE IDENTIFIES HIMSELF TO MOSES
II. HE PRESENTS EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT HIS CLAIM
III. HE REMINDS MOSES OF THE HISTORY OF HIS NAME
IV. HE REMINDS MOSES OF HIS PROMISES
V. HE REMINDS MOSES NOTHING MISSES HIS NOTICE
VI. HE REMINDS MOSES HE DIDN’T FORGET THE COVENANT

TRUTH/CONTEXT: Notice the wording - "you will see" ... and thus your faith in Me will increase; and twice He says Pharaoh will be "under compulsion."

NOTE: if you have a KJV you will see "with a strong hand shall he let them go"; this is a mistranslation of the Hebrew, better mss. have become available.

What will Moses see? He will witness Pharaoh 1.) let the people go and 2.) drive the people out of the land. And Pharaoh won't be able to stop himself in order that Moses might know why!

The Hebrews have not succeeded under Moses and Aaron; oh they've had some powerful moments but they're in even worse condition than before ... God's timing controlled events.

Then Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? "Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all."

Exodus 5:22-23

One would think a man of Moses age and experience would not have been so easily tempted by the Hebrews to confront God like this?

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: How does the Lord encourage Moses?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. HE IDENTIFIES HIMSELF TO MOSES

I Am [is the] Lord [v.2]

The verb of being (to be or to exist) ... in the Hebrew, as in all languages as far as I know, this verb does not have to be present in order to read it in context; in the absence of any other verb it may be assumed, if the context clearly allows it. This is one of those places!

In Exodus 3, especially v.14 the convention may be used often.

Four times God claims "I am (is) the LORD." He is tying this claim to the Patriarchs for a reason. Moses will know God by the same name and He wants to be sure Moses understands He is not another God, but the same with LORD.

God is responding to the grumbling of the Hebrews and their leader Moses one complaint at a time ...

II. HE PRESENTS EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT HIS CLAIM

I Appeared to Your Fathers [v. 3]

These are the three central witnesses of the Hebrew people; all Hebrew teachings descend from them.

Hebrews 12:1 speaks also of other Hebrew witnesses, referring back to Hebrews 11.

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us ...

And yet again their will be three witnesses ...

For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.

1 John 5:7-8

III. HE REMINDS MOSES OF THE HISTORY OF HIS NAME

But I Made My Name Known to You [v.3]

He appeared to the Patriarchs as El Shaddai (God Almighty), then he says "but by My name Jehovah, did I not make Myself known to them?" As He is now making Himself known to Moses. (LORD = Jehovah or YHWH).

On reflection ... since Moses knew the traditions by heart ... he must have realized and thought, "Have I lost my mind? What am I doing here?"

IV. HE REMINDS MOSES OF HIS PROMISES

I Established My Covenant [v.4]

YHWH is a God who keeps His word ... if He said a thing that thing is as good as done. So Moses is to understand that "the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned," is as good as his.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

Hebrews 11:1-3

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Hebrews 11:9-10

V. HE REMINDS MOSES NOTHING MISSES HIS NOTICE

I Heard Them [v.5]

God says, "You don't think I've not heard My children's cries, do you?"

In Genesis 16:11-15, Hagar is run out of Abram's camp at the insistence of Sarah; an angel finds her vanquished in the desert. She is to name her son Ishmael (the patriarch of all Muslims), which means "God heeds."

In Zechariah the prophet is taken to the Temple and shown the golden lampstand as it really is, and is asked to explain it...

The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel--these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth.

Zechariah 4:9-10

God both sees and heeds ... but more importantly, He...

VI. HE REMINDS MOSES HE DIDN’T FORGET THE COVENANT

I Remembered My Covenant [vv.4, 5]

God doesn't forget; it is part of both His nature and one of His great attributes - faithfulness.

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: And so here is the real meat of the passage for Christians today … what with all that is going on in the world.

God closes out His loving chastisement of Moses with some great encouragement, you and I need to appropriate it! It is the key "Church" segment of the passage. Speaking to us through Moses God says - [vv. 6-8]

A. I Will Unburden you!

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

Matthew 11:28

B. I Will Deliver You

... and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."

Romans 11:26

... we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us ...

2 Corinthians 1:9-10

C. I Will Redeem You

Redemption is a picture of someone getting back his personal possessions from a pawn shop where they’ve been hawked.

"with an outstretched arm" no less; a figure not unfamiliar to the Hebrews, for the hieroglyph for power is two outstretched arms ... the LORD only needs one, His right arm ... Christ Jesus!

You have a strong arm; Your hand is mighty, Your right hand is exalted.

Psalms 89:13

O sing to the LORD a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.

Psalms 98:1

Who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, Who divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name

Isaiah 63:12

But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

Galatians 4:4-5

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed ...

Titus 2:11-14a

D. I Will Claim You (as My people)

and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

Titus 14b

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.

1 Peter 2:9-10

E. I Will Be Your God

I, the LORD, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

Psalms 81:10

F. I Will Bring You

For the Scripture says, "WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."

Romans 10:11

G. I Will Give You

John 14:1 “In My Father’s house are many mansions …”

In the same way the promise made to Abram was not fully possessed by him but by Moses, the promises made to Moses have not been fully possessed by Israel but by the church through "a new way" made by a blood covenant, because the people were not faithful to the covenants [Acts 7:5; reread the whole message of Stephan before his death].

Will we be as faithful as God has given us freedom to be? Fear not this world or the things in this world for your country is not of this world!

RELATED LINKS: CRIB Sermons

TAGS: Homoletics, Preaching, Sermons

TAGS: Blessings, Deliverance, Encouragement, Exodus,
Grace, Hebrews, Egypt, Longsufffering, Moses, Redemption