The Deliverer God Prepared

The Deliverer God Prepared 

Exodus 2:11-25

 

 

Exodus 1–2:10 records how God prepared a deliverer for His people despite Pharaoh’s determined efforts to prevent it.

 

Pharaoh attempted to control the Hebrew population through slavery and the murder of Hebrew baby boys (Exodus 1). God had other plans.

 

In a remarkable display of God’s sovereignty, Pharaoh’s own daughter became the means by which Moses was preserved and raised (Exodus 2:1-10).

 

When she named him Moses, she did so because she had drawn him out of the water (Exodus 2:10). It was an appropriate name for the child she rescued. Yet unbeknownst to her, God was preparing a much greater “drawing out.” God was about to draw an entire nation out of slavery.

 

More than two million people would eventually be delivered through the man who had first been lifted out of the Nile. Every generation since has retold the story of God’s mighty deliverance through Moses.

 

In Exodus 2 we begin to see God’s preparation of the deliverer.

 

First, we see Moses’ early training.

 

Moses was nursed by his Hebrew mother and then raised in Pharaoh’s household (Exodus 2:7-10). According to Acts 7:22, he received the finest education available in the ancient world. He became a man of learning, influence, and ability.

 

Exodus 2:11 tells us that “many years later” Moses went out to visit his people. Acts 7:23 reveals that he was forty years old at this point.

 

The Hebrew expression translated “grown up” carries the idea of becoming great. By the age of forty, Moses had become great in the eyes of Egypt. He possessed education, position, influence, and ability. He knew he was a Hebrew, and Acts 7:25 indicates that he understood God had called him to deliver his people.

Acts 7:25 (NKJV) “For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.

 

Moses was educated, capable, and confident. He seemed ready for the task.

 

Yet everything fell apart.

 

Seeing an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew slave, Moses killed the Egyptian (Exodus 2:11-12). The following day, when he attempted to intervene between two Hebrews, he was rejected with the question, “Who made you a ruler and judge over us?” (Exodus 2:13-14).

Exodus 2:13-14 (NKJV) 13 And when he went out the second day, behold, two Hebrew men were fighting, and he said to the one who did the wrong, “Why are you striking your companion?” 14 Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!”

 

The Hebrews rejected him. The Egyptians sought to kill him (Exodus 2:15).

Exodus 2:15 (NKJV) When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.

 

Hebrews 11:24-25 tells us the deeper issue. Moses had chosen to identify himself with God’s people rather than enjoy the privileges of Pharaoh’s house. His murder of the Egyptian became the excuse, but the real issue was his identification with the Hebrews.

Hebrews 11:24-25 (NKJV) 24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,

 

As a result, Moses fled into the wilderness.

 

For the next forty years he tended sheep in Midian (Exodus 2:15-22). These years were not wasted years. They were years of preparation.

 

At forty, Moses thought he was ready.

 

At eighty, Moses thought he was incapable.

 

When God appeared to him at the burning bush, Moses responded with the question, “Who am I?” (Exodus 3:11).

Exodus 3:11 (NKJV) But Moses said to God, “Who [am] I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

 

Could this be the same man who forty years earlier had acted so boldly?

 

God had used the first forty years to teach Moses the wisdom of Egypt. He used the second forty years to teach Moses dependence upon God.

 

Both were necessary.

 

God was preparing a deliverer, but the deliverance would not be accomplished through human greatness. Many years later, Zechariah would summarize this principle in a single statement: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” (Zechariah 4:6).

Zechariah 4:6 (NKJV) … ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the LORD of hosts.

 

God was teaching Moses that the work ahead would not be accomplished by education, influence, or personal strength. It would be accomplished by the power of God.

 

At the same time God was preparing the deliverer, He was also preparing the people to be delivered.

 

Acts 7 reminds us that Israel initially rejected Moses (Acts 7:35). The same chapter contains Stephen’s stern rebuke concerning Israel’s long history of resisting God’s work (Acts 7:51).

Acts 7:35 (NKJV) “This Moses whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one God sent [to be] a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush.

 

Acts 7:51 (NKJV) “[You] stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers [did,] so [do] you.

 

When Moses first attempted to help his people, they wanted nothing to do with him.

 

Forty years later things were different.

 

By the end of Exodus 2, the suffering of the Israelites had become unbearable. They were groaning under their bondage and crying out to God (Exodus 2:23-25). When God speaks to Moses in Exodus 3, He repeatedly refers to hearing their cries and seeing their affliction (Exodus 3:7-10).

Exodus 3:7 (NKJV) And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who [are] in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.

 

The people who once rejected Moses had now reached the point where they knew they could not save themselves.

 

The deliverer was ready.

 

The people were ready.

 

God’s time had come.

 

It is at this moment that God reveals Himself to Moses as “I AM” (Exodus 3:14).

Exodus 3:14 (NKJV) And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

 

This is God’s personal covenant name. We rightly think of Him as Creator, Provider, Shepherd, Savior, and King. Yet in humanity’s greatest moments of weakness and need, we discover the comfort of the God who simply says, “I AM.”

 

He is everything His people need Him to be.

 

God still works deliverances today, and they still follow the same pattern.

 

Those whom God uses must learn that His work is accomplished through His power rather than their own abilities. Knowledge, training, and experience are valuable, but they are never sufficient. God’s servants must learn dependence upon Him.

 

Likewise, those who are delivered must come to the end of themselves. As long as we believe we can save ourselves, we will never truly seek God’s salvation.

 

This points us directly to Jesus Christ.

 

Moses was a deliverer, but Jesus is the Deliverer.

 

Moses delivered Israel from Pharaoh. Jesus delivers sinners from sin, death, and judgment.

 

The Exodus stands as one of the greatest acts of deliverance in history, yet it points forward to a greater deliverance accomplished through Christ.

 

Acts 4:12 reminds us that salvation is found in no one else. There is no other name by which we must be saved.

Acts 4:12 (NKJV) “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

 

There are two mistakes people commonly make.

 

One is believing that once we have been delivered, we can deliver others through our own wisdom and strength.

 

The other is believing we can deliver ourselves.

 

Scripture repeatedly teaches a far simpler truth.

 

Romans 10:13 tells us that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:13 (NKJV) For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

 

That is the pattern we see throughout the Exodus account. God heard the cries of His people and acted according to His covenant promises. The miracles that followed were demonstrations of His power and faithfulness.

 

The same God still hears those who call upon Him today.

 

If you need deliverance, call upon Him.

 

If you need grace, call upon Him.

 

If you need strength, call upon Him.

 

If you need a miracle today, call on Him, just call.