The Source of Life

Exodus 7:14-25

The God of the Hebrews, the Lord, sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh with a message: “Let my people go!” He gave signs for Moses and Aaron to perform before Pharaoh. In Exodus 7:1-13, Moses recounts the challenge of the staffs, where God demonstrated that His power was greater than Pharaoh’s.

However, Pharaoh’s heart grew hard. Exodus 7:13 says:

Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. (Exodus 7:13 ESV)

The God of the Hebrews is the God who created the Egyptians, whether or not they acknowledged it. For this reason, Pharaoh’s hardened heart was a severe problem. What we are going to see today is that his hardened heart cut him off from the source of life.

Hebrews chapter 3 warns us several times about having hardened hearts. Hebrews 3:13 tells us:

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:13 ESV)

We see an example of the deceitfulness of sin and of hardened hearts in the confrontation between God and Pharaoh. Every human heart is a Pharaoh with its own “Egypt” to rule and a Nile River running through it.

Exodus 7:15 says:

Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. (Exodus 7:15 ESV)

Our account starts with Pharaoh going to the water in the morning.

The Nile, the water that Pharaoh was going to, was the source of life for Egypt. One of the many gods worshiped by the Egyptians was named “Hapi.” He was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile. Wikipedia says this about Hapi:

The yearly flooding of the Nile occasionally was said to be the Arrival of Hapi. Since this flooding provided fertile soil in an area that was otherwise desert, Hapi, as its patron, symbolised fertility. He had large female breasts because he was said to bring a rich and nourishing harvest. Due to his fertile nature he was sometimes considered the "father of the gods", and was considered to be a caring father who helped to maintain the balance of the cosmos.^[1]

The flooding of the Nile was essential to Egyptian prosperity. They built “Nilometers” at locations along the river to determine the extent of the annual flooding and used the measurements to help determine taxes and predict the harvest.

An ancient “Nilometer” built to measure the annual flooding of the Nile.^[2]

When something is important to us, we track and measure it. The Nile was important to the Egyptians. It was the source of life to them.

In Exodus 7:17, the Lord says,

“By this you shall know that I am the Lord...”

When Moses said, “Thus says the Lord...,” Pharaoh said, “I do not know the Lord.” (Exodus 5:2)

Pharaoh is getting to know the Lord in an adversarial way because he has set himself in opposition to the Lord. It started with the fear of loss in chapter one of Exodus when the Egyptians realized the economic force the Hebrews had become. They enslaved the Hebrews for economic gain and their advancement. Now, consider what was about to happen. Exodus 7:17-18 says:

Thus says the Lord, "By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile." (Exodus 7:17-18 ESV)

Two things essential for life are about to be touched, water and food. The Egyptians ate fish from the Nile. When the Hebrews complained they wanted to go back to Egypt, one of the things they remembered was eating fish. (Numbers 11:5) Now, the fish were about to die, and the water was to become blood. Food and water are essential for physical life. Water is absolutely necessary. Therefore, even when the river is blood, the Egyptians will be forced to drink it. Exodus 7:19 tells us that even the water in vessels of wood and stone was turned into blood.

Water and food are essential for physical life, and blood is the life of a body. The Scriptures go as far as saying:

For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. (Leviticus 17:14 ESV)

In his refusal to let the people of Israel go, Pharaoh was protecting what was important to him. He valued prosperity, power and his kingdom. He was the ruler and god of his kingdom, Egypt, and he refused to acknowledge the authority of the Lord (Yahweh) over him or his kingdom.

Pharaoh thought the source of his life was nature, found in the Nile River, and economics, found in the labor of the slaves and the food and goods they produced. Beyond these he acknowledged no force greater than himself.

How like the people of today!

We tend to think or live as if our life consists in the abundance of our possessions. Jesus warned against this when He said:

Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. (Luke 12:15 ESV)

This is the deceitfulness of sin of which Hebrews 3 warned us. Notice that Hebrews 3:13 warns us against being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:13 ESV)

Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened.  Consider Exodus 7:21-23.

And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. (Exodus 7:21-23 ESV)

Since his magicians were able to reproduce the same by their secret arts, Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened. They could not lift the plague and turn the blood back into water. They could not restore life and prosperity. They could not remove the death and bring back the fish. They were deceived into thinking they had some power because they turned water into blood.

What good did their power do them? Were they really connected to the source of life?

Jesus asks us a question.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? (Mark 8:36-37 ESV)

Pharaoh did not understand the source of life. Nature, abundance, food and water are not life. In Pharaoh’s case, blood, which is our life, became a source of death to him.

Jesus told us:

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. (Mark 8:35 ESV)

This runs contrary to our thinking and our nature. By nature, we hold on to what we perceive as being the source of our life. Pharaoh thought Egypt was his life. It was his kingdom.

This natural thinking is the source of idolatry, having a god other than the one true God, the Lord (Yahweh). It was the source of all the idolatry of Egypt and it was at this issue that God aimed the plagues.

God will do the same in each person’s life. The Nile running through your life is what you perceive to be the source of your life. You are the Pharaoh of your own Egypt. Will you submit to God?

John tells us this about Jesus:

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4 ESV)

Jesus is the true source of life. Only in Him is life to be found.

God was giving Pharaoh a chance. He told Pharaoh:

“By this you shall know that I am the Lord...” (Exodus 7:17)

He was giving Pharaoh a chance to know the true source of life.

He is giving each of us the same chance. He calls us to Himself and says:

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:37-38 ESV)

If we refuse this offer, what we perceive to be our source of life will become a source of death to us.

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^[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hapi_(Nile_god) Accessed August 2, 2019.

^[2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilometer Accessed August 2, 2019

Pharaoh’s Heart Was Hardened

Pharaoh’s Heart Was Hardened

Exodus 7:1-13

God spoke to Moses a lot.

In Exodus 3, God appeared to Moses in the burning bush.

In Exodus 4, God spoke to Moses in Midian and appeared to him at a lodging place along the way. 

In Exodus 6, God spoke to Moses in Egypt.

In Exodus 4:10 and 6:12, Moses told the Lord that he could not speak well, and then in Exodus 6:30 Moses said for a third time that he could not speak well.

Moses did not go to Egypt with a lot of self-confidence, and it appears that he did not move at all unless the Lord commanded him to do so. At each step along the way, God told Moses what to do, and He also told Moses what to expect. 

From the start, God told Moses that Pharaoh would not be willing to let the people of Israel go. God repeatedly said that Pharaoh would not let the people go.

In Exodus 7, God speaks to Moses again. He reveals a little more of His plan and gives the next step in the process. Exodus 7:1 says:

And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.” (Exodus 7:1 ESV)

This statement begins chapter 7, but that does not mean there is any gap in time between the last verse of chapter 6 and this verse. Therefore, it follows immediately after Moses’ objection that he was of uncircumcised lips.

God’s answer to Moses was: “And the Lord [Yahweh] said to Moses, ‘See, I have made you God [Elohim] to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.’” With these words, we understand that God assigned Moses as His spokesman, God’s mouthpiece. He was to speak for God, and Aaron was to speak for him. The Lord says:

You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. (Exodus 7:2 ESV)

It is essential to understand that Moses was to speak what the Lord commanded and that he was to say all of it. Moses was not making up any of what he said. God told him what to say. He was speaking words given to him by God. Moses had approached Pharaoh with the statement, “Thus says the Lord...” in Exodus 5:1, and he was rebuffed in no uncertain terms. By making Moses “God” to Pharaoh, God makes it clear that it was not Moses that Pharaoh was refusing. Pharaoh was rejecting God.

This is essential for us because God still speaks, and many in this world do not listen. We are not to make up anything of our own. Opinions are not the same as the Word of God.  We are to give the world the word of God. However, the world will not listen. The Lord has told us the world will not listen. God told Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you.” God tells us the same thing. We have a parallel in the New Testament where Paul uses the incident we are reading about today to illustrate what we can expect from the world.

2 Timothy 3:1-8 says:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. (2 Timothy 3:1-8 ESV)

We will cover more of the parallels between this and what was happening between God, Moses and Pharaoh, but first, we must understand that just as God warned Moses that Pharaoh’s heart would be hard and ears closed, God warns us that people’s hearts will be hard and ears closed. 

God also told Moses in Exodus 7:4 that He would “...lay my hand on Egypt and bring my people out of Egypt by great acts of judgment.” God does this so, “The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” (Exodus 7:5) 

There are consequences for closed ears and hard hearts, and Pharaoh serves as an example of what happens to those who refuse to listen to the Lord. The ten plagues that God strikes Egypt with each confront a specific sin or idol with which the Egyptians were buttressing the walls built around their hearts.

However, before we get to those battles, we must first witness the next confrontation. The first time Moses confronted Pharaoh is recorded in Exodus 5. Moses said, “Thus says the Lord...” And, Pharaoh rebuffed him. 

In Exodus 7, the confrontation involves a display of power. Pharaoh asks for proof. Exodus 7:8 says:

"When Pharaoh says to you, 'Prove yourselves by working a miracle,' then you shall say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.'" (Exodus 7:9 ESV)

Moses was to have Aaron throw down his staff if Pharaoh said, “Prove yourselves by working a miracle.” God said, “When Pharaoh says...” Pharaoh apparently said ... because Moses told Aaron to throw down his rod. Having asked for proof, we would expect Pharaoh to accept the proof. But instead, he called for his wise men, sorcerers and magicians. 

These were the educated men of his days. Pharaoh had his own private collection of magic books and knowledge reserved only for himself and his magicians. We know that the Egyptians practiced embalming and engineering that rival modern accomplishments. They were not ignorant, and they were committed to what could be termed occult practices.

Many have undertaken to explain what happened next, but when Aaron threw down his staff, the Scriptures say:

Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. (Exodus 7:11-12 ESV)

Since many scholars do not believe in magic, many commentaries take the Egyptian staffs turning into serpents as some sort of sleight of hand. If we take the Bible for what it says, the Egyptian sorcerers were able to reproduce the miracle of turning their staffs into snakes.

The Bible speaks of demons, the power of darkness and the devil, and it is not speaking in metaphors. The confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh involved the power of God in Moses and Aaron and the power of darkness in the Egyptian enchanters. The same battle has continued throughout history. 

In Matthew 24:24, Jesus warns of those who will perform false signs and wonders.

For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:24 ESV)

We know that the devil is a deceiver. Jesus told us:

He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44 ESV)

One of his lies is that he does not exist or that he is inactive in our world. Another lie is that he is somehow equal with God as an adversary. The Bible is clear:

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4 ESV)

We do not fear the evil one because Jesus won the battle over death and the grave. Satan is a creature, and God, the creator. There is no comparison of power, position or authority. However, God has allowed the evil one to continue to oppose Him at the present time. As 1 John 5:19 says:

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (1 John 5:19 ESV)

The confrontation between Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh reflects the battle that is in the world. It is not a metaphor. It was a skirmish in the continuing battle. The staffs were pieces of wood upon which the powers of the unseen world worked.

Please note that everyone present had a staff. Moses’ staff was a shepherd’s tool, and he was instructed by God to carry his staff. The Egyptians’ staffs were the tools of their trade as well. Egyptian hieroglyphics depict staffs of various kinds and common among them are staffs shaped like serpents. These staffs represented authority and position and were related to the priestly or ritual functions of the magicians and sorcerers.

The carrying of staffs seems to have been ubiquitous. Everyone had a staff. They were practical since practically everyone walked everywhere. Having a staff to assist in walking, as well as confrontations with anything met with along the road, was a part of life. The magicians and rulers carried specialized staffs as symbols of authority and position.

When the authority of God was challenged by the authority of Pharaoh, God’s authority swallowed Pharaoh’s. The event was real, and the symbolic meaning was significant.

The Egyptians obeyed authority from gods or spiritual powers. These powers spoke through Pharaoh and through the magicians. There was no higher authority in Egypt. All authority in heaven and earth was resident in these authorities, and these authorities were symbolized in the staffs of the men present in that room. When Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs, the message was sent that a greater authority was present.

In our day, the greatest authority is the individual, the intellect and the conscience. Each person determines for themselves what is true, what is important, and what is right. No king, Pharaoh, or priest can tell an individual what he or she must do.

The individual appeals to science, religion or conscience as the authority for each decision. The authority to which we appeal is our staff. We lean on it for support. 

Let’s return to what Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:1-8. Remember, we read that in the last days, “there will come times of difficulty.” And, we read that people would always be learning but never “able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” That passage ends with:

Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. (2 Timothy 3:8 ESV)

According to tradition, Jannes and Jambres were the two chief servants of Pharaoh whose staffs were among those swallowed by Aaron’s staff.

When Moses met God at the burning bush, he threw down his staff at the command of God, and it became the staff of God. This was an act of surrender and obedience. When Jannes and Jambres threw down their staffs, it was an act of challenge and opposition.

Pharaoh did not choose to surrender. Exodus 7:13 tells us that in spite of the demonstration of God’s authority and power, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen.

The question for us today is what it will take for us to surrender.

You have your staff, the thing that you lean on for authority. What will it take for you to surrender to the God who made you?

Jesus illustrates what this looks like when He met with His disciples after the resurrection. They were professional fishermen; their nets were their staffs. They were experts. They fished all night and did not catch anything. Nothing was wrong with their technique. Nothing was wrong with their nets. But Jesus told them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. There was no change in substance to what they were doing. They just surrendered. They surrendered their nets to the Lord, and He gave the increase.

This Moses and This Aaron

Exodus 6:13-30

At the beginning of the book of Exodus, we reviewed the members of Jacob’s family that moved to Egypt.

They moved to Egypt because of widespread famine. Years before anyone knew the famine was coming, God sent Joseph to Egypt ahead of his family to prepare the way. This sounds nice, but in reality, it was a horrible ordeal. Joseph’s brothers hated him and sold him as a slave. Joseph spent years as a slave and then as a prisoner. As harsh as life was for Joseph, God was preparing him to fulfill a great role.

Let’s review where Joseph was in the family.

Joseph was number eleven out of 12. This simple statement misses the fact that he was his father’s favorite and was treated like a prince while his brothers were treated like hired hands. This family situation contributed to the malice of brothers who sold their younger sibling into slavery.

With the family safely in Egypt, years passed and that generation passed away. A time came when the king of Egypt no longer knew about Joseph, and instead feared the Israelites because of their great numbers and growth. This fear became the start of long years of slavery for the Israelites.

During this time the Israelite population continued to grow, and from this group of people, God chose two people, Moses and Aaron. Exodus 6:13 tells us:

Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. (Exodus 6:13 NIV)

At this point in the story of deliverance, God takes the time to tell us who Moses and Aaron are. He does not list their achievements, their test scores, their qualifications, or their aptitudes. He lists their genealogy.

The first thing I notice about Biblical genealogies is that I cannot pronounce many of the names. The second thing is that I do not know who many of these people are. Exodus 6:14-25 seems to be just such a list.

Rather than reading a bunch of names without meaning or context, let’s consider who some of these people were.

Why was it important for us to know Moses and Aaron’s genealogy? I hope to be able to answer this question after we have considered some of the people in the genealogy.

If drawn out as a family tree, the genealogy looks like this.

Israel was the son of Isaac, who was the son of Abraham. Israel was named Jacob at birth, but God changed his name later in life. The family tree represented here starts with Israel and his first three sons.

Ruben had four sons. Each son was the head of a family group. Simeon had six sons, and Levi had three sons. The genealogy stops here with the sons of Israel because we are interested in the lineage of Moses and Aaron, and Levi is their forefather.

Studying the life of Jacob will quickly lead one to the conclusion that this family was messed up. We have already mentioned that Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. They led their father to believe that a wild animal had killed Joseph. All the brothers except Benjamin were in on this deception.

In addition to their corporate sin, the brothers had their individual sins.

Genesis 35:22 tells us:

While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father's concubine. And Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve. (Genesis 35:22 ESV)

Bilhah was Rachel’s servant, Reuben’s father’s concubine. Because of this act, Reuben lost the right of the firstborn.

In Genesis 34, we learn:

On the third day, when they were sore, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and came against the city while it felt secure and killed all the males. They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the sword and took Dinah out of Shechem's house and went away. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. They took their flocks, and their herds, their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and in the field. All their wealth, all their little ones and their wives, all that was in the houses, they captured and plundered. (Genesis 34:25-29 ESV)

Simeon and Levi killed everyone in a city because of one man’s offense.

Simeon had a child by a Canaanite woman, and Moses’ father married his own aunt.

Later in the story of Moses’ life, we learn that his cousin Korah led a rebellion against Moses.

This is a look at the surface of Moses and Aaron’s family tree. A more in-depth look would reveal even more flaws and sins. So, why is it important that we know that it was “this” Moses and Aaron?

First, it was important that Israel knew that Moses and Aaron were Israelites. Then no one could say, “You have no part with us.”

Second, it was important that we understand that Moses and Aaron were just ordinary people.

Let’s consider the importance of knowing that Moses and Aaron were Israelites.

They would have been subject to the same oppression and slavery as all the rest of Israel, allowing them to identify fully with the suffering and brutality of their situation. They also would share in the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, promises that included the land of Canaan.

We will come back and consider why it is important to know that Moses and Aaron were just normal men, but first I want to show you some parallels in this story of deliverance and in the gospel.

Just as it was important for Israel to know that Moses and Aaron were Israelites, it was important that the world knows that Jesus was both Jewish and human. This same family is the family from which Jesus was born. The promises of God to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and later David, all apply to Jesus. Jesus is the heir of the promises and the one who was promised. God promised an everlasting throne to David and it is fulfilled in Jesus. Whatever God’s purposes are for the promised land, these also will be fulfilled in Jesus.

Now, we will consider why it is important to know that Moses and Aaron were just normal men.

Like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we are all descendants of Adam. In Jesus’ family tree there were people from different cultures, nations and languages. There were people with dark skin and light skin. There were murderers and kings, harlots and queens. The gospel sees all humanity as one. Acts 17:26 says,

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, (Acts 17:26 ESV)

God made from one man every nation. God is concerned that all nations know the gospel. Philip was sent to an Ethiopian and Africa received the gospel. Tradition has it that Thomas went to India and Asia received the gospel.

More important still is the fact that we are all represented by Adam, the father of our race called humanity. Romans 5 says:

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— (Romans 5:12 ESV)

In Adam, we all sinned and are born sinners, slaves to sin. Then when we come into our own, we become slaves by choice, as the Scriptures say:

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.” (John 8:34 NLT)

However, this is a part of a larger story because the Scriptures also say:

But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:15-17 NLT)

This then is why it is important that Moses and Aaron and Jesus came from the line of ordinary people, that we might all be saved by the one man, Jesus Christ.

There is another reason it is important to understand that Moses and Aaron were just normal people. The Scriptures tell us:

Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NLT)

As far as the promises of God and salvation are concerned, it makes no difference what your family background is. We are all one in Christ. Galatians 3:28 says:

There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28 NLT)

Now is the time that Jesus spoke of when He said:

Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. (John 4:21-23 NLT)

God is looking for those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. He is not looking for a pedigree, a perfect family, an exceptionally talented person or a superstar. He is looking for you, with your family background and talents, whatever they may be, and He is calling you to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Will you accept the call?

The Lord Your God

Exodus 6:1-13

Moses accused the Lord of doing evil to the people of Israel. In Exodus 5:22-23, Moses says:

Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, "O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all." (Exodus 5:22-23 ESV)

Moses is considered a man of God. He was used by God to deliver God’s people out of their slavery in Egypt and to give the law. But, here he is accusing God of doing wrong.

Have you ever accused God? Have you ever asked something like, “Why did you ever send me?”

Moses is not the only one in Scripture who made such accusations against God. For example, Job accused God of turning cruel toward him without cause.

God answered Job by showing Job who God is. God answers Moses by proclaiming to Moses who He is.

God begins His answer to Moses with a statement of His purpose. He says:

Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land. (Exodus 6:1 ESV)

We see God’s purpose in that He is going to show His strong hand through Pharaoh. God is using Pharaoh to demonstrate His power. Men and Women/mankind tend to think of themselves as mighty and powerful. Kings and queens are at the pinnacle or height of human power. Pharaoh was the leader of the mightiest nation on earth. He was the ruler of one of the greatest cultures in history. And, God is going to use Pharaoh to show His power. In Exodus 9:16, God tells Pharaoh:

But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. (Exodus 9:16 ESV)

It does not matter how we think we have risen to power or position. God says He raised Pharaoh up, and this is true of each of us. In the Biblical account of Esther, her relative Mordecai points out that God raised her up “for such a time as this.”

God is not helpless before time and chance. The Psalmist tells us:

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalms 139:16 ESV)

God knows the days that were formed for me before one of them has passed. God does not explain to us how we can exercise the power of choice, and yet He remains completely sovereign. However, He explains:

But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. (Psalms 4:3 ESV)

As Moses confronts the Sovereignty of God in light of the adverse events of his first encounter with Pharaoh, he is disappointed and angry with God. He says, “Why did you ever send me?” In Exodus 6:2-8, God answers Moses’ questions. He has stated His purpose “to show His power,” and now God explains some about His person.

God acts based on who He is!

Humanity acts based upon who we are, and our history is not pretty. Pharaoh’s mistreatment and oppression of the Hebrews is not an exception in history. It is normal. The same stuff is going on in our world today. Slavery, cruelty, injustice, and the like have not gone away and in some ways have gotten worse. This is because of who we are as human beings.

God acted based on who He was at the time He delivered Israel, at the time of the Cross, and He will act in the same way today. God tells us four things about Himself in today’s passage that assure us of how He will act.

First, He tells us His name (His character).

He tells us:

God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord. I 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.” (Exodus 6:2-3 ESV)

The word or name “Yahweh/Jehovah” was known to Abraham and Isaac, according to Genesis, but God had not “made Myself known.” This indicates a fuller revelation of Himself than had been seen up to this time. We understand the same thing in the New Testament as Hebrews 1:1-3 says:

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, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 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. (Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV)

As indicated by these verses, the revelation of God to His people is progressive. Revelation builds upon itself so that new revelations add to what is already known. At the time of Jesus, the only Scripture available was the Old Testament. Now we have the New Testament in addition to the Old Testament. The Scriptures are complete and not to be added to, but God will still reveal more when Jesus returns.

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had seen the mighty power of God and were experiencing God as a covenant-making God, but now Moses and the people of Israel were going to experience more of the meaning of God’s covenant name. In the same manner, we now know more fully what it means that God is our Savior because of what Jesus did on the cross.

Along with His name, God reveals His faithfulness.

God is a faithful God. This means He keeps His promises. He does not lie, He does not forget, and He does not change.

In Exodus 6:4-5, God says:

I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. (Exodus 6:4-5 ESV)

Hundreds of years later, God has not forgotten His covenant. He promised to make Abraham into a great nation, and now He is going to keep that promise. In Genesis 15:13-14, God promised Abraham both that his offspring would be slaves in a foreign land and that God would deliver them from their slavery after 400 years.

God is faithful. He does not change. He keeps His word. Jesus said it best when He said:

For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (Matthew 5:18 ESV)

The name and the faithfulness of God form a firm foundation for our faith. But, God does not stop with these two things. He next shows us His grace, tender mercies or compassion.

In Exodus 6:6-7, He says:

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. 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.’ (Exodus 6:6-7 ESV)

Pay special attention to the statement, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.” God is stating His intention to adopt these people as His own. We know now that His purpose was to bring salvation to all nations through Jesus Christ, born King of the Jews. We know that God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) We see in the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt the act of a loving God who delivers us even when we do not deserve it.

We also have been made the people of God, His own special possession and partakers in the promises of God.

The name, faithfulness and compassion of God give us solid reasons to trust Him even when it seems that His promises have failed. He has demonstrated over and over that He is a merciful, loving Father to His children. But He takes it one step further in answering Moses’ complaints. He says:

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. (Exodus 6:8 ESV)

The Lord promises to bring them into the land. God’s promise to Abraham had been:

And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. (Genesis 17:8 ESV)

God’s promises include an inheritance, riches and blessings.

Some misunderstand the riches and look for worldly riches, but for us in the Church, the promises are not for money. Jesus told Pilate:

My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place. (John 18:36 NIV)

Please consider with me, many translations leave out the word “now” in this verse. The word is there in the Greek text I looked at. The significance of this is whether or not Jesus will set up an earthly kingdom at some point.

Psalms 24 tells us that “the Earth is the Lord’s.” However, if you will recall, God gave dominion over the earth to mankind, and when mankind sinned, he gave up dominion to the one who is called the prince and power of the air. Part of God’s redemption of the earth is the restoration of the natural order. Psalms 2:7-8 tells us:

I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Psalms 2:7-8 ESV)

This earthly kingdom is for the Son of God to claim and possess. Jesus has left us, His gathering of those He has called out for Himself, a mission. He has given us a job, an assignment. He told us:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)

In short, we are to be building a kingdom, not of this realm. The riches and inheritance we seek are not those of the earth. Ephesians 1:3 explains to us:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (Ephesians 1:3 ESV)

The promise for us is found in John 14:1-3.

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:1-3 ESV)

In one sense, the Israelites were looking for the same thing. What good would it have been to have the Promised Land, but not have eternal life? Yet, part of the promise of God was the land.

At the time of Moses, we see in Exodus 6:9-14 that neither the children of Israel or Moses and Aaron had the faith to take God at His word. The children of Israel were too defeated to believe and Moses was still stuck worrying about his own ability to speak. But God said, “Just do it!”

There are times when we have run up against things that leave us accusing God like Moses, and we have to take the word of God as truth even though we do not feel it. Sometimes faith requires us to “just do it” even though it seems useless to us.

For example, where is the promise of Jesus’ return? Hasn’t it been two thousand years? Why does He delay? Many have ceased believing He will ever come back. However, we must remember.

1.     God’s name. (His character as revealed in history.)

2.     God’s faithfulness.

3.     God’s compassion.

4.     God’s promises.