It’s amazing how easy it is to forget things, especially things with which you grow comfortable, assuming you will never forget them. This has been my experience several times as I have been in difficult times and thought I would never forget to be thankful for what I have and for getting through. But time and comfort have a way of aiding you in forgetting things that you don’t need to forget. As we look at the first six chapters of the book of Exodus this morning (and as I have looked at them this week), this is how I feel. I believe that these chapters remind us of some truths that we should never forget and yet might very well have if we haven’t been reminded of them lately.
The story of the Exodus picks up where Genesis leaves off. At the end of Genesis, Joseph had been made ruler of Egypt and had brought his family (the Israelites) down to Egypt to provide food for them and give them a place to dwell, and everything seems great. But as Joseph dies and the Pharaoh dies, there arises a new king in Egypt who did not know Joseph (Ex. 1:8). And instead of loving Joseph’s people, he sees them as a threat, for they are growing in vast numbers. Thus, fearing that they will grow and be able to overtake the Egyptians, he makes them slaves, afflicting them with hard labor, and eventually decides that all Hebrew male children should die as they are born. Therefore, he appoints midwives of the Hebrew women to kill the Hebrew women’s male children.
However, God ensures that one named Moses lives. Not only that, but he is raised in the palace by Pharaoh’s daughter; eventually, he is called to lead God’s people out of slavery that they might worship their God. It is a story of many things, but most importantly I believe it reveals to us the nature of our God.
And to that end, as we read this story, I am forced to recall a few things that I long never to forget or grow comfortable with. They are:
The picture of God that we see in the first six chapters of Genesis is greater than many of us might realize; he transcends anything we can imagine. We see this in his encounter with Moses. First of all, when God reveals who he is to Moses he says, “I AM WHO I AM … Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you’” (3:14). Reading this right now, I am sure I don’t realize the magnitude of this statement, for it is almost beyond comprehension. God simply is. That is to say, he is not dependent on or subject to anything. Everything that we know is dependent on something else for it’s survival, and everything we know is subject to that within which it exists – except God. He is the life source and creator of all things, but he himself is uncreated and is existent by himself. We are made in the image of God, subject to time, weather, and fatigue, dependent on oxygen, food, and water for life. God simply is. If we lose certain elements in this world, we die. If nothing exists but God, he still is. He is eternal; he is. The world, including humanity, needs God for everything. God does not need anything. He is self-sufficient and self-existent. He is. We should sit and try to get our minds to bend to think about this until we tremble at a glimpse of how great our God is.
And being the I AM, he knows the future. I’ve spoken briefly in the past about certain “theologians” nowadays trying to say that God is unaware of the future, that he is not quite sure of what is going to happen tomorrow. Exodus 1-6 (among many other passages of Scripture) puts this thought to rest. For, first of all, the events in the book of Exodus were foretold by God to Abraham in Genesis 15:12-14. But God also assures Moses himself in his encounter with him at the burning bush that he knows everything that will happen. He tells Moses in Exodus 4:21-23, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My first-born. So I said to you, Let My son go, that the may serve Me; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your first-born son.’”
God is already aware of everything that will happen. He knows Pharaoh’s response and what will ultimately occur. He knows the Israelites will come out of the land and plunder the Egyptians. He knows the future. It is clear. And it is still true; it is true simply by the nature of him name, I AM. He is not subject to time as we are.
But not only does God know what will happen in history, but he is working in history, shaping it according to his plans. Be sure of this, God is not a God who knows everything that will happen, sitting helplessly to do anything. That is not the picture that the Scripture provides for us. Rather, God is working in history. He is working and controlling history. We see it in the aforementioned conversation God has with Moses, but we also see it in the first chapter.
Moses tells us in three verses that the Israelites were growing in great number; many babies were being born (1:7, 12, and 20). But before we think this is a coincidence, we should turn to Acts 13:17. For there Paul tells us that God “made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt.” It wasn’t that the Hebrew women were just naturally fertile women; God was making that happen. In fact, Paul’s sermon in Acts 13 recounts all of Israel’s history, and it is repetitious in its point that God controlled Israel’s history. “God did …” is spoken over and over again. God indeed knows history and is working it himself to his perfect end.
And finally, we see that God is one who is not approached lightly. As Moses sees this bush that is burning and not being consumed, this appearance of God before him, Moses cannot simply run up to it. Rather, God says, “Do not come near; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” (3:5). God is so holy and great that the ground on which he appears is not to be stepped on lightly. Thus, God is by no means to be approached lightly. The Priests realized this in the tabernacle and temple, David realized it as Uzzah died as he touched the ark of the covenant, and Isaiah knew it as he had a vision of the Lord seated on the throne. God is not approached lightly. Moses has to stop coming near and even take off his shoes. God is beyond what we can imagine. His glory is so great we could not behold it all and live.
We desperately need to remember this. Yes, Jesus has made a way for us to be able to approach God. And we are able to pray through Jesus Christ, who is appointed as a mediator. And yes, God loves us and we are invited to worship him by singing songs. Yes, redemption has progressed since this time in Exodus 3. But God hasn’t changed. He is still God, and we would do well to approach him as such.
I almost wish we had a break now to ponder how great and marvelous God is, for only when we realize this will we realize how amazing the truth is that he wants to be with us. Exodus 2:24-25 says that God heard the Israelites’ groaning and “took notice of them.” He cares for them. This group of people who sinned in Adam, despising the name of the very one who made them and who will live disobediently for the remainder of their existence, God loves. And we’re not too much different from them.
How amazing is it that God hears them and takes notice of them? It sheds light of the reality of prayer, doesn’t it? God hears us as his people and takes notice of us. The same God who told Moses that he couldn’t come any closer is the same God who calls this group of rebel people, “My son” (4:23). And he tells Moses to tell the Israelites, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt” (3:16). How amazing is this?! Don’t let yourself get comfortable with these kinds of realities.
Also, we see it in Moses’ encounter with God. God, telling Moses to go to Egypt and speak to Pharaoh, says, “Certainly I will be with you” (3:12). It’s almost as if we want to say, “God, did you forget what kind of people we are?” But he hasn’t. Rather, we are beginning to understand the grace of God in these chapters.
The two aspects of God – his greatness and closeness – should not be forgotten, and we would do well to remember them together.
The best way to hold these two together is to look at the cross, for here is where the greatness and closeness of God, the holiness and the love of God meet. And we see this in the life of Moses. For Moses’ life and calling serves as an illustration of the work of Christ. Reading this story (having read Matthew 1-2 recently) a couple of verbal and situational parallels became apparent. First of all, as the King of Egypt is killing the male Hebrew children, it reminded me of what would occur at the time of Jesus’ birth. Then what God says to Moses in 4:19 reminds one very much of what God tells Joseph in the early chapters of Matthew as God says to Moses, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”
But more than seeing these things, Hebrews 3:5 tells us that Moses was a “testimony of those things which were to be spoken later.” His life foreshadows, it seems, the work of Christ. For Moses is called to go and deliver God’s people from slavery that they might dwell with him in the same way that Jesus Christ delivers us from the slavery of the “kingdom of darkness” (Colossians 1:13) and makes us God’s children.
But more so, God’s work in the Exodus foreshadows his ultimate work in Christ. For don’t forget that God himself is the subject of the Exodus. Thus he says in 6:2-8, “…I will also redeem you …” God, in redeeming his people in Egypt, foreshadows His redemption for all those who believe in his name.
And don’t forget that redemption involves a price paid. What is that price? Ephesians 1:7 says, “In [Jesus] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” The blood of Christ is the price paid for our redemption. Therefore, the holiness and love of God meet on the cross. For he is the same God who appeared to Moses; he is holy. Therefore, his very character is to always be holy. Thus, he cannot look over man’s sin and dismiss it. To do so is to dismiss his own holiness and honor. However, God has a desire to redeem his people, forgive them, and be their God. Therefore, on the cross, these qualities of God’s character meet as God satisfies his own righteous requirements in light of our sins and Christ sheds his blood to redeem us as his own.
The picture is not God adhering to some standard outside of himself; rather, it is God satisfying the requirements of himself with himself. He could have been holy without redeeming us, but he could not redeem us and be holy without the cross.
Therefore, this morning we are obeying instruction from our Lord to remember who he is and what did. For centuries the Jews have remembered their redemption from Egypt; this morning we remember a greater redemption that that foreshadowed – the redemption purchased by the blood of Christ.
This morning I encourage us to remember …
1. Remember who God is.
Appreciate the closeness and tremble before him. God hasn’t changed. He is not to be approached lightly.
2. Remember the price of redemption.
This is what we do this morning in taking communion. But renew your mind to it often. You are not your own, therefore glorify Him in your life. It is not done simply to remind us, but it serves as a transforming power in our lives. If this gospel can make a dead man live, it can aid us in living to God’s glory.
3. Remember the context of our commission.
As I read Exodus 3:10-14 and 6:2-9 this week, I thought of how foolish it was for Moses to try to make excuses. God assured in this mission that Moses was being sent with the authority of God himself, that God himself had promised to be with him, and that God himself would ensure its completion. What was Moses thinking? He should have been jumping for joy, not coming up with excuses.
However, immediately I was convicted in thinking of my reluctance to join God in his work in the great commission as I recalled Mark’s points in Sunday school from this past week. They were three: we are sent out on the authority of God himself, God has promised to be with us, and God has promised that it will be accomplished as we are invited to join him in it. It is indeed quite familiar. Therefore, let’s not make Moses’ mistake but fulfill this commission with great joy.
May we not forget our God, what he has done, and what he has allowed us to join him in. Amen.