GOD OF THE EXODUS
“the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.” – Exodus.2:23-25
The incredible book of Exodus is filled with a narrative depicting slavery, genocide, God speaking through a burning bush, staffs that become snakes, plagues, political despots, miracles, signs and wonders. But all of these significant events are all just background characters to the over-arching story of a God rescuing and redeeming His people out of slavery and leading them towards the promised land.
What makes all of the above even more momentous is the understanding that this isn’t just something that once happened, but rather something that still happens today. The Exodus story is our story and if we approach it with faith, we will realize that the same God who set his people free after 430 years of slavery in the most dramatic of fashions, is still the same God who is wanting to bring us into true freedom here today in 2022!
In the first few chapters of Exodus we are introduced to all the main players in the unfolding drama, Pharoah, the Israelite slaves, brave Midwives, Moses’ Godly mother and sister, Pharaoh’s daughter and of course, Moses himself. But more than all these, we are introduced to this supreme biblical concept:
God’s deliverance always overcomes man’s depravity and disobedience
This plays out in 3 significant ways:
1. God’s deliverance always overcomes man’s wickedness
Pharaoh’s despicable and diabolic plan of slavery and mass genocide (see Exodus chapter 1) is met with radical, faith-filled resistance from the most unlikely of sources: two Hebrew midwives, Moses’ mother and sister as well as Pharaoh’s own daughter! These acts of defiance and bravery show us that no matter how dark the days may appear; our God is still at work. And what’s more, He will use that which looks weak and feeble in the eyes of man to undermine the plans of evil. Five women brought the mighty Egyptian empire to it’s knees!
2. God’s deliverance always overcomes man’s wandering
The first 40 years of Moses’ life take place in the palace of Egypt as the prince of Egypt. His next 40 are covered in chapter 2 of Exodus as we see him murder an Egyptian and subsequently flee from the Pharaoh’s wrath into the Midian wilderness. 40 years being nothing more than a shepherd looking after the sheep of his father in law, feeling unseen, unheard, forgotten and very far from the action of Egypt.
But Moses’ world is interrupted by a revelation of who God is, not in the palace where he had political clout, but in the backside of the desert.
This highlights for us that when it feels like nothing good is happening when we’re just going through the motions or having to dig deep just to make it through, God is still at work. In the delays, in the detours, in the disappointments our God hears our cries, He sees our pain and He remembers his covenant! Oh, the good news of the Gospel is we have a God who forgets our sins but never forgets His promises!
And what’s more, the God of the Exodus has not forgotten YOU!
3. God’s deliverance always overcomes man’s weakness
In chapter 3 of the Exodus narrative Moses finds himself encountering God himself. As God reveals His plan to free the nation of Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, I can imagine Moses excitedly shouting “Yes, Yes, Yes!” to God’s proposal, right up until God said, “I am sending YOU to Pharaoh to lead the people out!”. All of a sudden, Moses becomes very aware of his disqualifications. And this is what happens still to this day when God wants to bring freedom to you and through you. We say things like: “I am uneducated, I don’t have the resources, I don’t have the gifts, I don’t have the track record, I don’t have the energy, I don’t have the emotional capacity”
But what I love about this moment is that God does not answer Moses’ protests and lists of personal deficiencies with a pep talk or ‘Oprahesque’ type of speech, but rather reveals Himself!
“I AM WHO I AM”
This revelation of the name and nature of God is the strongest weapon in our fight against our inadequacies and weaknesses. When we say, “I am too weak” we hear the Lord say “I AM strong”. When we say “I am not enough”, the Lord will answer, “I AM more than enough!” When we would say “I am a failure”, the Lord declares, “I AM a deliverer!”
God’s deliverance always overcomes man’s deficiencies, depravity, disobedience, disabilities, delays and disappointments.
Maybe today you are feeling overwhelmed by the wickedness of the world. Or maybe you’ve felt stuck and forgotten by God in a wilderness season. Or potentially you are feeling disqualified by your weaknesses and sin. This narrative comes to us to declare that no matter how dark the days are, how long the journey has been or how far you have fallen short, God hears our cries, He sees our pain, He remembers His covenant, and He will come to your rescue!
The God of the Exodus is on the move again. It’s time for us to move with Him!
Blog written by Gabe Phillips who is one of the pastors in our Life Changers story