Exodus 6 - I AM Your Encouragement

[Music] we do lord jesus we worship your holy name this morning we do it lord not necessarily because we feel like it not necessarily because uh it's it's in our inclination to do it but just because we know it we know it in our mind we know it in our heart that you're worthy of it that you as the enthroned lord over all the universe you're worthy of the praise that we can give to you and so we honor you jesus we bless you lord we seek to give you the honor the glory that you deserve and lord we there's no way we can do that in fullness the the the angels that surround your throne in all the the perfection of their uh abilities they can't do it but lord we can do what we can and ask lord that you receive it and now lord just boldly ask that you return unto us that you speak to us through your word we believe that something powerful happens when your people come before your word with open bibles and open hearts to hear you speak to them so lord do that now among us we pray in jesus name amen amen good morning everybody let's open up our bibles to the book of exodus chapter 6. what a tremendous text we have in front of us here starting at exodus chapter 6. now exodus 6 begins with moses and israel in tremendous discouragement because pharaoh the slave master over the people of israel had been confronted nevertheless he was absolutely unyielding it was like a wave crashing upon the rock and the wave is dissipated and loses all its strength but the rock remains strong matter of fact things got worse for israel not better after moses and aaron confronted pharaoh with that great phrase speaking from the lord let my people go matter of fact if i could just read you the last few words of exodus chapter five you'll get a little flavor for this exodus chapter five starting at verse 22 this is what moses said to the lord so moses returned to the lord and said lord why have you brought trouble on this people why is it that you've sent me for since i came to pharaoh to speak in your name he's done evil to this people neither have you delivered your people at all you just kind of get the feeling for the the bondage of discouragement that moses and the people of israel were in and sometimes i think about i think there's sometimes nothing more binding more more uh robbing of the freedom of god's people than just plain old discouragement you think about how people are just so bound by it and i think that this chapter has something very very important to say not only in the words that we're going to get into in just a moment but just in principle it's that god cares about your discouraged heart god cares about your mind that feels like it's been so beat down and you feel like you're enslaved and bound up in those shackles of discouragement god cares very much that you'd be free from that and i don't know if you're in that state this morning maybe you are maybe you're not personally i don't feel in that state i feel very blessed and encouraged this morning praise the lord for that but i have no idea how i'm going to feel tomorrow sometimes it could come upon you especially in as a pastor in ministry you get what they sometimes call the monday morning blues you wake up on monday morning say man did i do anything for the lord yesterday did did god really speak did god really move were any lives impacted were any people strengthened or blessed you get all these doubts and discouragements and fears well i should just play this message back to me tomorrow morning so it doesn't really matter if it's where you're at right now this morning you either have face discouragement you're either in the midst of discouragement perhaps you're gonna face it but it's common to each and every one of us and i want you to see what god did for israel in this chapter i'll just outline it very briefly for you then we'll just go through it and sort of take it apart first of all god gave them words of encouragement secondly god reaffirmed the covenant to them and then thirdly god gave moses and israel more of himself he told them who he was using seven amazing i will statements let's take a look at those through this chapter starting now at verse one put it in the context of moses's great discouragement that i just spoke of verse one then the lord said to moses now you shall see what i will do to pharaoh for with a strong hand he will let them go and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land i love that sort of attitude from the lord there in verse one now you shall see what i'll do to pharaoh it's almost as if everything seems so bleak and defeated for israel and god just sort of sits back in the heavens and he laughs and he says pharaoh i've got him right where i want him just exactly all the plans working perfectly moses thinks that nothing has worked perfectly god says no now you're going to see you see moses was utterly discouraged by what he thought was god's lack of action god's lack of help on his behalf but god's reply to moses showed that he wanted him to know that god was in control of it all and we just need to maybe take a step back and think of the big principle why was moses so discouraged why was israel so discouraged i'll tell you why in basic principle it was simply this they were too impressed by pharaoh and they were not impressed enough by the lord in their eyes pharaoh was too big and god was too small and what god is going to do throughout this chapter is he's going to reveal himself to moses and to israel in a way that says hey you got to see who i am and all my size and all my bigness if i can use that word just in all my might and majesty you see whatever it is that binds you literally it was pharaoh for them back as several thousand years ago today i don't know what it is in your life whether it's an addiction a sinful habit a a frame of mind an attitude what i don't know what it is you fill in the blank for yourself but but i can tell you this with great confidence that when you're in a season of discouragement whatever it is that binds you seems so big and god doesn't seem big enough well let me just tell you what god is going to do for moses right here is he's going to glorify himself he's going to show himself to be bigger than moses thought and that's what i would say to you just in large principle this morning your great problem with this is not that you're exaggerating your problems although you probably are don't we have a way of doing that in our lives but but just let's leave that aside let's just forget about the fact that you're probably exaggerating your problems let's say you see it accurately or let's say it's even worse than you think sometimes we do that god is bigger than it all your greatest problem your most fundamental problem is that you don't see god for all who he is you may see your problem pretty accurately maybe you do maybe you don't it doesn't really matter that the biggest key is you need to see god for all of his might all of his majesty you need to get a glimpse of the enthroned lord of the universe who's mighty and who has tens of thousands of thousands of angels ready to dispatch his will who has people who love him and would die for him all over this world who works all things together for his good and for your blessing and see that his care and attention is focused towards you you get that vision you go well then maybe i'm not so discouraged this is what god's trying to explain to moses look at it there again in verse one he says for with a strong hand he will let you go he's saying this to moses moses not only is pharaoh gonna let you go but he's gonna and look at this phrase in verse one with a strong hand he will drive them out let you go he's gonna push you out he's going to drive you out you're discouraged with me moses because pharaoh won't relax his grip forget about relaxing the most you're thinking too small i'm going to move upon pharaoh in such a way that he's going to positively push you out let you go that's a little small vision he's going to send you on his way by the way he's going to send you on your way with a lot of loot that'll come later we'll see about it now verse 2. now please when god made such a radical promise to moses in verse 1 not only is he going to let you go he's going to push you out it seemed completely impossible to moses moses thinking lord did you see what happened when i spoke to pharaoh were you in on that meeting it doesn't seem like he's gonna push me out so what did god do god says moses okay you don't believe me i'm gonna keep on revealing myself to you the answers are for you moses to know more about me not more about pharaoh i'm not going to put up whiteboard charts and tell you how to psychoanalyze pharaoh and figure out who he is moses the answers aren't found in pharaoh the answers aren't found in the children of israel as a whole moses the answers aren't even found in you the answers are in me moses that's what the lord was saying to moses so i'm going to reveal more of myself to you let me tell you more and more i like what a great writer fb meyer says about this uh here's the quote he says when all human help has failed and the soul exhausted and despairing has given up hope from man god draws near and says i am and that moses is right where god wants him to be discouraged no more hope and pharaoh maybe moses cherished some uh um some hope in his heart that pharaoh might be sympathetic forget about that moses you're not going to get any sympathy from pharaoh maybe moses had some trust in his own abilities or in the abilities of the children no give up on all of that put your eyes only on the lord and see his greatness that's what he says here in verse 2 and god spoke to moses and said to him i am the lord isn't that great i just need a pause right there i am the lord it's as if god said this to pharaoh listen said this to moses he said to moses i know who pharaoh is i know who all those phony baloney gods of egypt are i know israel i know their fears and i know you moses i know all of your doubts but i am the lord and i'm going to keep my covenant i'm going to get this done so that's what he said he said i am the lord i appeared to abraham to isaac and to jacob as god almighty but by my name lord i was not known to them i've also established my covenant with them to give them the land of canaan the land of their pilgrimage in which they were strangers and i've also heard the groaning of the children of israel of whom the egyptians keep in bondage and i've remembered my covenant well it's glorious how god keeps on revealing himself to moses right there in verse three it says i appeared to isaac and to jacob and to the as god almighty but by my name the lord i was not known to them you see the patriarchs were privileged to know the god who made the covenant and they knew something of him but ladies and gentlemen there's a huge difference between knowing the god who makes the covenant and knowing the god who fulfills the covenant and that's exactly how god was going to reveal himself to moses and to this generation of the children of israel in a way that the patriarchs could never know listen abraham isaac and jacob ladies and gentlemen they knew the lord they knew precious things from god they had a real walk with the lord but listen moses and his generation is going to be privileged to know the lord in a way that far surpassed what the patriarchs had now by the way can i just add this very quickly that if abraham isaac and jacob had a way that they could know god in truth in reality but moses and his generation had a way then such a far surpassing way that they could know the lord what does that say of us we have seen god revealed in even more glory and truth and precision in jesus christ we can know him all the more listen whatever reason that moses and the children of israel had to be encouraged in the lord you and i have about a hundred times more reasons we have so much more of a revelation of god than they ever did so the patriarchs knew they knew something about this they knew about the covenant making god but now god is going to reveal himself to moses and his generation as the covenant keeping god and as i love this phrase verse 3 as god almighty you know that's a tremendous tremendous word there as god almighty you see the patriarchs knew something about god they knew something about el shaddai that's how we would translate their that's the the hebrew for the phrase god almighty but they did not know him as extensively and as intimately as god would reveal himself to moses in his generation ladies and gentlemen god wants to you to understand him as el shaddai as god almighty no doubt about it but you know what he wants it to be more than that and for us this is the great great key to so much of our encouragement our discouragement is what i want you to see when i talk about who god is and his greatness and his power and all this such you may be thinking oh my this is fine theology this is fine theory wonderful that we can discuss some beautiful ideas about god i want you to see how eminently practical this is the reason why you are so discouraged is because you don't know who god is the reason why you're nearly suicidal and have given up hope on life is because you don't know who god is the reason why you live every day in bondage to your sin to your bitterness to your discouragements of the past is because you don't know who god is the devil has whispered into your ear and has told you that theology is at best theoretically and more likely it's just useless but forget about that word theology do you know the lord do you know him as el shaddai as god almighty and then do you know him deeper than that do you know him as the god who makes and keeps the covenants do you know him in the way that god will reveal himself to moses right here and now and then do you know him in his surpassing perfection as he's revealed himself in jesus christ god wants to be more than god almighty he wants you to know him as a god of personal promise making and promise keeping he wants you to know him so well that you say i can trust god i can depend upon him i like what g campbell morgan said upon this very point he said here the supreme need in every hour of difficulty and depression is a vision of god to see him is to see all else in proper proportion and perspective you thought that the the answer to your problems wasn't figuring out the problems you thought that the answer to your problems was figuring out yourself now i'm not saying it's bad to figure out your problems i'm not saying it's bad to figure out yourself but you got to put that in third second and third place far behind the surpassing greatness of seeing who god is and how he wants to move in your situation so god gives this precious promise to israel i love how he states it in verse 5 i have remembered my covenant flowing right in now to verse 6 where he says therefore say to the children of israel okay now please understand verses three four or two three four and five that was god to moses that was god having little sit down heart to heart with moses moses let me encourage you now starting at verse six he's speaking moses now you need to go encourage the people of israel here we go verse six therefore say to the children of israel i am the lord i will bring you out from under the burdens of the egyptians i will rescue you from their bondage and i will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments i will take you as my people and i will be your god therefore you shall know that i am the lord your god who brings you out from under the burdens of the egyptians and i will bring you into the land which i soared to give to abraham isaac and jacob and i will give it to you as a heritage i am the lord what what do they call it look i i don't know anything about gambling but what are these what do they call it when when you're betting and then you just you bet doubling down right god's doubling you're all in god just pushed all his chips and god's doubling down he goes listen you you don't even begin to see it i'm going to do it i'm going to do it in such a great way that that it's going to blow your minds absolutely i know it looks terrible right now but trust in me and you'll see what i'll do verse 60 says i am the lord you could say that god went to the furthest extent possible to confirm his covenant with the children of israel in these seven separate i will statements god was saying i am going to do it you can count on me listen these promises that god made to israel were glorious i will i will i will now let me say something about those promises each one of those verbs are in the hebrew past tense which basically means that god was so certain of their accomplishment that he viewed him as being already done this is if god every time he said i will he was saying this i have and i will i have and i will so let's get looking these this is his promises to israel i will bring you out i will rescue you from their bondage i will redeem you and that's pretty good don't you think but don't you realize dear dear child of god god says the exact same thing to every one of you i'll bring you out you're trapped where you shouldn't be but if you follow me you can come out of it i will rescue you from their bondage you're in bondage to this sort of that and you've lost all hope for true freedom but my promise remains to you i will redeem you you need a rescuer you need someone to pull you up from the pit and god says to you i have purchased your freedom then going on to verse seven he says i will take you as my people you have a new identity greater than anything before to see yourself first and foremost as my child that's what god says to you he says to you i will be your god you're done with all those idols and false gods this begins a new relationship and then into verse 8 this is what he promised i will bring you into the land god says this to you a new life awaits you among my promises a true land for you to live in and then he wraps it all up he says i will give it to you as a heritage these changes are for real and they're for lasting they're like an inheritance for you they send this beautiful if you just listened to what god had to say to you through one or more or blessedly hopefully all seven of those i will statements that's been like some soothing ointment for some hurting souls this morning i think for more than a few people here as god spoke to you in the midst of that you said yes lord yes that's for me yes lord you what you want me to be free yes lord you want to rescue me yes lord you do have a land of promise for me to live in this is god's revelation to you and he kind of wraps it all up verse 8 where he says both at the beginning at the end what does he say i am the lord god concluded the promise by reminding them of all of his covenant making and covenanting keeping it name i'm yahweh i'm the lord i don't go back on my promises malaysia can you imagine what it was like for moses to stand before the assembled people of israel and listen the people of israel they numbered in the hundreds and hundreds of thousands perhaps in the low millions so there was a lot of israelites there in egypt a lot of them are going to come out of egypt and into the promised land so he didn't literally speak to each and every israelite but he went there and he spoke to the representatives through the representatives he spoke to the whole nation so there's moses gathered through in front of hundreds or thousands of representatives people of israel he's communicating this message and he's pouring out his heart ladies and gentlemen god wants you to know he wants you to receive it who he is his great power moses his own heart had been encouraged and now he wants to just pass on that encouragement to the people of israel and don't you think that as we read verse nine don't look at it yet come on eyes up here eyes up here don't you think that as we read verse nine shouldn't it be something like this and the children of israel were strengthened in faith and they said yes lord let it be to us according to your word we're gonna believe you shouldn't verse nine read something like that all right now you can look at it so moses spoke thus to the children of israel but they did not heed moses because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage that verse makes me want to cry here they are what they so desperately need from god god holds out to them but look at what the text says i'm not making this up they refused it why because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage now ladies and gentlemen i believe that god spoke to them exactly what they needed to hear and yet we have to admit that sometimes there's this bizarre disconnect that god's word god's promise god's presence comes out to you and sets down before you exactly what you need and you don't receive it i mean it's just right there and maybe the person next to you receives it but you don't and maybe you walk away just feeling well i guess it's just not me maybe god's here to work in lots of people's lives in this room but not my life he's got i'm not on his list listen when you look at the reason when it says there in verse 9 because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage that's what made them doubt both god's message and his messenger their centuries of slavery have made them think like slaves instead of people of the covenant pharaoh was bigger in their eyes rather than god it was as if this they heard all the glorious promises the i will statements that we just looked at and their hearts were stirred but there was something within them and it just kept saying this but but well what about pharaoh it's almost as if moses just we forget about pharaoh i know he's real i know he's nasty he may even be worse than you think but pharaoh's pharaoh and the lord is the lord that phrase anguish of spirit is pretty powerful the idea is of something that can't breathe one commentator says that it's something like children sobbing and gasping for breath it's like sort of that panic when you can't breathe you're just so anguished you just don't know what to do i i think that many christians find themselves in the same place god holds it out to them but they just find it hard to trust god you know what they find hard to believe they find hard to believe what the promise is from the word of god that god is for you you you act back towards god you treat him as if he's against you your initial your initial instinct handed down from adam is to doubt god to keep your distance from him instead of to just simply run like a child into his arms and say i trust you daddy let it be to me according to your word ladies and gentlemen this is why we need to be transformed this is why what paul wrote in first excuse me in romans chapter 12 is so important romans 12 verses 1 and 2 he says this that we must not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds this is not what we need the children of israel needed their minds renewed and so do we also so what do you do does moses just say well that's it you guys don't want it forget it you know maybe in another generation god will raise up another delivery i deliver i'm done this is what i want you you know what even if because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage you can't receive what god has to give to you right now this morning can i speak to you right now he still loves you he still cares about you he still aches for you this morning you you won't trust him but he hasn't given up on you he's going to work it out of you oh you're almost hoping that god would give up on you he's not going to he's going to keep working in you until you're wooed to that place of trust well look at verse 10 and the lord said to moses spoke to moses saying go in tell pharaoh king of egypt to let the children of israel go out of his land and moses spoke to the lord saying the children of israel have not heeded me how then shall pharaoh heed me for i am of uncircumcised lips then the lord spoke to moses and aaron and gave them a command for the children of israel and for pharaoh king of egypt to bring the children of israel out of the land of egypt you know i love moses god's trying to encourage him hey let's mose i'm not giving up on my plan full steam ahead you go back to pharaoh and tell them what's what and what does moses reply back to god verse 12 pharaoh's not going to listen to me he's not going to be persuaded by my words and notice the ground for moses discouragement did you see it there in verse 12 these are the grounds he says for i am of uncircumcised lips now circumcision here of course is being used figuratively as being something that's impure or unsanctified or not holy or not separated unto the lord basically what he's saying to god is i'm a sinner part of my sin i commit with the swords i say with my lips with my speech i'm a man of uncircumcised lips i want you to notice something before when moses objected to god in exodus chapter four he objected because he said i'm not eloquent that's exodus 4 10. i don't speak well this objection is different this objection doesn't say i'm not eloquent it's basically god i'm such a sinner i can't do this i'm a sinful man this inability it wasn't born of a sense of a lack of eloquence but of his own uncleanness and what does god do i love it verse 13 you saw it it says then the lord spoke to moses and aaron and said there there let's find somebody better no he didn't say that he said then god spoke to moses and aaron and he gave them a command moses you get back in the game don't you think i know you're a sinner don't you think i know you're uncleanness i know it better than you do that doesn't disqualify you keep trusting in me you get back in and i'll tell you what you're done with suggestions to the people of israel you give them a command you're done with suggestions to pharaoh i want you to go into this throw room and stare them down eye to eye and say this is the command of the lord let my people go moses wanted to quit after the first setback but god says to moses no i'm not letting you you get back in there god was building endurance for moses in moses so this is what he says i want you to go give this command for the children of israel and for pharaoh now at verse 14 we embark on a fairly long section of genealogies first we're going to have the descendants of reuben and simeon then the main families that descend from levi and then specifically how moses and aaron descend from amron one of the sons of levi or descendants of levi we're going to go over this fairly quickly here we're going to just sort of summarize these particular genealogies not because i don't want to read them but just because i don't want to stumble my tongue over all the pronunciations of the names but please notice here i love what fb meyer says about this he says tread gently here this is a private burying ground the last resting place of the founders of a family to which the world is deeply indebted for their priceless service this is how the priesthood came to israel again verses 14 and 15 between reuben and simeon 16-19 the main families that were descended from levi and then 20 through 27 how moses and aaron descended from amram a son of koath a son of levi all the way down to verse 20 where it says so she bore him moses included aaron and moses and so it mentions these particular descendants in moses's genealogy and the genealogy of israel as a whole ladies and gentlemen just to summarize it with this point as we're going to begin at verse 28 in a moment these are real people with real families with fathers and gra and grandfathers with sons and daughters they're real people who pass on to us the legacy of what god does in lives verse 28 and it came to pass on the day that the lord spoke to moses in the land of egypt that the lord spoke to moses saying i am the lord speak to moses assume he speak to pharaoh king of egypt all that i say to you but moses said before the lord behold i won't uncircumcise lips how shall pharaoh heed me i find it very interesting that that in between god's first encouragement to moses and now at the end of the chapter the second encouragement moses inserted the genealogies why there well i think moses kind of wanted to give a break so it just kind of understands that you know god tried to encourage him once he didn't receive it now god's trying to encourage him again and let's see if he receives it verse 29 speak to pharaoh king of egypt all that i say to you do it moses now is the time for you to obey and look what moses replies again the second time verse 30 i am of uncircumcised lips i am a sinful man i'm unworthy to be used moses thought that he had a sin problem they said i don't know if he sympathize with this i notice if he sympathize with this idea that god holds out to you this morning forgiveness and reconciliation and freedom and forgiveness and power for living he holds it all out before you just like we said before and those dramatic i will statements here they are i will i will i will right before he offers it to you but maybe there's something inside you consciously or unconsciously you recoil back from that and basically you say i'm a sinful person that's not for me let me assure you of something that your problem is not a sin problem and that might sound startling for preacher to say you might think well i thought that's what all these preachers thought that my problem was a sin problem that all my problems were sitting probably yes and no it's true you have a sin problem but that's not your big problem let me tell you what your sin problem is dealt with at the cross jesus dealt with your sin problem at the cross jesus allowed himself to be crucified by cruel treacherous men who out of nothing but envy in spite put him up on that cruel tree and he died not just as some victim or martyr or sad case but he died as a man who would deliberately lay down his life on behalf of other people namely you and i and all who will receive it by faith where he was nailed to that cross as a substitute for sinners that all the guilt all the shame all the wrath that your sin and my sin deserved was poured out upon him on that cross jesus at the cross took all of it upon himself he in this sense he solved the sin problem now now essentially it's not your sin that keeps you from receiving what god wants you to receive it's your unbelief so what do you do you look at jesus there paying the price fulfilling everything for you on the cross and you reach out to him you say i believe i believe that my sin problem is dealt with right there i receive it now jesus i receive what you have for me in your hands there it is it's right there in god's outstretched hand towards you all the forgiveness all the empowering all the encouragement all the the new life you need it's right there but you have to come through the cross and jesus offers it to you now i believe at the end of exodus chapter 6 moses should have been encouraged don't you believe that i do believe that moses should have said okay lord no matter how i'm feeling yes i believe you yes i receive it i think moses should have said that now if moses should be encouraged there how much more should you and i who have every reason every reason to believe what jesus offers us through his outstretched hand will you receive it this morning what i'm going to do is i'm going to close in prayer right now but as i close in prayer in the midst of my prayer i'm going to offer people the opportunity to put their trust in jesus christ because i'm sure that there's some people here you need to do it for the first time or in the past you've done it so long ago that that it's just so distant so unreal to you that you needed to be real in your life today so i'm going to give an invitation for people to do that i'm going to give you the invitation to receive jesus christ as i pray in just a moment i want you to prepare your heart to receive it let's pray together now father in heaven we ask that you would um it set some people free that you'd encourage some souls that are locked in bondage because of discouragement that you'd help people lord who have never seen it this clearly before to see it now who you are how great you are and father i pray that you give people right now the wisdom and the courage to look away from self and to look to jesus and all he's done for them on the cross father once you do this among us now friends where heads are about eyes are closed reverently in prayer i simply want to ask if there's people right now this morning you want to make that kind of decision for jesus christ either you've never done it in your life before or you did it in the past and you feel like you've fallen so far away from that initial commitment that initial uh work that you just feel you you have to do it again if that's you this morning i want you to tell god so right now tell him so now tell him lord i want to do this i'm going to ask you to do something further if you're telling god so right now that you want to do this won't you please right now i'm just going to ask you to stand up stand up where you're sitting right now just as a demonstration of your faith so that you can say to god yes i really want to receive it bless you sir others here this morning bless you bless you others here this morning you feel like you need to receive this bless you bless you back there i'll give just a moment more and then i'm going to lead you in a prayer all right for those who are standing i'd just like to lead you in a prayer right now this is just a beginning you really should talk to somebody in our prayer team afterwards and and let us follow you up with this but but this is a beginning let me pray and just you can pray this quietly before the lord right now jesus in heaven i come to you i ask that you forgive my sins i want new life i want to turn from my old life and i want to turn fully towards the new life that you give me in jesus christ i don't understand everything [Music] but i believe in jesus [Music] and i ask him to forgive my sins and to come into my life give me this new life that you've promised [Music] do it lord as i humbly pray to you in jesus name [Music] amen

Channel: David Guzik

Views: 3,924

Rating: 4.9540229 out of 5

Keywords: david guzik, guzik, enduring word, exodus 6, I AM Your Encouragement, god, lord, moses, promise, Pharaoh, covenant, Israel, genealogies, jacob, aaron

Id: c4_x9Spdl0E

Length: 40min 50sec (2450 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 19 2020