BLESSED ASSURANCES

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In Christ, Mark

 

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

God also said to Moses, "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. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.”

"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord."

Exodus 6:1-8

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message from the fifth chapter of Exodus, we saw where Egypt’s supreme leader, Pharaoh, didn’t know God by his own admission while the Israelite foremen and Moses failed to trust God by their attitude and actions. As the chapter ends, we find Moses questioning God as to why things were happening the way they were as it seemed that His plan had only resulted in additional trouble for the Israelites with no relief in sight.

Well, in the opening verses of chapter six, we find the Lord’s responding to Moses, and while you might think He would bring a rebuke, we instead see Him offer a blessed assurance. Look again at His words here:

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

God also said to Moses, "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. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.”

"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord." Vv.1-8

Here, we find God reaffirming that Moses indeed witness all that He would do to Pharaoh and wants to make it clear that it would be Egypt’s leader who would let the Israelites leave. We will see this happen because God is about to make things so miserable for Pharaoh and the Egyptians that it will be in their collective best interest to allow the Israelites to leave.

To validate His presence and care for His people, we find God reminding Moses of His track record through Jewish history and how He was with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, all of which were ancestors and leadership forerunners of Moses. The Lord makes sure that Moses remembers how He delivered them to the land of Canaan, fulfilling His covenant with them, just as He would soon do for the Hebrew people enslaved in Egypt.

In fact, the Lord makes special mention of the suffering Hebrews in Egypt saying:

"I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant."

He then tells Moses to go back to the Israelites and deliver the following special message, a message meant to encourage and strengthen His people in the midst of their hardship and suffering:

"I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord."

Through His own words, God provided a blessed assurance for the people of Israel and for us as well. Specifically, He promised:

1. That He had remembered His covenant.

Always remember that God remembers His promises and He has never broken one He has ever made.

He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, to always be with us.

He has promised us that He would never allow us a burden we couldn’t bear when we turn to Him for help.

He has promised us that nothing is impossible with Him.

And He has promised to never destroy us, even though through our sinfulness we might deserve it. We only need to look into the sky after a rain and see a rainbow to be reminded of this promise, one that has stood for more than 2,000 years after a covenant He made with His people after Noah, the ark, and the great flood.

2. That He is the Lord.

He is almighty and omnipotent, having no rival.

He is all willing, doing whatever He desires to further His kingdom here on earth.

He is all able with nothing beyond the work of His hands.

He is all loving, so much so that He didn’t wish for anyone to perish in Hell but to have the opportunity for eternal life through belief in His Son Jesus.

He is Creator and Master of all living things.

and...

He is a wonder-working, Maker of miracles. Nothing is impossible with Him and He makes the improbable probable.

Although the Israelites thought they could never escape their captivity (they were powerless to do so), although Pharaoh believed there was no power that could exceed his own (he didn’t know the God he was up against), and even though Moses doubted  that God would actually do what He said He would do (the Lord would help him with his unbelief as He will us), in the end, God would show Himself as God, working with might in accordance with His own time and in His chosen place, in accordance with His will.

The truth of the matter is that God will ALWAYS prove His naysayers wrong and show that He and He alone is God.

3. That He is a God who delivers and redeems.

God made a solemn promise that He would deliver the Israelites out of the bondage of the Egyptians just as He promises to deliver us from the enslavement of sin today, and He does what He says He will do.

Every single time.  

As we’re going to see, the blessed assurance of God’s liberation of the Israelites would be carried out through a series of ten plagues/curses that He would bring on the nation of Egypt and its leader Pharaoh. This will conclude with death passing over the people of Israel before they are told to leave.

The blessed assurance of our salvation came when God chose to come from Heaven to earth and become flesh through His one and only Son, Jesus. Through Him and His willing sacrifice on Calvary’s cross, death also passes over anyone who has chosen to believe in Him as Savior.

Into both these situations, past and present, we find God intervening into a place of hopelessness and bringing sure, guaranteed hope. Let us give thanks today for His goodness, caring, and love.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.