10-11-14. GOD IS MORE THAN ABLE TO REDEEM HIS PEOPLE-my devotional

Exodus 5:22-6:30                                                                                 Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 6:6                                                                                     10-11-1 4

“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.” (NIV)

A prayer for those who are longing for a secure foundation in this world.…..Dear Lord, heavenly Father thank you for being our Rock and our Sure Foundation. This world is in such turmoil. They don’t know where to turn. People are trying to find a solid foundation on secular concepts, like the “traditional” values of their nation, but yet people are not sure what the traditional values of their people are. They are also not in agreement. But we thank you for giving us “The Solid Rock” Jesus Christ. Whoever builds their lives on that solid foundation of the Gospel will rest secure. The nation is blessed whose Lord is the Lord God Almighty…the God of the Bible. May the light of Christ shine forth, around the whole world. May it be spread by love, not the sword. May we utilize our secure vantage point, as a place to propel the Gospel (Ekballo) to the farthest reaches of this planet to let the world know that Jesus Christ is their Savior and the Gospel is the way. Please grant me one word of God to hold onto. I pray in the name of the Solid Rock…Jesus Christ.

Part 1: Do not be surprised about suffering? (5:22-23)

There is something we can learn about suffering in Exodus 5:22-23, “Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” (NIV)

Moses could not properly interpret what was happening to his people. Moses’ effort to help the people brought more suffering. He cried out to God, seeking understanding…”Why?” Moses felt that it was unusual for trouble to come upon his people, especially when he and they have been so sincere seeking the will of the Lord.

Moses needed to wait on God’s time for deliverance. God was going to deliver his people. History attests this fact. But God had a plan and he was going to do it in his time and in his way. Moses and his people could not see it from their vantage point. But God would deliver them.

The bottom line is that they needed to trust God. God was doing something in Egypt. He was working out his plan, though his people could not see it. They needed to trust.

I have suffered very little compared to some people, and may not be qualified to comment on suffering. But I do know one thing… suffering is not unusual, but part of the “normal spiritual” life. The Hebrews in Egypt thought that this trouble they were experiencing was not part of the package. But it was. Suffering comes with anything in this Fallen world. Suffering is as usual as birth, death and taxes. You can’t avoid it. Even people who bubble wrap their lives and try to live cushy lives still suffer. But the question is, are we suffering for nothing or are we suffering as we bear fruit for the glory of God? Are we growing through our suffering? Is there meaningful outcome for our suffering? The Hebrews were suffering in Egypt. It was like a peace of pottery in an oven. The pottery is transformed to a beautiful and useful piece of ceramic. It is like a refining fire. The fire melts out the dross, the impurities from the metal ore. The heat makes finer and finer gold.

We should not complain when we face suffering that we can’t explain. Have an eternal perspective. If we are in Christ, God is working out his plan. God will bring about his deliverance in his time and in his way. We need to trust in what God is doing. In the mean time, pray to understand how your present suffering is able to produce in us eternal fruit for the glory of God. Accept suffering for you can not avoid it no matter what you do. Seek to understand it. See things from God’s eternal point of view. Seek to grow through it. But never blame God. Rather, see what God our Father is producing in our lives.

Part 2. God is Almighty. He Can Do What He Promises. (1-8)

Exodus 6:1-8, “ 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.” 2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 “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. 7 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. 8 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.’”

We all need to know that the Almighty God of the Bible, is with us. God promised Moses that he would personally witness the power of God. “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh…” It will all occur because of God’s mighty hand. Look at Exodus 5:6-8,
““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. 7 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. 8 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.’”

       The God of the Bible is God Almighty who made a promise to Abraham. He revealed himself to Moses as the LORD, the Redeemer and Savior. (3-4) He is the God who knows all about the suffering of his people, and he cares about it and he wants to intervene in his way and in his time. (5) God remembers his covenant. His new name, THE LORD, reveals his love and faithfulness. He promises to free them from slavery in Egypt, to redeem them by mighty acts of judgment. He will take them as his own people and he will be their God. He will bring them to the land he promised Abraham. God can do this because he is the Lord God Almighty. This God is Jesus Christ.
I thank God for coming into our lives and upholding us by his almighty power. I trust God. He is all powerful and almighty. He promised that Jesus will come again and gather his elect from the ends of the earth. He will do it. He promised to raise believers from the dead and usher them into eternal life in the kingdom of God where we will be with the Lord forever. He will do it. He promised that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is enough, when accepted by faith, to completely forgive our sins. He has done it. He promised that he will never leave us or forsake us. He is doing it. He promised that when the seed, which is our life, falls to the ground and dies, it will produce many seeds. Our lives will bear abundant fruit, especially in the life that is to come. He is doing it and will continue to do it. Our God is powerful. He is our God and we can trust him. Moses needed this faith in order to embrace the awesome mission that God had for him.

I thank God that I can trust in his power daily. He gives me strength to bear up under any heavy load. I can faithfully work, love and serve my family, serve in the church. I can be faithful because my faithful God, Jesus Christ, is so faithful to me. People ask me, “How does it feel to be 50?” Without Jesus, I would only be becoming more tired and waiting to retire. But because my faithful, almighty God is with me, he renews my strength so that I may soar like an eagle. People think that they can live in this world without Jesus. They think they don’t need anything but their own human power and positive thinking. They all will grow weary and falter. We all need the power of Jesus Christ to fill our sails and uphold our wings as we soar through life.

Part 3. The Best Cure For A Broken Spirit (9-27)

Verses 9-27, “9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor. 10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.” 12 But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?” 13 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. 14 These were the heads of their families: The sons of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel were Hanok and Pallu, Hezron and Karmi. These were the clans of Reuben. 15 The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.16 These were the names of the sons of Levi according to their records: Gershon, Kohath and Merari. Levi lived 137 years. 17 The sons of Gershon, by clans, were Libni and Shimei. 18 The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. Kohath lived 133 years. 19 The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of Levi according to their records. 20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses. Amram lived 137 years. 21 The sons of Izhar were Korah, Nepheg and Zikri. 22 The sons of Uzziel were Mishael, Elzaphan and Sithri. 23 Aaron married Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab and sister of Nahshon, and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah and Abiasaph. These were the Korahite clans. 25 Eleazar son of Aaron married one of the daughters of Putiel, and she bore him Phinehas. These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan. 26 It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.” 27 They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt—this same Moses and Aaron. 28 Now when the Lord spoke to Moses in Egypt, 29 he said to him, “I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.” 30 But Moses said to the Lord, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”

This is the greatest medicine for those suffering in the throws of despair. Think about the spiritual and emotional condition of the Hebrew people. Their cruel bondage in Egypt had broken their spirit. Look at verse 9, “Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.” (9) They were suffering so much that they would not listen to the servant of God, Moses nor hear the word of God spoken to them. They had no strength to believe God’s promises. They had already been slaves for 400 years. Would it never end?

People are living in deep despair. It seems that the hardships of living in this fallen world are pummeling their spirits. They see no end to the relational strife, their financial woes, the grip that sin has on their lives, the facing of so many closed doors, the lack of absolute truth to hold onto, the lack of love and the feeling of impending judgment. The list goes on and on. It seems that their discouragement and harsh labor lingers. How many fall asleep with tears in their eyes? How many cannot even fall asleep at all? They are in desperate need of a deliverer, the Great Deliverer, Jesus Christ, who alone can set the captives free.

Servants of God also experience despair when engaged in ministry, just like Moses did. Moses was discouraged by his peoples’ rejection of the message God told him to deliver. Look at Exodus 6:12, “But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?”  The discouraging situation made Moses think that his own people will never listen to God’s message. He focused on his own weaknesses (faltering lips) instead of God and his almighty power. Despair had rendered him powerless too.

Discouragement is a problem in life for not only the people of God, but also for servants of God called to minister to God’s people. This is a fallen world. We are all fighting discouragement in one way or another. But what is the solution? There is no easy answer, but part of the answer can be found in this passage.

First, renew your mission in life. Look at verse 10-11, “10 Then the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”  God knew what Moses was going through. He understood the whole story. But Moses needed to take his eyes off of the impossibility and again commit himself to the task at hand, confronting the very one who was keeping his people captive and urging him to let his people go. He needed to deliver God’s message to Pharaoh. Those of us who are locked in despair, maybe it is time to renew your calling and mission in the Lord. What does he want you to do right now? Maybe it what he wanted you to do before. Simply renew your calling and mission in the season of life that God has brought you too.

Second, remember who you are, your identity, in the Lord. Look at verses 19b, “These were the clans of Levi according to their records. 20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, who bore him Aaron and Moses.” and also verses 25b-26, “…These were the heads of the Levite families, clan by clan. 26 It was this Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said, “Bring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.”  Moses and Aaron were part of the Levite clans. The Levites were people, who would be called to minister to the people of God. God had great plans for the Levites. They were going to serve a priestly duty to pray for the people and promote and assist in worship. God wanted to remind who they were. They were Levites, servants of God who were specifically called to minister to the Hebrews in captivity. The people would respect their ancestry. God would be with Moses and Aaron as they stand as his chosen servants.

To overcome despair, we need to remember who we are. We are children of God. John 1:12-13, “12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (NIV) We are loved by our Father in heaven. God dwells among us as his people. We are also called to be ambassadors or Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:20 reads, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”  In some way, Christians are also New Testament Levites, for 1 Peter 2:9 reads, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” God wants us to be confident of who we are in Christ and know that we have been called to a great and glorious purpose and that he is with us and upholding us as our Heavenly Father.

There are many more factors involved in battling despair, but these are two important factors, renewing your mission and your identity in life.

I used to speak with faltering lips. I stammered from the age or five to the age of 22 years old. In my elementary school days I saw speech therapists. But they could not help me. Who did help me was Jesus Christ. I stammered because I had no self confidence and knew that I really didn’t have anything important to say to anyone. I knew it but I didn’t know that to do about it. And so I stammered. When I became a Christian, I became a new creation, the old has gone and the new had come. I rested in the grace of God. I gained confidence in Jesus. I also learned about the Gospel and began to share spiritual things with other people. I now had something of utmost importance to share with others. Jesus used the discipleship training of Msn David and Esther Jung. They made this stammering student a presider and messenger at church and prayed for me. I gained confidence that I was a servant of God called to share the Gospel message to the people of my generation. When this transformation occurred, I was healed of my stammering, my faltering lips.  The promise of God in Isaiah 32:4 became real for me. “The fearful heart will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will be fluent and clear.” I could speak clearly, even before thousands of people. I needed to embrace my call and mission in life and have confidence of who I was in Christ and in his grace.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for being with us the midst of hardships and suffering in life. Help me to hold onto your grace, our calling and my new identity that I have in you.

One Word: God is almighty. He is mighty to deliver. Stand firm in faith.