9-15-14. Exodus 2:23-3:2. God’s Unimaginable & Glorious Plan Of  Salvation- my devotional

Exodus 2:23-3:12                                                                                      Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 3:8                                                                                          9-15-14

“So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.”

 Lord, I come to you to hear your word and follow you. Please guide me and teach me of your truth. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

 Part 1: The Holy God Cares And Acts (1-6)

Verses 2:23-3:6, “23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. 3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.” (NIV)

The work of God is accomplished by many unknown servants of God and not just one person. God’s people were groaning and crying out for a very long time. But God waiting until Moses’ training period was complete. Look at Exodus 2:23 to 3:1, “23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. 3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God “ God was caring about his people, who were suffering greatly under the burden of slavery. They were so oppressed. But God did not prematurely pull Moses away from his spiritual growth period which included 40 years in the desert. There was a perfect time for God to send his servant, Moses, back into Egypt to lead his people out of slavery.

But in the meantime, I am sure that God was raising up his servants up among his people in order to teach the people their history, the Genesis accounts and other spiritual lessons turning their hearts towards the Lord. There were probably hundreds of servants of God teaching and praying for the people, waiting for the time that Moses comes on the scene. Moses represented the pinnacle of God’s deliverance. He was a reaper. But there were sowers and reapers doing God’s work and they were glad together. God’s work is never done by one person. It may seem at the time that one person is bringing about all the fruitful work, but it is not true. There are so many people behind the scenes that are pouring out their hearts in serving their purpose in the Lord. Then one person stands up and seems to take credit for everything that God has done. It is never a “one man” or “one woman” show. Moses needed to be thankful for God and all the unknown people who made his ascendancy to spiritual leadership possible. The sowers and the reapers need to be glad together with the Lord.

What a mighty God we serve. He is the same God who called Moses! Look at Exodus 3:3-6. One day, it was the time for God to reveal himself to Moses and call him out. Moses was taking care of the flock on the far side of the desert near Mount Sinai when he saw a bush burning. He went near to see why it was not consumed in the fire. It was there that God called him by name. God was calling him to a personal relationship. God was letting Moses knew that he knew him very well. He knew all of his strengths and even all of his weaknesses. And yet, even with all of his weaknesses, God still called him to serve this great and awesome purpose in human history, to lead the Exodus. God who called Moses was not some vague spirit. He had a clear identity. He was the God of Moses’ father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. (6) He is the God who has been shepherding his people and multiplying them until they could become a great and powerful nation. He is the God of who works throughout history to bring about his divine purpose. He is the God who fulfills all of his promises, for the growth of the nation of Israel was in part, the fulfillment of his promises to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob–the God whom Moses’ father had trusted. (Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment.) This God is also very holy. For when Moses attempted to draw near the burning bush he was ordered to take off his sandals for that ground was holy ground. Wow! What a mighty God we serve! What a marvelous God is our God. And he comes to us and draws us near to himself.

What did God mean when he talked about Holy Ground? Moses needed to check his attitude before coming before God. Look at Exodus 3:5, “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”  (5)  At God’s command, Moses removed his sandals. Taking off his shoes was an act of reverence, conveying his own complete unworthiness before God. What is this, “Holy Ground”? Holy ground is the place where a person meets God. Moses needed to approach his Maker with the right attitude. God is our friend but he is also our sovereign Lord who is very, very holy. The attitude with which we approach God is important. To approach him casually shows lack of respect and a lack of sincerity. When we approach God we should approach him with the attitude that we are invited to appear before the king of all creation and humbly and thankfully approach him. When we let go of our pride, arrogance and irreverence, then our hearts become “holy ground” and we can meet God personally. God opposes the proud and gives favor to the humble. (James 4:6)

I can remember the first time that my heart became “holy ground” where I could meet Jesus, my Savior. It was in 1986 at the MSU campus, at a UBF Bible conference. I was struggling hard not to believe in Jesus. But as I meditated on various passages in John’s Gospel, I realized that there was not any reason to not believe and every reason to believe. I surrendered my struggle to God. I was made humble. I admitted my need for a Savior. It was at that time that the Holy Spirit flooded into my heart and I was born again. It was like I had taken off my sandals and my heart was made holy ground by God by his grace of forgiveness. God first met me there that day back in 1986. Thank you Lord.

Part 2: God Has A Plan We Would Never Imagine (7-10)

God works in ways in our lives that we may not even recognize. Look at Exodus 3: 7-10, “The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” (NIV)

God saw the misery of his people in bondage. He heard their cries. He saw their oppressors. He understood what was happening to them. He was concerned about their suffering and he came down to bring them out, away from their oppression. He promised to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey, a broad and good land–yet a land full of enemies that they needed to overcome. Though these slaves were despairing and groaning. God was revealing his compassion to them. He was planting hope and vision into their hearts.

God cares. He hears and sees and understands. We need someone to hear our groaning and understand our suffering. Very few people understand what we are going through. Sometimes our own parents or spouses or even ourselves can understand our plight. But we can be assured that we have a Father in heaven who knows our deepest need.

God set out to deliver his suffering people. But he did it in a way that we would not expect. We would expect God to inspire a huge army to come and defeat the Egyptians and free the Hebrews. That is what our human minds can conceive. God did something even more powerful than sending a liberating army. God called Moses and gave him a mission. He said to Moses, “Go, I am sending you. Bring my people out.”

God brings about his work of salvation in ways that we can never conceive. Acts 13:41 reads, “‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”  (NIV) This is in reference to God sending his One and Only Son to come into this world to suffer and die on the cross for our sins, opening the way to the Kingdom of God. This does not make sense to the earthly minded. Why does God not send and army of teachers, social workers and psychologists to save people from their sins. Don’t get me wrong…God has sent the equivalent of an army of doctors, teachers, social workers, psychologists and the like, over the millennia, to fight the good fight and bring good into this world. But it all begins with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are not enough civil servants and resources to tackle the problem of sin. But this doesn’t stop God from bringing redemption to those suffering. He did something that most people would not believe even if someone sat them down, looked them in the eye and told them plain and simple. They just don’t understand God’s way of salvation. But even if they don’t understand it, it is God’s way of salvation nonetheless. And is most effective.

In the same way God raised up one man, Moses, to be the deliverer of his people. He would lead a few million slaves 40 years in the desert, bringing them out of slavery and into the Promised Land. This is the best plan. It is a plan that worked. It is a plan that brought hope and deliverance to people. It is the plan that paved the way for Jesus to be sent into this world. God’s way is best, though we may not recognize it. How is God working in your life? Can you recognize it? Can you even agree that it is the best way? Maybe God is calling you to serve a great and wonderful purpose, even though you may not understand what God is doing at the time.

God’s hope keeps us alive. God always works to plant hope in the hearts of his people, through his promises. Though his people were suffering for hundreds of years, they survived as a nation when they had God’s hope in their hearts. Look at Exodus 3:8.” So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.”  (NIV) God’s hope was real. God brought individuals hope to be with him when their lives ended. He would bring them into the Promised Land and establish them as a great and powerful nation. He would bring Jesus and the Gospel into the world through them. God’s promises are true. Though our suffering may be sustained and we feel the end is not in sight, we are kept alive by God’s hope. In our deepest trials we must always hold onto the fact that God’s promises are sure. We must hold onto them, believe them and act on that hope through living by faith and never giving up, and seeking God’s kingdom and his righteousness. (Matt 6:33)

Part 3: Thank You Lord! Immanuel!  (11-12)

Verses 11-12, “11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

Do you feel weak and helpless? Good. You are in the best position to serve God and glorify Jesus Christ in your life. God wants us to serve him in our weaknesses, through faith and not in our human power alone. Look at Exodus 3:11, “But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”  Moses asked, “Why me?” when God told him to go and bring his people out of Egypt. Moses was really humbled at this point. When he was 40 years old, he might have thought that he was really something and fully qualified to lead his people out of Egypt. After all he was strong and educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. His self confidence drove him to beat an Egyptian slave driver to death. But Moses was not where God wanted him to be. His sense of self sufficiency and dependency on his own strength rendered him useless to God. He needed 40 more years of molding by God in the deserts of Midian before he could lead 3 million Israelites out of slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land.

Though God can work through our strengths, he can work more powerfully through our weaknesses. He will refine us until we have learnt the truth that “I can not, but God can.” We need to learn that anything is possible with God. God wants us to depend on him. In this way his power, wisdom, love and glory is revealed to a world that is helpless to free itself from the power of sin and death. Look at what Apostle Paul says about a weakness that he had. 2 Corinthians 12:7b-12 reads, “…Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (NIV)  God’s power is made complete when live by faith, despite of our weaknesses. When we embrace the difficult missions and situations in life, depending on God’s power, then God is glorified. The world can see Jesus’ power, love, strength, provision. What God accomplishes through our weak selves, will declare loudly, that Jesus is the Savior of the World and Jesus is the Way, and the Truth and the Life. I need to stop striving in my own human strength. I need to allow God to mold me into a humble servant of God who can depend on God’s power alone and serve him in his strength. “Lord, teach me how to do this and how to glorify you.”

But how can we depend on God in our weaknesses? It is because God is with us. Look at Exodus 3:12, “12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” God answered, “I will be with you.”  God also said that the sign that he is the one who sent Moses is that three million, former slaves will be found worshipping God Almighty at Mount Sinai.

Embracing the mission of God in our lives is possible when we know that God is with us. The things we are called to do are simply too big for us to embrace. But we can do it when God is with us and we depend on him through prayer and humble obedience to his Word and his Spirit. I need know that God is with me as I embrace my role in the church, with Network of Nations, Art of Marriage, the mentoring of a several people, and of course, the mission to the North. I want to be a very effective nurse. I also have a big mission to mentor my own family in the ways of the Lord, which sometimes I feel it is too big for me to embrace. All of these things are too big for me to manage on my own. But I can stand my ground and embrace it all with faith, knowing the Jesus is with me. And he has been faithful to help Julie and I, thus far. Ebenezer! (Thus far the Lord has helped us.)

God is with us and he wants to provide signs to show us and strengthen our faith. Look at Exodus 3:12, “12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” There would be a sign that it was God Almighty, who had called and sent Moses on this grand mission.  God told Moses to bring the people to worship him on Mount Sinai. To get 3 million former slaves to the base of Mt Sinai, and have them all worshipping the Lord, is a miracle from the Lord. Only God could do that. I am sure that Moses prayed and prayed precisely that the Israelites would get to Mount Sinai with a heart full of praise and worship. God would fulfill that prayer. The fulfillment of that prayer was a sign that God had sent Moses as a deliverer and that God was with his people. God wants to send us his signs that he is with us, and that Jesus is our Deliverer. He wants us to have assurance that he will continue to be with us as we live by faith in Christ and take hold of our calling in life.

Jesus is Immanuel, God with us. Immanuel literally means, “God with us”. There are signs that the Lord is with us. Jesus coming into this world as a baby in a manger, to love and serve humanity and ultimately to suffer and die for our sins is a sign. On the third day, Jesus rose again from the dead, planting the hope of eternity in our hearts. This is another sign. Concerning the sign of a resurrected savior, Matthew 12:39-40 reads, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (NIV) His suffering death and resurrection is the sign that Jesus is with us. Immanuel!  Concerning the sign of the baby in the manger, Luke 2:8-12 reads, “8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  (NIV) God is with us. He is Jesus Christ.

God has been with our family. Recently I was amazed how God is growing our five kids. So far they all are healthy, happy and engaged citizens. This is far more than I could ask for. Thank you Lord. Immanuel!  God is also blessing our participation in various Christian missions, like Network of Nations and Art of Marriage. Thank you Lord. Immanuel! The mission to the North is progressing at a wonderful pace. Thank you Lord. Immanuel!  God is providing for our needs faithfully. Thank you Lord. Immanuel!

Part of being with us is also equipping us as we answer his call. The God who calls is the God who equips. “…Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (12)  Who is anyone to answer God’s call? We are all ill equipped. We are all found wanting. But we know that the God who calls is the one who equips. We can go forth and embrace the adventure that God has for us.

Prayer: “Lord, thank for hearing the cries of your people. Thank you for carrying out your plan of salvation. We can never even conceive of such a great plan. But it is glorious and effective.”

One Word: Thank you for calling us to be your servants in your wondrous plan.