He is and He will
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Bob (played by Bill Murray) is Dr. Marvin’s lovable but troubled mental patient in the film What About Bob? He is so needy that he clings to Dr. Marvin at every turn—stopping by his office for unscheduled visits, calling him at home in the evening, showing up unannounced at his house, and generally making a nuisance of himself.
As Dr. Marvin prepares to take a family vacation, he starts to wonder how he is ever going to get rid of Bob. Finally, in desperation, he tells his patient to do what he is doing himself and take a vacation.
“A vacation from my problems,” says Bob. “What a great idea!”
Sometimes, that does sound like a great idea, doesn’t it? Driving away from the stack of bills and other financial worries; hopping a bus to escape the stress of family. Using all your frequent flier miles to run off to Australia—away from work and responsibility—far, far away where no one can find you.
Sounds pretty good sometimes.
I’ve often thought: maybe I should just buy a horse, move to the mountains, and not bother anyone anymore.
You’re probably thinking: “I’ve got a horse you can have. And I’ll help you pack!”
“A vacation from my problems”—not a bad idea.
In the classic cinematic masterpiece—Mrs. Doubtfire—Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) and Miranda Hillard (Sally Field) have what appears to be for them a common fight.
At one point in their arguing, Daniel suggests:
Daniel: How about we take a vacation, take the kids, get you away from work, you'll see that you're a different person. You are. You're great.
Miranda: [shakes her head sadly] Oh, Daniel, our problems would be just waiting for us when we got back.
Daniel: Well, we'll move. And hopefully our problems won't follow us.
The trouble is that problems, as a rule, do not take vacations. Even if we are able to get away from them for a few days, they are still there when we come back. Problems tend to get worse or they follow us wherever we go, which is what happens in the movie What About Bob?
Bob decides that if he is going to take a vacation from his problems, he might as well take it with his psychiatrist.
So Bob shows up at the Dr. Marvin’s resort and brings his problems right along with him.
Perhaps this is why the Bible never encourages us to take a vacation from our problems.
Taking a vacation wouldn’t help. And the Bible is very much honest about the difficulties of life in this fallen world. God, through His Word, would never suggest we waste our time with hopeless solutions.
Instead of running away from our problems, the Bible teaches us to take them to the Lord.
In the middle of everything, I’m sure Moses felt like running away. I’m sure after his initial venture in front of Pharaoh and the ensuing drama that unfolded, Moses felt like taking his family and returning to Midian. Dealing with a bunch of stinky sheep is certainly preferable to dealing with a bunch of stinky Israelites whose chief talent was complaining.
But Moses doesn’t run away. He doesn’t take a vacation. What does Moses do? He turns to the Lord.
In light of his incredibly intimidating task (the initial attempt does not go well at all, you might remember; Pharaoh says “No, sir”, the Israelites are burdened with more work), in spite of the fact that the Israelites were calling down curses and judgment upon him, Moses doesn’t run. He doesn’t book the next flight on Air Egypt. He doesn’t wallow in despair.
He turns to the Lord.
22 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.”
Moses goes to the Lord in prayer and honestly seeks Him, seeks answers, seeks help.
And God answers Moses by repeating His promise of salvation. The Lord assures Moses that no matter how desperate the situation becomes, He still has things under control.
1 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.”
The Lord assures Moses that He has not, will not, cannot forget His covenant:
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.
Moses needed to hear this. He needed to know (we need to know) that God has appeared, that He has established His covenant, that He has heard them in their groaning, and that He has remembered all His promises.
Moses needed to hear these wonderful truths. These were the answers he needed; maybe not the answers he wanted, but the answers he needed.
Moses needed to hear (we need to hear) these great promises.
But of all the things that the Lord said to Moses, of all the things Moses needed to hear, the most important is only 4 words:
2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord.
This must be important because of how often the Lord repeats Himself (He says this in verse 2, in verse 6, in verse 7, and in verse 8).
“I am the Lord,” He says—again and again. More than a dozen times in the book of Exodus, the Lord reminds His servant, reminds His people: “I am the Lord.”
The Lord says this for the first time in Exodus back at the burning bush:
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”
Here in Exodus 6, when Moses starts to doubt and begins to encounter trouble, God repeatedly tells him: “I am the Lord.”
You think maybe Moses needed to hear that? You think he needed to be reminded of that?
“I am the Lord.”
God certainly gave Moses more than that (He gave Moses plenty of other details about the salvation He would bring), but if He hadn’t said any more than that—“I am the Lord”—it would have been sufficient.
The beginning, middle, and end of the Lord’s message was simply: “I am the Lord.”
This was the most important thing Moses needed to hear. “I am the Lord” is reassurance that the Lord has everything handled. It’s comforting to know that although I have nothing covered, there is One who does—always.
I’m certain there are many times where you, if you’re anything like me, could benefit from hearing the Lord say, “I am the Lord.”
God wants His people to understand that the answers to all their problems are to be found in Him.
Every part of salvation depends on His being and His character. Salvation began with God—it all comes from His grace; and salvation ends with God—because it all returns to His glory.
Whatever difficulties show up in the meantime, God is able to handle because…[He] is the Lord.
“I am the Lord” is God’s way of reminding Moses (reminding us) that He is sufficient. He is mighty to save. He is able and good and faithful and just.
Maybe this is why God allowed Moses to fail (and fail hard) the first time he went to Pharaoh.
Think about it: if Pharaoh had released the Israelites the very first time they asked, the people would have given Moses most of the credit (if not all of the credit).
Plus, it wouldn’t be much of a story: “So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Let my people go.’ Pharaoh agreed and sent the people away with his best wishes and plenty of Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches for the road. The end.”
If Pharaoh would have released the Israelites at their first request, Moses would have been given all the credit.
Instead, the mission backfires in a big way. And Moses gets all the blame. It was at this moment that everyone knew Moses was unable to lead God’s people to the Promised Land.
Only the Lord could bring them out of Egypt. And the longer Moses and Pharaoh argue over the fate of Israel, the clearer all this becomes. (We need 7 chapters of this interaction between Moses and Pharaoh so we get the point—“Let my people go.” “No.”).
God is teaching His people to put all of their trust in Him and Him alone.
That way, when all else fails (and it all will), the one thing they can count on is the One who said “I am the Lord”. He alone has the ability to save.
What is true for Moses and the Israelites is true for us. Whatever problems we have, whatever difficulties we face, the most important thing is to know who God is.
We are called to place our trust in the One who says, “I am the Lord.”
When there is trouble in the family and we don’t know how to bring peace, He says, “I am the Lord.”
When a relationship is broken and cannot be mended, He says, “I am the Lord.”
When loss and sorrow and grief consumes, He says, “I am the Lord.”
When nothing seems to go right, and it’s not certain how things will ever work out—even then He says, “I am the Lord.”
—>The One who reassures us by reminding us who He is—“I am the Lord”—is the One we should trust, the One who brings salvation. We need to trust who He is. And we need to believe that He will do what He says He will do.
In our text, there are several “I will” statements made by the Lord. These “I will” statements can be grouped into four gospel words or four words of salvation: deliverance, redemption, adoption, and inheritance.
Look with me at the “I wills” of the Lord:
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.’ ”
He is and He will.
He is the Lord, and He will deliver His people.
He is the Lord, and He will deliver His people.
God is going to bring His people out of slavery. He is going to deliver them.
This is something that would be accomplished by grace through faith; this was not something they had earned.
They would be delivered so that they might worship the Lord Yahweh.
Call this deliverance or freedom or liberation or rescue—it’s all from God. And it’s a whisper of the gospel.
Paul writes in Galatians 1:4 that Jesus gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age.
On a similar level, God set us free, from spiritual slavery and our inability to keep the law. He sets us free through the mediator Jesus Christ.
This deliverance comes only by grace through faith—we have not earned this.
The purpose for which we are delivered is that we might worship. We were made to worship, in fact. We are delivered to worship, and we can only worship because of this deliverance.
Now, there is an “already-not-yet” dimension to our deliverance.
Israel was looking forward to these promises. For us, in one sense, they have happened to us “already”, but we also look forward to the “not yet”—that time when Jesus will come, set the world at rights, and free us for good and forever from this age.
Paul captures the “already-not-yet” quite well. We have not been fully delivered, but will be one day.
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Until then…don’t be surprised when you suffer. Don’t be surprised when you get cancer. Don’t be surprised when you lose your job.
What God has promised is deliverance—a resurrection from the dead, not avoidance of suffering or sickness or sorrow.
We have been set free, but we still live in this body in a fallen world. And we are awaiting ultimate, final liberty.
He will deliver His people.
He is the Lord, and He will redeem a people.
He is the Lord, and He will redeem a people.
The Lord says, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.”
There is no word more basic in the Bible. With the exception of Jacob’s blessing in Genesis 48, this the first time the Bible uses the language of redemption.
God redeems. God is Redeemer.
The word carries the idea of purchasing.
The redeemer (go’el) was often a member a person’s extended family who acted to protect the family when they fell into certain situations.
The go’el was the protector of the family, the family champion.
If a member of the family was murdered, the go’el made sure the guilty party was brought to justice.
If a member of the family fell into debt and was forced to sell land, the go’el would take the responsibility to purchase the land in order to keep it in the family.
If a man died without a son to inherit his name and property, it was the go’el who was to take the deceased man’s widow and seek to raise an heir with her.
The Lord designates Himself the go’el of Israel, the Redeemer of Israel. He Himself is going to redeem His people.
In Exodus, God is coming to the aid of His people. The people of His covenant family are enslaved—physically and spiritually—and He is coming to redeem.
To intervene. To avenge. To rescue.
He was coming to redeem then with justice.
Ultimately, in the fullness of time, the Redeemer of the world would come from this people.
In your discouragement, remember that you have a Redeemer—Jesus Christ. He has intervened. He has come to avenge. He has rescued. He has purchased you from the slave market of sin, never to be bought a again.
He has paid the price, and He has paid it in full—and we come empty-handed to the table; we have no money to pay our ransom, no goodness to earn any part of it, nothing to offer. We have no way of making a way out, no possible way of helping or aiding in our redemption.
Jesus purchased/redeemed you and me with His own blood, with His own life. And now we sit at His table—redeemed by His blood and nothing but the blood.
He will redeem a people.
He is Lord and He will adopt a people.
He is Lord and He will adopt a people.
Do you hear what the Lord says?
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.
God was going to take Israel as His people. He had already called them His “son” in chapter 4.
This—adoption—is a display of His matchless love.
4 the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises.
God redeems us—this is true. But there is even more! Can you imagine? The Son of God gives up His life so that we can have life, and as if that’s not enough, God the Father then adopts us as His sons and daughters!!!!
God brings us into His family. What an indescribable privilege.
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Even John puts an exclamation point on it!
If the Lord wills, Meghann and I will be adopting a child or children in the near future (as soon as we finish the classes and certification).
Whatever child or children we adopt will have all the rights and privileges that a biological child would. Our adopted son/daughter will be ours legally, and no one will ever be able to change that. They will be as much ours as they would be if they were born to us physically. They will carry the surname Case with them for the rest of their life.
So it is—and so much more—for the Christian.
We who were dead in our trespasses and sins, we who belonged to the powers and authorities of this dark world, we—while we were stuck in darkness and despair—we were chosen by God to become His children.
We who had no belonging, now, through Christ Jesus, belong to our Heavenly Father. We are His, forever and ever. Adopted with all the rights and privileges of sons and daughters. In fact, no one can ever tell us we aren’t His. It’s permanent, sealed with the precious blood of Jesus.
He will adopt a people.
He is the Lord and He will give His people an inheritance.
He is the Lord and He will give His people an inheritance.
God was promising His people that they would possess a land—this promise was first mentioned waaaaay back in Genesis to a fella named Abraham.
Later, in the book of Joshua, we see the people entering, conquering, and inhabiting the land.
These people had nothing, they were nothing. They were slaves in Egypt. But God is promising and is going to give them an inheritance.
He is going to give them the Promised Land—all by His grace. They did not, could not, would not earn it.
Through Jesus, we who belong to Him by faith, have an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for us.
This flows from our adoption—inheritance is ours because we are full sons and daughters of the Most High.
The hymn-writer John Newton said the Christian should not despair in light of all that is coming, in light of everything we are inheriting.
He said we should imagine a man who inherited a really large estate worth millions. He had to go to New York City to get it. As he journeyed there, his carriage broke down, leaving him to walk the last mile.
Can you imagine that man saying, “My carriage is broken! My carriage is broken!” then kicking and complaining in disgust when he only has one mile to go, and there he will receive millions?
Christian, we only have a few miles to go!
He will give His people an inheritance.
—>He is the Lord. And He will deliver, redeem, adopt, and give His people an inheritance.
Whatever you’re facing, whatever difficulty you’re up against, let those promises steady you. Let that be your foundation.
And then, friends, be encouraged that the self-sufficient, promise-keeping Lord knows your name!
He knows your name.
He knows your name.
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.
He knows your name.
He knows your name.
Some of the most incredible and yet overlooked portions of the Bible are the genealogies. If we neglect them, it’s our loss.
Think about what this list would have meant to the people listed. It means that they are included in the people of God, that God actually knew who they were.
God not only has a plan for the salvation of a people, but He has an intimate, personal relationship with every individual in His family.
As far as God is concerned, there is no such thing as an insignificant person.
The God of the universe knows who they are. He knows who you are. He knows your name.
The men and women listed here are very much like us—men and women created in the image of God; fallen sinners in desperate need of God’s grace.
And like us, they were included in God’s saving plan.
19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
He is the Lord. He will deliver, redeem, adopt, and give His people an inheritance. He will never forget those who belong to His family; He knows your name.
What more do you need? Difficulties will come. You will face your share (or more) in this life. Don’t run from your problems. Don’t pretend they’re not there. You can’t take a vacation and expect them to go away.
Listen to the Lord say, “I am the Lord.”
Believe His promises of deliverance, redemption, adoption, and inheritance.
And trust that He knows you and loves you intimately, personally, completely.