Last time in chapter five, we
saw Moses confront Pharaoh for the first time, and he confronted
Pharaoh with God's message, let my people go, that they may hold
a feast unto me in the wilderness. And that was not a petition,
it was rather a command, let my people go. that they may hold
a feast unto me in the wilderness." What resulted from that encounter
that Moses had with Pharaoh? Well, four things. First of all,
Pharaoh responded in pride and his haughty insolence, who's
the Lord? Who is the Lord that I should
obey his voice to let Israel go? That was the first thing
that happened. Pharaoh, he responded to that
command of God, let my people go, that they may hold a feast
unto me in the wilderness. Who is the Lord? Who is the Lord? When I read that verse and think
about that, I always think he's about to get a crash course in
learning who the Lord is. Who is the Lord? But he was so
full of pride and haughty spirit The second thing that we saw
happen is Pharaoh, upon that command, increased the burdens
of the Israelites. They were already making brick,
so many brick they had to make every day for building. And Pharaoh,
of course, was providing the straw. But Pharaoh increased
their burdens, that is, they had to continue to produced the
same amount of brick, but now they had to gather their own
straw. And the third thing that we saw
is that the elders, the elders of the nation, they accused Moses
and Aaron of worsening their condition. Their condition was
bad, they said, and we know it was from the first few chapters.
God saw the condition of his people, their groaning, And he
came down to deliver them, but their condition was bad. And
now, with Moses coming and telling Pharaoh, let my people go, their
condition was worse. And the elders met Moses and
Aaron, and they said this, the Lord look upon you and judge. According to author Ping, when
they said, the Lord look upon you, that is you, Moses and Aaron,
the Lord look upon you and judge, they were pronouncing a curse,
the elders of Israel, they were pronouncing a curse upon Moses
and Aaron. And the fourth thing that we
saw, Moses then complained, he took his burden to the Lord.
He complained to the Lord that all he had accomplished, Since
coming into Egypt, all that he had accomplished so far was to
cause Pharaoh to do evil to the people of Israel. He said this
in the last verse of that fifth chapter, for since I came to
Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people. Neither hast thou delivered thy
people at all. Now, tonight in the sixth chapter,
we're looking at God's response to this situation, and there's
four points to the message. First of all, Moses, you shall
see what I will do. This is God's word. This is God's
response to Moses complaining and saying, for since I came
to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people,
neither hast thou delivered thy people at all." Lord, you haven't
delivered your people at all. But notice now, Moses, you will
see what I will do. Verse one. Then the Lord said
unto Moses, now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh. For
with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand
shall he drive them out of the land. Matthew Henry said, Moses
was probably at his wit's end. You know, there's that passage
in Psalm 107, speaking about people who come to their wit's
end, and then they call upon the Lord. And Matthew Henry said,
Moses now was probably at his wit's end. Probably, no doubt,
wishing that he had never come. Wishing that he had never come
to Egypt. For truly things had gotten worse
for his people, for the Israelites, since he came. But now we see
God assures him. Then the Lord said unto him,
Moses, now, now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh. Man's extremity is God's opportunity
of helping and of saving. I was thinking as I prepared
the message what Moses must have thought as he journeyed back
to Egypt. I mean, he had seen a great miracle. That bush had burned but was
not consumed, and yes, he had his reasons for not wanting to
go. and do this work that God commissioned
him to do. But what he must have thought
as he made his way back from Midian, the desert, to Egypt,
how his mind, now surely, surely how this is going to go down.
If he was like you and like me, don't you imagine he just figured
out this is what's going to happen. I'm going to go in there. And
I'm in the presence of Pharaoh, and God has sent me, and this
is going to be a piece of cake. God is going to do wonders, and
Pharaoh is going to hear me, and he's going to let Israel
go. How he must have imagined what
would take place. And it wasn't anything like that. You know that verse in Isaiah
55, I believe it is, it's one that we quote often, but we know
it's true when God said, for my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways. Many times when a person comes
under conviction of sin and begins to have a concern for his soul,
things get worse. even though he thinks that things
will get better, but things seemingly get worse, and that's what happened
here. Moses, he probably thought that
seeing it was the Lord who was sending him, Pharaoh would immediately
hear his word, and his word was, let my people go. And Pharaoh
would respond positively. He would let the people go. But now we see, then, in his
extremity, then the Lord said unto Moses, now, now will you
see what I will do to Pharaoh? And he tells him two things.
Now you will see what I will do, a demonstration of my power. That's what's going to take place,
a demonstration of my power. You're going to see what I will
do to Pharaoh, and then Pharaoh will let them go. No more than that. Not only will
he give them permission to leave, but he will drive them out. you're
going to see what I will do to Pharaoh. Turn with me to chapter
12 here in Exodus. We see when this happens in Exodus
chapter 12, these two things, they come and tell the Israelites
to leave and even drive them out. Exodus chapter 12 and verse
30. You know, this is the night when
In every home there was crying, there was weeping. In every home,
that is, where the blood of the Passover lamb had not been applied. From Pharaoh and all of his supporters,
all of Egypt, Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his
servants, and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in
Egypt. You know, when people, many times,
this is not always the case, but when people hear news of
the death of a loved one, that cry, I've heard it, I'm sure
you have too, many times, but that cry is special, isn't it? I mean, there's no cry like that
cry. The death of a loved one, a son
or a daughter especially, There was a great cry in Egypt, for
there was not a house where there was not one dead. And that's
literally true, isn't it? In every house, there was one
dead. Yes, even in the houses of the
Israelites, there was one dead, but it wasn't a person. It was
a lamb. The Passover lamb had died and
the blood had been applied. But in every house where there
was no blood, there was death of the firstborn. And Pharaoh
woke up in the middle of the night and all the country, no
doubt, Egyptians crying. And he called for Moses and Aaron
by night and said, rise up and get you forth from among my people. both you and the children of
Israel, and go serve the Lord as you have said. Get you forth. That's what God told Moses in
our text tonight. Now you will see what I will
do to Pharaoh. And then with a strong hand,
that is with the demonstration of God's power, Pharaoh will
let them go more than that. He will drive them out. Get you forth. Notice that. Get you forth from among my people. The second point in my message
tonight. So first of all, Moses, you will
see what I will do. Sometimes I know we just pray,
don't we, and ask to see God's hand, God's power manifested. We've read, we've heard about
great revivals. We've never seen one. Wouldn't
it be wonderful to see God manifest his power in our country, in
our land? Something like they had in the
1700s in the great awakenings when the gospel spread like fire. You see these pictures of fire,
wildfires on the news, how the wind just blowing the fires. How much? Think of the gospel,
God, the Holy Spirit, the wind blowing the gospel, carrying
the gospel from city to city. George Whitefield, Whitfield
or Whitefield, when he preached there at such an interesting
time in the history of our country. And God used him so, so much. Jonathan Edwards before him.
And there were men by the name of Tenet. They started what became
Princeton Theological Seminary. At that time, it was called the
log cabin. Isn't it amazing that most of
the so-called Ivy League colleges in our country were started by
ministers? By ministers to train men to
preach the gospel. Ministers. And now in most of
those colleges, if someone tried to preach, no telling what would
take place. That's sad, isn't it? That's
sad. Well, Moses, you're gonna see
now, God said, what I'm going to do to Pharaoh. Here's my second
point. The Lord gives Moses four truths
to encourage him now and assure him of Israel's deliverance in
the next few verses, two through eight. And God spake unto Moses
and said unto him, I am the Lord, And I appeared unto Abraham,
unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty. But
my name, Jehovah, was I not known to them. And I have also established
my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the
land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have
also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the
Egyptians keep in bondage. And I have remembered my covenant
Wherefore, say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and
I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians,
and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you
with a stretched out arm and with great judgments, and I will
take you to me for people, and I will be to you a God, and you
shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. Four things that I see there
that God gave Moses to encourage him and to assure him, give him
assurance of what he was going to do. Number one, my name. The first thing he gave Moses
was his name. Notice that in verses two and
three. And God spake unto Moses and
said unto him, I am the Lord. And I appeared unto Abraham.
unto Isaac and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty. But
by my name, Jehovah, was I not known to them. The first encouragement
that God gave Moses here is his name. My name, Jehovah, which
we've seen is I am that I am that God confessed at the burning
bush. Now this verse has caused some
people Some trouble because the name Jehovah, the first time
it's used in the scriptures in Genesis chapter two. Genesis
chapter two and verse four. And with each of these patriarchs
that he names here, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they knew this
name Jehovah. Let's look at that. If you will,
first of all, Abraham in Genesis chapter 13. Genesis chapter 13 in verse four. Unto the place of the altar which
he had made there at the first, and there Abram called on the
name of the Lord, and that is Jehovah. He called upon the name
of Jehovah. You can look it up in your concordance
as I did, and that's the name Yahweh or Jehovah. Also, that
was Abraham. If you look in chapter 26 of
Genesis, this is Isaac. Chapter 26 and verse 25. And he built an altar there and
called upon the name of the Lord. That's the name Jehovah. You
know, when you see in the King James translation, Lord, and
each letter is capitalized, you know that's a translation of
Jehovah. Well, here's Isaac, building
an altar and calling upon the name of the Lord. And then in
chapter 32 of Genesis, this is Jacob, 32 in verse nine, And Jacob said, oh God of my
father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord. There it is. Jehovah, which said
his son to me, return unto thy country and to thy kindred and
I will deal well with thee. That's a very, very instructive
text there. Not only because Jacob called
upon the name of Jehovah, But because Jacob is praying and
he tells the Lord, Lord, you told me, you told me. And that's always the best way
to pray, isn't it? To take God's word and say, Lord,
you told me. Here it is. Well, what does this
mean then in our text here when we read when God said, And I
appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of
God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them. Well, it's clear that this is
one of the many scriptures which cannot be interpreted literally,
absolutely, but must be understood relatively. In other words, God
now is going to reveal some things about him as the Lord, that those
patriarchs, they knew the name, but they didn't know, they knew
that he was self-existent, that he was eternal by that name Jehovah. But they're going to see some
things now about this God who's named Jehovah that they had not
known. Matthew Henry said, God would
now be known by his name Jehovah, that is number one, a God performing
what he had promised and so inspiring confidence in his promises. Number two, a God perfecting
what he had begun and finishing his work. And it's interesting
that in the week of creation, chapters one and two of Genesis,
God never used his name Jehovah until the work was finished.
And that was Matthew Henry's second point, a God perfecting
what he had begun and finishing his own work. Before, by his
name Jehovah, they were assured that he is eternal, immutable,
faithful to his promises, but now, in delivering Israel, he
would be known by the actual performances of his promises. So that's the first encouraging
word that God gave Moses, his name, my name. Second, my covenant
in verse four. This is the second encouraging
word that he gave to Moses. And I have also established my
covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land
of their pilgrimage. We know that God had by covenant
given the land of Canaan to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob. God who cannot lie, God who cannot
change, God who is immutable had given them this land, promised
them this land. And the third assurance or encouraging
word, God's compassions in verse five. And I have also heard the
groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage. And I have remembered my covenant."
His compassions. And this seems to refer to what
had taken place. As I said earlier, they were
already in bad condition. They were slaves and being mistreated
and having to do the work there in Egypt before before Moses
came, but once Moses came, their condition got worse. And that's
what the Lord is speaking of here, of their groaning. I've
heard the groaning of the children of Israel. They were groaning
under the burden of this work, plus they were being beaten,
we know that, when they did not produce what Pharaoh had commanded. And remember, when you think
about that, I have also heard the groaning of the children
of Israel. Remember what God said, what
he called Israel? My firstborn, my first. What parent, what parent is not
moved when they see their children suffering and especially suffering
unjustly? Yes. You wouldn't have a heart
if you were a parent and was not moved. And God hears their
groaning and he's moved. I'm going to do something, Moses.
You'll see now what I will do to Pharaoh. And the fourth thing,
my actions. And there are seven I wills here
in verses six through eight. I will bring you out from under
the burden of the Egyptians and I will rid you out of their bondage.
I will redeem you. I will take you to me for a people. I will be to you a God. I will bring you in unto the
land. I will give it you for an heritage. And what's interesting here about
these seven I wills, think of it like two bookmarks. The first
bookmark is, I am Jehovah. I will do, I will, I will, I
will. And the last, the seventh I will,
here we have another bookmark, the very same thing. I am Jehovah. Notice that in verse six. Wherefore
say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord. Before he said
I will, I am the Lord, and then in verse eight, he ends it, I
am the Lord. And you know, the third of these
promises in verse six is I will redeem. I will redeem you with
a stretched out arm. Now, redemption, what does redemption
mean? It means to purchase and to set
free. I'm sure all of us have heard
the story, true story, many years ago. Pastor, I believe in Boston,
Massachusetts, this is back in the 1800s probably. But he was
a pastor, a well-known pastor there, and he was walking the
street one day and he saw this young boy and he had a cage,
a makeshift cage, and he had some birds in there he was selling.
And they were not pretty birds. And he asked the boy, he said,
lad, how much you want for these birds? And he said, well, I can't
remember the exact amount, maybe $0.50 each. He said, I'll give
you $1 for every one of them. For each one of them, I'll give
you $1. The boy said, well, preacher,
they're not worth much. They're not real pretty birds.
They can't sing. No, I want to buy them. I want
to buy the birds, and I want to buy the cage you have them
in. Okay, he said a price. He handed him the cage and he
pulled up, opened the door and let the birds fly off. Why? Why would you do that? I wanted
to buy them and set them free. And that's what redemption is,
isn't it? He buys us, not with silver and
gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. And he sets us free. We sang that song a little while
ago, free from the law. There's no condemnation, right? Yes. And in the case of Israel,
we're going to see the Lord willing, they're going to be redeemed
first by blood, by the Passover lamb, but they're going to be
redeemed also by power, which represents, of course, a new
birth when they come out to the Red Sea. God's power is going
to deliver them from the armies of Pharaoh. Now here's my third
point, verse 9. We see a discouraged people that
refused to be comforted. And Moses spake so unto the children
of Israel, but they hearkened not unto Moses, Why? Anguish of spirit and for cruel
bondage. They were so beaten down. They
were so discouraged that even with this good news Moses had
to give them, the Lord's just told me what he's going to do.
But they couldn't believe, why? Because they were so downcast
by what had taken place. But here's my fourth point, verses
10 through 13. And the Lord spake unto Moses,
saying, Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the
children of Israel go out of his land. The first thing I see
here is Moses is sent back to Pharaoh with the same message. Didn't change it one iota, no. Let the children of Israel go
out of the land. And you know that's something
that pastors and preachers must be assured of. And that is that
we continue to preach the same gospel. And it's a gospel that's
revealed to us. God hasn't commanded us to make
up a message, to invent some kind of message. No, here it
is. Preach it! Preach it! Preach it! And keep on preaching. Why? Because
God is chosen by the preaching of the gospel to save His people. You go in, Moses, and you tell
him the very same thing you told him before. Let my people know. The second thing, Moses, you
see, he reasoned in verse 12. Moses spake before the Lord,
saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened
unto me. How then shall Pharaoh hear me,
who am of uncircumcised lips? Moses reasoned that if the Israelites,
his own people, they wouldn't listen to him. Well, surely Pharaoh,
he's not going to listen. Well, you know, God's purpose
and man's reasoning is not always the same. In fact, I'd say most
of the time it's not. It's not reasonable in the 21st
century to continue preaching. We've advanced. We've advanced. We're living in the age of the
modern man. There's some things that don't
change. And one of those is God. And another is sin. And another
is man's depravity. These things don't change. No,
Moses reasoned, if they haven't, my own people haven't heard me,
surely this uncircumcised man, Pharaoh, uncircumcised lips,
he's not going to listen to me. But he did. He did. And here's the last thing. Moses
and Aaron are charged once again. The Lord spake unto Moses and
unto Aaron and gave them a charge. unto the children of Israel,
and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel
out of the land of Egypt. This land, this world that we're
living in, it's just temporary, isn't it? We're just passing
through. We're just passing through. Oh,
there's eternal, eternal, verities, eternal truths that we must know
and believe. May the Lord bless this word.
Bill, if you will, lead us in a hymn.