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All right, if you'll turn with 
me in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 6. That'll be Exodus chapter 6. We will read verses 1 to 13. Most commentators indicate that 
verses 6 through 8 is a microcosm of the bigger story of Exodus, 
so that's why I'll start with that. Exodus chapter 6, verses 
1 through 13. But the Lord said to Moses, now 
you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong 
hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive 
them out of his land. God spoke to Moses and said to 
him, 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, the land in which 
they lived as sojourners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning 
of the people of Israel, whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, 
and I have remembered my covenant. Say, therefore, to the people 
of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under 
the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery 
to them. And I will redeem you with an 
outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take 
you to be my people, and I will be your God. And you shall know 
that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from 
under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land 
that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will 
give it to you for possession. I am the Lord." And Moses spoke 
thus to the people of Israel, But they did not listen to Moses 
because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery. So the Lord 
said to Moses, go in, tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to let the people 
of Israel go out of his land. But Moses said to the Lord, behold, 
the people of Israel have not listened to me. How then shall 
Pharaoh listen to me? For I am of uncircumcised lips. But the Lord spoke to Moses and 
Aaron and gave them a charge about the people of Israel and 
about Pharaoh king of Egypt to bring the people of Israel out 
of the land of Egypt. Well, let us pray once again. 
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you 
for the privilege and honor it is to be in your house today 
where we can listen to your word preached, Lord God. Listen to 
your word expounded for us. We know that we are sinners in 
need of a great Savior and you exhibit your amazing grace and 
your divine power to save a people who do not deserve to be saved, 
Lord God. This is evident in your word. This is evident in 
the text that we are to look at. Lord, help us to be attentive 
and help us to be aware of what you are saying. Help us to be 
awake and good listeners, Lord God. I pray that you'd be with 
me as well, that you'd give me strength by your spirit to preach 
the truth with clarity. I know that I am young and inadequate, 
Lord, but I know that you can give strength. You can help people 
understand the truth, and may everyone here be uplifted by 
what you have done for your firstborn. And may you be glorified in all 
things, Lord God. Amen. Well, I'm sure most of us understand 
this, but Exodus follows Genesis. And it's about 350 years after 
the end of the book of Genesis. But Moses, when he was writing 
it, it was almost when he finished Genesis, he started writing Exodus 
right away because both the books go together. We see at the beginning 
of Exodus, in Exodus chapter 1, the first sentence says, these 
are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with 
Jacob, each with his household. This is also said in Genesis 
46.8. So what Moses is trying to do 
is to connect these two books together and to remind us of 
the people of Israel and where they are. Another thing we have 
to understand as well, I take the traditional view when it 
comes to authorship. I take it to be Moses. I take 
the audience to be the people of Israel before they enter into 
the promised land. Just some background information 
there. I also want to give you the overarching theme as well 
of the whole book. I think it primarily centers 
around the presence of God, the theophany of God, the appearance 
of God, especially as Israel's savior and king. And so I think 
the thematic structure of the book is found this way. We look first of all at the deliverance, 
which is what we're going to look at tonight. That's chapters 
1 through 18. Secondly is the demand from chapters 
19 through 24. And then, Lord willing, the third 
time that I teach this, we will look at the dwelling, chapters 
25 to 40. So we're going to look at Exodus 
1 through 18, the deliverance of the people of Israel at the 
hands of Yahweh. So in Exodus 1 through 18, Yahweh, 
in his goodness, in his grace, and in his sovereignty, he remembers 
his covenant that he made with Abraham and seeks to deliver 
Israel from this sinful bondage. Now, one thing we need to remember 
as we read this is that grace precedes law. You see, chapters 
1 through 18, God in his goodness saves a people out of bondage, 
out of tyranny, and then he gives them the law. So I don't agree 
with the people that read the Bible or read the Old Testament 
and see a God who is a tyrant, who is a bloodthirsty, wretched 
God, but we see one who is gracious and kind to his people." And 
that is so incredibly evident in the first 18 chapters of the 
Book of Exodus. I just want to clarify as well, 
I won't be able to get into all the nitty-gritty, obviously going 
over a larger section. But we're going to go over the 
main points, and I'll summarize, hopefully, most of the chapters 
as well to give us a good overarching understanding of the book. So 
we're going to look at Exodus 1 through 18 under three points. 
The first point will be the divine promise to Abraham. Exodus 1 
to Exodus 6, verse 27. Point two will be the divine 
destruction of Pharaoh in Exodus 728 to 1521. And then thirdly, 
we will look at the divine provision to Israel in 1522 to the end 
of chapter 18. So point one, we're going to 
look at the divine promise to Abraham. Exodus 1 to 6, 27. So if you look at Exodus chapter 
1, we first of all notice in verse 7 that there's this increase. But the people of Israel were 
fruitful and increased greatly. They multiplied and grew exceedingly 
strong so that land was filled with them. Already we see the 
promise of God fulfilled here. that there was a small seed in 
the land of Egypt in Genesis 46. Now we have a great multitude. 
But unfortunately, we get conflict right away in the story, in the 
narrative. Right off the bat, we see the 
oppression at the hands of Pharaoh. Notice verse 8 through 10. Now 
there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, behold, 
the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, 
let us deal shrewdly with them. lest they multiply. And if war 
breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us and escape 
from the land." And verse 11 as well. Therefore, they set 
taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They 
built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Ramses. But the more 
they were oppressed, the more they were multiplied, and the 
more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread 
of the people of Israel. So we see this increase, this 
oppression happen because of this great multitude of people. 
So Pharaoh sets them, he becomes their tyrant, he sets them as 
slaves, and he is their taskmaster where they must act as slaves 
to Pharaoh building these cities. And also Pharaoh is afraid of 
this multitude that he wants to kill the firstborn sons. We see this in verses 15 to the 
end of chapter one. Then the king of Egypt said to 
the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shifra and the other 
Pua, when you serve as midwife to the Hebrew woman and see them 
on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him. But if it 
is a daughter, she shall live. But look at this in verse 17. 
But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt 
commanded them, but let the male children live. So again, we see 
God's providence, his sovereignty in preserving and caring for 
his people amidst the tyranny at the hands of Pharaoh. He helps 
them increase because of these midwives who feared him that 
way, which then leads us to chapter 2, where we get introduced to 
the primary character. We get this introduction of the 
mediator. And that story primarily centers 
around chapters 2 through 4. So we see his birth in chapter 
2, again, amidst against the impossible, where Pharaoh's seeking 
to kill the sons of the Hebrews, but God in his goodness and his 
grace sets forth Moses in a mini arc, if you will, as he saves 
this would-be mediator of the people. And Moses grows up in 
Egypt, we know that story, and eventually he strikes down and 
kills one of the taskmasters and he flees to Midian. So that's 
primarily chapter 2. But I want you to notice specifically 
chapter 2, verse 23 to 25. Dale Ralph Davis calls this eavesdropping. We get to see something. that 
Moses and the characters don't see. We get to see the goodness 
of God as he hears his people. Let's read verse 23 to 25. During those days, the king of 
Egypt died and the people of Israel groaned because of their 
slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from a slavery 
came up to God. And God heard their groaning, 
and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and 
with Jacob. And God saw the people of Israel, 
and God knew. So we see this slavery, it's 
mentioned twice in those three verses. They groan because of 
slavery. Their cry for rescue from slavery. They were in bondage to a tyrant. 
This is bad servitude. And we see their misery. But 
God hears them. God hears their misery. God hears 
their pain. And we are reminded. He is reminded 
of his covenant that he made with Abraham. Listen to John 
Gill regarding the covenant with the patriarchs. With Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob. that God would bring their seed 
out of a land not theirs in which they were strangers and were 
afflicted into the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. 
So we see this summary in 23 to 25 of this introduction of 
the book of Exodus regarding God remembering his covenant 
with Abraham amidst the slavery and the tyranny that Israel was 
under at this time. And then we'll look at chapters 
3 through 4. Moses has grown up. Already we've 
seen that. And now Moses is in Midian. And 
we get to see the appearance of Yahweh. We get to see the 
appearance of the covenant Lord. Specifically, we're going to 
look at verses 13 through 15. Read them with me. 3, 13 through 
15. Then Moses said to God, if I 
come to the people of Israel and say to them, the God of your 
fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me what is his name, 
what shall I say to them? God said to Moses, I am who I 
am. And he said, say this to the 
people of Israel. I am has sent you. God also said 
to Moses, say this to the people of Israel, the Lord, the God 
of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God 
of Jacob has sent you. This is my name forever and thus 
I am to be remembered throughout all generations. One of the lexicons 
defines this word here, I am who I am. He defines it this 
way. It refers to the absolute and 
unchangeable one, the existing, ever-living, and self-consistent 
God. This is the proper name of the 
God of Israel. I actually think Gill summarizes 
it very well. This signifies the real being 
of God. his self-existence, and that 
he is the being of beings, as also it denotes his eternity, 
his immutability, and his constancy and faithfulness in fulfilling 
his promises, for it includes all time, past, present, and 
to come. This is the covenant Lord. This 
is the one who does not change. He has made his promise with 
Abraham and he's about to fulfill that promise with Abraham according 
to his goodness and to his grace. This idea of God being the Abraham, 
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is repeated throughout this, 
these first few sections and throughout the book of Exodus. 
So we see God's goodness and his faithfulness to the people 
of Israel. Of course, We are humans. and that so is Moses as well. 
So when God says these things to Moses, he promised these things 
to Moses, Moses doesn't necessarily agree with or believe what he 
would do or believe the promises of God right away, especially 
with Moses as that mediator. He doesn't think he's adequate. 
He says at the beginning of verse four, then Moses answered, but 
behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for 
they will say, the Lord did not appear to you. So God, in his 
goodness, throughout the rest of verses 4 up to 17, in chapter 
4 to 17, God gives Moses these signs that he can perform to 
the people of Israel so that they know that Yahweh has appeared 
to Moses. And then Moses eventually returns 
as well at the end of chapter 4 to Israel. But I want you to 
see something very special that happens in chapter 4, verses 
21 to 23. And the Lord said to Moses, when 
you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the 
miracles that I've put in your power. But I will harden his 
heart so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall 
say to the Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn 
son. And I say to you, let my son 
go that he may serve me. If you refuse to let him go, 
behold, I will kill your firstborn son. One commentator comments 
on this important idea of firstborn. And this is what he says. The 
firstborn son in the ancient world was the one specifically 
favored with inheritance. The one who would represent his 
father in many ways as he came into maturity. And the father 
would give this one more and more responsibility. The firstborn 
receives that inheritance. So what's God saying here concerning 
Israel is that they are his firstborn. They are his adopted firstborn 
that he will bring up out of the bondage of slavery into a 
good bondage, into the bondage of God. But notice as well, this is before 
all the plagues take place. We already know the outcome of 
the plan that will happen. God is going to harden Pharaoh's 
heart, and we'll see the purpose of this later in chapter nine, 
but right here we know already Moses is going into this fight 
already knowing the outcome of what will happen. So we see God's 
faithfulness and God's providence as he leads his people out of 
bondage and slavery. God is sovereign over all the 
things that come to pass in this world, even if we don't see it 
all the time. Because Israel certainly wasn't 
seeing it at that time when they were in bondage and slavery. 
But as we, the reader, know, God is in control of all things. 
And we see that God is going to bring his people up out of 
slavery because of his promise to Abraham. And so Moses appears to Pharaoh 
first in chapter 5. And this doesn't go over so well. Moses goes to Pharaoh and he 
says, let my people go. But Pharaoh mocks the Lord. He 
says, who is this Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel 
go? I do not know the Lord. And moreover, 
I will not let Israel go. And so what does he do? He increases 
the labor and the pain that the Israelites face. They now have 
to go gather their own straw to make brick. They now have 
to do, and they still have to fulfill the requirements they 
had when they weren't gathering brick or straw. So we see that 
this increases, which unfortunately crushes the people of Israel. And so this is where tensions 
arise in the story. This is where we see conflict 
even increase even more. It's actually very beautifully 
written. We see people in bondage, in sin. We see this promise of 
God. How is he going to do it? Moses goes to Pharaoh. Pharaoh 
says, no. What's going to happen next? 
And so God promises his deliverance in chapter 6, especially from 
6 to 13, which is what we read at the outset. And as I said, 
6 through 8 of chapter 6 functions as the thesis, I think, of the 
book. I'm going to read it again. Say, therefore, to the people 
of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under 
the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery, 
and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great 
acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, 
and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord 
your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of 
the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to 
give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you 
for possession. I am the Lord." Verse 6, he promises 
what? Deliverance from slavery. Verse 
7, he promises covenant blessing. I will take you to be my people 
and I will be your God and you shall know that I am the Lord 
your God who has brought you out from under the burdens of 
the Egyptians. Stewart's comments on this, and 
I think they're very great words. By these words, God assured Israel 
of a special status. They were corporately his own 
people in a way that no people were. Why? Because God is faithful, because 
God is good, and not because of anything that is in the people 
of Israel. But we see doubt from the lips 
of Moses in chapter 12. The people have been crushed, 
and Moses is starting to express doubt in 12 to 13. But Moses 
said to the Lord, behold, the people of Israel will not listen 
to me. How then shall Israel listen 
to me? For I am of uncircumcised lips. 
But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave them a charge 
about the people of Israel and about Pharaoh king of Egypt to 
bring the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt. Now, if 
we were watching a TV show, this is when we'd be going to a commercial 
because we see Delta rise. There's a cliffhanger here. What's 
going to happen next? And so we have this break with 
this genealogy towards the end of chapter 6. And I was puzzled 
as to why this genealogy was there. But we actually have never 
gotten a genealogy of who Moses is yet. So what it's doing here 
is it's giving us this break. What's going to happen? Who's 
this mediator? Where does he come from? So that's 
why this genealogy is set in place. We're here to understand 
who Moses is. And that goes from verses 14 
through 27. But then we return. We see this 
doubt. And now in 6.28 through 7.7, 
we see assurance. We see God's assurance, God's 
blessedness, that He will do what He said He would do. Verse 
29, I am the Lord. Tell Pharaoh, king of Egypt, 
all that I say to you. But again, Moses doubts, but 
Moses said to the Lord, behold, I am of uncircumcised lips. How 
will Pharaoh listen to me? And the Lord said to Moses, see, 
I have made you like God to Pharaoh and your brother Aaron shall 
be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command and your brother 
Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go. Again, 
the Lord says in verse three, but I will harden Pharaoh's heart. 
And though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 
Pharaoh will not listen to me. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt 
and bring my hosts, my people, the children of God, out of the 
land of Egypt. God, in his goodness, in his 
grace, in his kindness, promises to save these people. I think 
there are some applications we can draw from this as New Covenant 
believers as well. God appeared to Moses as Yahweh, 
as I am. But who is the New Covenant? One who brings the people out 
of Egypt, who brings us out of bondage. It is Christ. Notice 
in John 8, 58, that the Pharisees seek to stone Jesus because he 
says, before Abraham was, I am. And John, throughout the rest 
of that, especially through chapters 10 through 12, has these I am 
statements. I am the gates. I am the resurrection 
and the life. I am the true vine. The people, 
the Pharisees, want to kill Jesus because he is, what, pronouncing 
blasphemy. He's claiming to be Yahweh. And 
if Yahweh fulfills his promises to the people of Israel, certainly 
he will fulfill his promises to us as New Covenant people. And notice as well this idea 
of firstborn. Who is the firstborn of all creation? It is the Lord Jesus Christ. 
That's what Paul says in Colossians 115. He is the image of the invisible 
God. He is the firstborn of creation. We see Israel as a type of Christ. We see Israel as that grumbling, 
whining people that doesn't fulfill God's commands. And Christ comes 
as the eternally begotten firstborn who fulfills what the adopted 
firstborn could not do. So we see, we know that as New 
Covenant believers that God in His goodness and His grace will 
crush His enemies. He will give us an inheritance 
one day. He will have His church move 
forth day in and day out because Christ is in control and Christ 
is going to bring judgment upon His people, upon His enemies. So as we see God in his goodness 
as Yahweh brings about his promises, he fulfills his promises, he 
brings about his promises, he will bring about his promises 
that he made to Abraham. So that was point one. Now we'll 
look at point two. We're going to look at the divine 
destruction of Pharaoh. And that's Exodus 6, 28 to 15, 
21. This is where we see some rising 
action. We see that the conflict increase, 
but we know already that the Lord God is sovereign over all. 
He's in control of all things. So we don't just see, excuse 
me, we don't just see God's sovereignty. We don't just see salvation, 
but God is about to judge Pharaoh. And God is about to do it in 
a cosmic way that will bring about his name throughout all 
the earth. So we see in Exodus 7, 7 through 
11, these plagues. I'm not going to recite all these. 
I think we know most of them. But we do see this increase of 
severity. We see blood. We see these gross, 
disgusting frogs. We see gnats, we see flies, livestock, 
boils, hail, the size of baseballs that'll kill you if you get hit 
by them, locusts, darkness, and then finally, death. And each cycle has a similar 
Each plague has a similar cycle that happens with them. We see 
a request by Moses, or a command really, let my people go. Pharaoh 
refusing, then we see a plague come to pass. Pharaoh doesn't 
like that plague. He gives Moses permission to 
bring the people up out of Egypt. Pharaoh then recants after he 
gets his way, and then we again bring about more and more plagues. But again, what's in the backdrop 
of all this? God is in control. God is sovereign. He's bringing 
about his purposes for a certain reason. And we see that in chapter 
9, verses 15 through 17. This is where the plague of hail 
is, verses 15 through 17. For by now, or I'll read 14. For this time, I will send all 
my plagues on you yourself and on your servants and your people, 
so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 
For by now, I could have put out my hand and struck you and 
your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off 
from the earth. But for this purpose, I have raised you up 
to show you my power so that my name may be proclaimed in 
all the earth." And we will see. in the climax of the section 
that his name is proclaimed in all the earth because of what 
he does, because of what happens. I also want to point out one 
more thing in this section regarding, in chapter 11, this threat of 
the final plague. Notice in verse 7, God is distinguishing 
between his firstborn and his enemies. Verse 7, regarding this 
threat of death, But not a dog shall growl against any of the 
people of Israel, either a man or beast, that you may know the 
Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel." This is the 
threat of the death. This is where the Passover comes 
in. God is distinguishing between who his people are and who his 
enemies are. God is separating a people for 
himself, and he's consecrating them for himself. And we see 
the summary of these statements, of these plagues before death 
in 1110. Moses and Aaron did all these 
wonders before Pharaoh. And the Lord hardened Pharaoh's 
heart. And Pharaoh did not let the people 
of Israel go out of his land. What's going to happen next? 
Pharaoh is not letting these people go. What's going to happen? So we have that plague threatened 
in 11, but then we have this thing called the Passover in 
chapters 12 through 13. Now why is the Passover here? 
Stuart notes that it is, remember who the audience is, it is the 
people of Israel before they enter into the land of Canaan, 
enter into that promised land. This is a reminder to the audience 
of the goodness of God as he brought those people out of Egypt. 
This is meant to be a reminder. We see threat, and then we see 
this Passover. So as the people are reading, 
they're getting this idea of Passover drilled into their minds. 
And Kyle and Dalich point out why this is important. It's not 
only the outward severance that needs to be removed from Israel, 
or the outward worship of gods, but also the inward as well. 
They need to be reminded of who the true and the living God is, 
that they might worship the true and the living God, that they 
might worship the true God versus these false gods. I won't go into the requirements 
of the Passover, but what it was is you would stick, the Israelites 
were supposed to stick blood on their doors so that when God 
saw that, the blood of the lamb, when God saw that, he would pass 
over them. He would pass over their house 
when he went to kill the firstborn. I want you to see, though, in 
1212, something very special, highlighting this idea of this 
cosmic battle. For I will pass through the land 
of Egypt that night. And I will strike all the firstborn 
in the land of Egypt, both man and beast 
and all the gods of Egypt. I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. I like what Stuart 
said here as well. The judgment on the gods of Egypt 
accompanied by their silence is evidence that they never existed. is evidence that they never existed. 
And we can see an example of God crushing one of these Egyptian 
gods in the idea of darkness. What is Ra the god of? The Egyptian god Ra is the sun 
god. And what's God doing with this 
idea of darkness is He's extinguishing the power of Ra. God is demonstrating 
that He is the true and the living God over against these Egyptian 
gods who Pharaoh and the Egyptians set up for themselves. Set up 
for themselves. So we see God is not only bringing 
salvation, but He's bringing judgment upon His enemies. And this brings us to the primary 
name of the book, the actual Exodus part of it, but it's not 
very long. But we see that God in his goodness, he does kill 
the firstborn of the Egyptians. And that's when Pharaoh says, 
go, leave, get out now. And notice how quickly the Egyptians 
want them to leave. Verse 33, the Egyptians were 
urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste, 
for they said, We shall be dead, so the people took their dough 
before it was leavened, their kneading bowls being bound up 
in their cloaks on their shoulders. The people of Israel had also 
done as Moses told them, excuse me, for the Egyptians, for they 
asked the Egyptians for silver and gold, jewelry and for clothing. And the Lord had given the people 
in the sight of the Egyptians so that they let them have what 
they asked. Now I love this sentence, so 
they plundered the Egyptians. But notice that Israel did not 
lay a finger on these people, on the Egyptians. It was God 
Almighty who did everything. And we'll see this as well when 
we get to chapter 14. It was God Almighty who lifted 
these people up out of Egypt, out of His goodness and His grace. 
As we saw in 1 Samuel, certainly the Lord does use means. Certainly 
David used a sling and some stones. He certainly didn't use the primary 
weaponry at that time. But God still let him use means. God still used means. But here, 
in this primary redemptive historical act in the Old Testament, God 
does it all himself to demonstrate that he is gracious, he is good, 
and he is the almighty warrior to be reckoned with. And so it's 
interesting as well. in chapter in chapter 50 verses 
50 to 51 in chapter 12 sorry verse chapter 12 verses 50 to 
51 all the people did just as the Lord commanded Moses and 
Aaron and on that day the Lord brought the people of Israel 
up out of the land of their hosts so we see God fulfilled this 
promise okay it seems to be okay what's happening the Lord and 
his goodness has brought them out this we're smooth sailing 
from here And so God consecrates here the idea of the firstborn 
in chapter 13 and also the Feast of Unleavened Bread as well. 
And they were meant to be set up as a reminder for the people 
of Israel of God's goodness and His grace. Just like we can read 
the Exodus and be reminded of God's goodness and His grace. 
Just like we can see things in our own lives where God has been 
gracious and kind to us. So too did the Israelites have 
these reminders of what God had done for them. And the reason 
it was unleavened is because the people had to leave in haste. 
They had to get out quickly. They didn't have time to have 
it rise. So this was a reminder of God's 
goodness and kindness to them. And I like what Kaiser says regarding 
this idea, this reminder of God's salvation. with the consecration 
of the firstborn and this feast of unleavened bread. He says, 
the setting apart did not rest on Israel's deliverance from 
the 10th plague, but rather God's adoption of Israel as his firstborn 
led to this delivering of them. It wasn't so much the plague, 
but as we saw at the beginning, it was God in his goodness and 
his kindness who set apart the specific people, who adopted 
them, to receive this inheritance, to receive this blessing, that 
they might have this wonderful promised land, that they go from 
bondage to a wonderful, loving God who gives them gracious and 
kind commands. Who gives them gracious and kind 
commands. But you see, it's not over quite 
yet. God says in chapter 14, that 
he's going to harden them once again, and that Pharaoh, he's 
going to harden Pharaoh once again, and Pharaoh is going to 
pursue after Israel to bring them back. And this is when the 
Lord's judgment comes to pass, and we see Yahweh as this divine 
warrior who crushes Pharaoh. But remember what I said, how 
Israel didn't lay a finger on Egypt. I'll read chapter 14 verses 13 
through 14. And Moses said to the people, 
fear not, stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord which 
he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see 
today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you. And you have only to be silent. You have only to be silent. God 
is going to take care of everything. God is going to crush them and 
bring this to pass. And that is exactly what God 
does. We see this summary of salvation 
in chapter 14, verses 30 through 31. Thus the Lord saved Israel 
that day from the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the 
Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that 
the Lord used against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord, 
and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. And so what did they do after 
this? They sing a song. They sing the song of victory. 
to give praise to the one true living God. I will sing, chapter 
15, I will sing to the Lord God, for he has triumphed gloriously. 
The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord 
is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation. This 
is my God, and I will praise him, my Father's God, and I will 
exalt him. The Lord is a man of war, and 
the Lord is his name. Now, there are many other things 
God praises, or the people praise God for, but notice that they're 
praising Him not only for salvation, but for bringing judgment on 
the enemies as well. And so one thing that I think 
we need to remember as New Covenant people is this idea that God 
is a divine warrior. We think of God as love, and 
he is. He is loving and gracious and 
kind. We think of God as a savior, and he is a wonderful savior. 
But God is a divine warrior you don't want to mess with. This 
should bring fear and terror to all those that do not believe 
in the Lord God Almighty, because look what He did to these Egyptians. He crushed them. He was toying 
with them. He was manhandling them. He could 
have crushed them with one blow, but to demonstrate His glory 
and His name, He crushes them systematically. So we must remember 
that God, one day, as we hear about the sad things that are 
happening in other parts of the world, where our brothers and 
sisters are being bulled in the face of persecution, God will 
judge them one day. God will bring judgment upon 
those people. It's not as though he won't, 
because he's promised he would do that. But again, we don't 
have that special eavesdropping. We don't know what's happening 
with the plans of the world, but we do know that God will 
bring salvation. We hope and pray that God brings 
revival in North America. We hope and pray that those persecuted 
people will stop receiving persecution at the hands of those who are 
persecuting them. But we also know that God will crush them 
one day on that day of judgment. They will receive what is due 
to them, because God is a faithful God to his specific people. And 
this is a reminder for those that aren't in the faith, that 
don't believe in God, this is an enemy you shouldn't reckon 
with. This is an enemy that you should not face in the back alley, 
if you will. But he is the one, if you believe 
on him, He's gracious and kind if he is your God, but he is 
powerful and strong if he is your enemy. So it's a good reminder 
for us and it brings comfort for those who are in Christ Jesus. 
Now I like what Stuart had to say as well. God supernaturally 
delivers his people from bondage of sin and that they belong to 
him. You see, we go from bondage to 
sin, to bondage to righteousness. We go from a wicked taskmaster, 
we go from that covenant of works as a mode of salvation to being 
under God, where we work out the law as a response to God's 
grace and goodness. And this is how even the book 
of Exodus is structured. We have grace in 1 to 18, and 
19 through 24, that's when we have law as well, as God who's 
gracious and kind. Remember in 1 John 5, John says 
that his commandments are not burdensome. His commandments 
are not burdensome. We are released from that curse 
of the law. We are released from the bondage 
to sin. But at the same time, we do it 
out of gratitude. We follow the law as that third 
use, as that pattern for sanctification in our lives because of God's 
goodness and grace to us. And as I've said already, Christ 
is gonna, as the Savior, also judges. Psalm 110, the Lord said 
to my Lord, I will make thine enemies a footstool. Matthew 
6, 18, Jesus says to Peter that the gates of Hades will not prevail 
against the church of God. And even Genesis 3, 15, that 
seed of the woman will crush the seed of the serpent, will 
crush that seed of the serpent. So we see God and his goodness 
and his salvation acting as destroying Pharaoh to save his people. Now 
let us look thirdly at the divine provision for Israel in 1522 
to the end of chapter 18. Now, when I was reading this 
first, I thought the exodus was the climax of this section. But 
as I was reading another theologian, the climax of this section is 
actually chapter 18, because we see something wonderful and 
good happening here. We see something wicked, but 
we also see something wonderful and good. We see God's provision 
for his people even after the deliverance from Egypt. In chapter 
15 through 27, the people are thirsty. They whine and grumble 
and complain. in verse 24, chapter 15, and 
the people grumbled against Moses saying, what shall we drink? 
And Moses cried to the Lord and the Lord showed him a log. And 
he threw it in the water, and the water became sweet. Therefore 
the Lord made for them a statute and a rule. And there he tested 
them, saying, if you would diligently listen to the voice of the Lord 
your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear 
to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put 
none of the diseases on you that I put on Egyptians. For I am 
the Lord your healer. Notice in verse 16 as well. They're wine for water. Now they're 
whining for food. Chapter 16 verse 2 through 3. And the whole congregation of 
the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the 
wilderness. And the people of Israel said 
to them, Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the 
land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to 
the full. For you have brought us into 
the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." God has 
just delivered them out of slavery, out of bondage. And now we see 
them whining. We see sin quickly creep into 
the people of Israel. It's like when a parent takes 
their kid on a wonderful trip, and they're not grateful for 
that trip. I know I don't have a kid, but 
I know I was that kid who was not grateful for the trips that 
my parents took me on. My dad one time got his boating 
license and we went on a houseboat for a week up near House Sound, 
up the coast of BC. And all I wanted to do was play 
Nintendo the whole time. And every time he told me to 
stop, I whined and complained at him because I just wanted 
to do my little Nintendo. Yet we had this wonderful scenery 
around. We had the wonderful creation 
of God there. And I whined like a little girl. 
And this is exactly what Israel is doing here. This is exactly 
what Israel is doing here. God in His kindness has brought 
them out. But even amidst their grumbling and whining, He's gracious 
to them. He gives them manna. He sends 
them bread from heaven. He is kind and good and gracious 
to these people even now. But the grumbling doesn't stop 
as well. We get to chapter 17. We get 
to chapter 17, verses 1 through 7. Again, the idea of water. 
Verse 3, but the people thirsted for water, and the people grumbled 
against Moses and said, why did you bring us up out of Egypt 
to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst? And 
so God, in his goodness, forgives them water as well. God, in his 
goodness, he gives them water as well. And then we see also this battle 
here, this battle that happens against the Amalekites. And so 
God, in his goodness, gives them victory over the Amalekites. 
Now, as I said, the climax to chapters 1 through 18 of Exodus 
comes in chapter 18. Because amidst the grumbling 
of the people of Israel in 15, 16, and 17, we have a Gentile 
who hears about these wonders and he believes, he confesses 
faith in Christ. Notice in chapter 18 verses 10 
through 11. Jethro said, blessed, this is 
Moses' father-in-law. Jethro said, blessed be the Lord 
who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and 
out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from 
under the hand of Egypt, of the Egyptians. Now I know the Lord 
is greater than all gods because in this affair they dealt arrogantly 
with the people. And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, 
brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God. And Aaron 
came with all the elders of Israel to eat with Moses' father-in-law 
before God." So we see God's goodness and His kindness. We 
see the grumbling and whining of Israel, but we know that the 
Gentiles and the overarching plan of salvation are part of 
that as well. I really liked what Dale Ralph Davis had to 
say concerning this climax. Yahweh not only delivers Israel 
from bondage, but delivers Gentiles from blindness. He not only delivers 
Israel from this bondage, but he delivers Gentiles like you 
and I from blindness. And not only that, there's more 
to it than, certainly the idea of the Gentile belief is here, 
and that's the most important part, but God also provides Moses 
help as the mediator, as the prophet, and that's at the hands 
of Jethro's advice. And so God provides leaders for 
these people. We see this summary statement 
in 1824. So Moses listened to the voice 
of his father-in-law and did all that he said. Moses chose 
able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, 
chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. and 
they judged the people at all times. In any hard case they 
brought to Moses, but in any small matter they decided themselves. 
Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his 
own country." So even here we see God's goodness and his kindness 
to bring about his purposes of salvation, not just for Jews, 
but for Gentiles. as well. And so, the one thing 
I hope is clear we can take away from this is that God provides 
for His people. It may not always be in riches 
or in wealth, but God makes sure that His people are taken care 
of. Paul says in Philippians, I can do all things through Christ 
who strengthens me. But what happens prior to that? 
He's hungering. He's thirsting. He's needing 
those typical needs that people have, 
yet the Lord has given him strength to go through those things. The 
Lord is providing for him. But I think also something that 
we need to be aware of, even as believers as well, is this 
idea of complaining against our God, and grumbling against our 
God, and not noticing the blessings that he does give us. Sometimes 
it's easy to whine and complain. I know I do it a lot. And we 
need to remember that God and His goodness provides for us. 
And He has provided that mediator, that firstborn, who didn't grumble 
in the wilderness, who didn't rebel against God, who didn't 
complain, but yet who died as that perfect sacrifice, that 
God might pass over our sins, that we might have this inheritance, 
this eternal inheritance, because God is gracious and God is kind. And God does take sin-stained 
wretches like us and brings us out of bondage to sin and makes 
us slaves to righteousness. And the slavery to righteousness 
is not burdensome. It is wonderful and it is good. 
So in conclusion, the primary thing we must remember is that 
Yahweh saves. As I said at the outset, this 
chapters 1 through 18 is riddled with grace. If you do not see 
the grace of God slapping you in the face as you read this, 
then you've missed the point. You've missed the point of chapters 
1 through 18. because 1 through 18 comes before 
the law. Even in Exodus chapter 20, what 
does he say at verse 2? I am the Lord your God who brought 
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 
before he gets into those commandments. So God is faithful to bring about 
his promises. God will bring about salvation 
by his mighty hand and he will judge his enemies and God and 
His goodness and His kindness will provide for His people. 
It may not always be in the way that we like, but He certainly 
will fulfill those promises. Well, let us pray. Dear Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for this day, Lord. We see your grace 
and your goodness throughout the Old Testament. We see how 
you take sin-stained people, Lord God, and you bring them 
out of slavery. You bring them out of bondage 
to sin. We thank you, Lord, that we have your revealed word to 
us that we might see your truth even now and see what you did 
to the Israelites and even remember them now Lord God and remember 
your goodness and your grace and your kindness we thank you 
for the Lord Christ who is that wonderful firstborn who does 
crush his enemies Lord God who saves people like us and Father 
God we pray that you would sanctify your believers that we would 
that we would see your law not as burdensome but as it sweetly 
complies with your truth Lord God that we might love your law, 
that we might delight in it day in and day out. And we know, 
Lord, that we do not do this perfectly, and that is why we 
long for the day when we are in glory, when we do not sin 
any more, Lord God, when we get to gaze upon the High King of 
Heaven. We look forward greatly to that 
inheritance. We look forward greatly to that day, Lord God. 
And may you be glorified in all things. Amen.