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.

Opening Prayer

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.

Introduction

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.

Divine Promise to Abraham

So point one, we're going to look at the divine promise to Abraham. Exodus 1 to 6, 27.

Israel's Increase and Oppression

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.

God Remembers His Covenant

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.

The Name Yahweh and the Mediator Moses

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.

Moses Before Pharaoh and God's Thesis

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.

Divine Destruction of Pharaoh

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.

The Plagues and God's Sovereignty

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?

The Passover and Judgment on Egypt's Gods

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.

The Exodus and Yahweh the Divine Warrior

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.

Divine Provision for Israel

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.

Jethro's Confession and the Gentiles

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.

Closing Prayer

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.

Scripture References

• Genesis 3:15; 46:8
• Exodus 1:1; 1:7; 1:8-10; 1:11; 1:15-22; 1:17; 2:23-25; 3:13-15; 4:1-17; 4:21-23; 5:1; 6:1-13; 6:6-8; 6:12-13; 6:14-27; 6:28-29; 7:3; 7:7; 9:14-17; 11:1; 11:7; 11:10; 12:12; 12:33; 12:50-51; 13:1; 14:1; 14:13-14; 14:30-31; 15:1; 15:24; 16:2-3; 17:1-7; 18:10-11; 18:24; 20:2
• 1 Samuel 17:40
• Psalm 110:1
• Matthew 16:18
• John 8:58; 10:1-12:50
• Philippians 4:13
• Colossians 1:15
• 1 John 5:3