Exodus 3:13-4:9

After God told Moses that God would use him to lead the children of out of Egypt and into the promised land, He gave Moses the exact message that he was to tell to the children of Israel and to the Pharaoh. Moses was a preacher in the beginning days of the age of the law. And just as it was with Moses it will be the same with anyone who would be a messenger for God, a proclaimer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A messenger from God must get his message from God. And that message will only be found in the Word of God.

There were two unusually things about the message that God gave Moses that will not be found in the messages of God’s preachers today. First was the fact that the Bible was yet to be given. And therefore, some of the things that would be in Moses message would be new truths and new information about God that had never been told before. And also God gave Moses specific details about the future that also had not been given before. We live in an age when there are many anti-Christ’s. Many of these people and false religious organizations will claim to bring other teachings and books that are not a part of the Bible, but that they claim are from God or are spiritual in nature. And they will also bring false prophecies concerning future events in human history. But if you remember that the Bible was completed in the last day of the apostles then you will not be fooled or mislead by these lies of the devil. Just remember that the Bible says in Revelation 22:19, “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

The Bible goes on to say in Exodus chapter 3 verse 13-14, “And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, the God of your fathers has sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is His name? What shall I say to them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and He said, thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”

The way that God has determined to reveal the knowledge of Himself to man can be called progressive revelation. With each new age have come greater revelations of God’s truth and of God’s plan for man. One of the new truths that God gave to Moses was a new name to identify God. After all that is the purpose of a name, to give identification. God has many names. And each of them reveals some specific aspect of God’s holy character.

The new name that God gave to Moses to tell the children of Israel was, “I AM THAT I AM.” This name of God expressed the fact that God was the self-existent one. Just as Jesus said, “I am the alpha and omega, the first and the last.” There is no beginning with God. God has always existed and He always will. The length of eternity can be measured on the fingertip of God. One reason God probably gave this name to Moses is so that the children of Israel could better grasp in their minds the difference between the one true living God and the many false gods of the Egyptian culture. Because the proclamation of God that He is, is also a proclamation that all other gods are not.

Jesus used this very same name for God in the Gospel of John. It was just after a women caught in adultery had found forgiveness in Jesus. The Pharisees were there and witnessed the adulterous woman experience the amazing forgiveness and cleansing for sin; and the great joy and change in life that only Jesus could bring her. And they proceed to say to the Christ, Thou art born of fornication, Thou art a Samaritan, and Thou hast a devil. And one of the things that Jesus said in response to the self-righteous Pharisees was in John 8:58, “before Abraham was I am.” And then the Pharisees desired to stone Him. It is amazing the way the Old Testament and the New Testament compliment each other. It is like the New Testament is a commentary on the Old Testament explaining in greater detail the truths that God was us in the teaching in the Old Testament. The Pharisees understood the connection that Jesus was making. He was declaring Himself to be God. The next time that you think you are alone amid the sorrows of life, and that there is no one to love you remember that God said about Himself in Exodus 3:14, “I AM.”

The Bible goes on to say in Exodus chapter 3:15-22, “And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. Go, and gather the elders of Israel together, and say unto them, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, appeared unto me, saying, I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt: And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. And they shall hearken to thy voice: and thou shalt come, thou and the elders of Israel, unto the king of Egypt, and ye shall say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath met with us: and now let us go, we beseech thee, three days' journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand. And I will stretch out my hand, and smite Egypt with all my wonders which I will do in the midst thereof: and after that he will let you go. And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians: and it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty: But every woman shall borrow of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment: and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians.”

There are several more amazing principles to learn by examining the content of the message that God gave Moses to tell the children of Israel. God understands humans and their weaknesses all too well. After all God created man. God understood the lack of faith that Moses had. And God understood the lack of faith the children of Israel had as well. And understands the weak faith of you and I. But it did not matter the weakness in the faith of Moses and the children of Israel. And it the same with you and I. Jesus said in Matthew 17:20, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard see, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

All it takes is a little faith when you faith is in God. Because you will not fail you will succeed when it’s the will of God and your faith is in God. There were 7 things that God did to help the faith of Moses and the children of Israel. He gave them His Name. He gave them His Word. He reminded them of the great works he had done in the past and the promises He had made. He gave them physical signs. He told them the future. And His presence went with them.

In the next several chapters of Exodus The story of how God freed Israel from the cruel slavery under the Egyptian Pharaoh is given. Most people when they think of this story only stop to briefly ponder the great miracles of the ten plagues and the parting of the red sea. But The Exodus of Israel is much more than a story that reveals the power of God from a mere physical perspective.

As we look through these next chapters we will see time and time again how easily the faith of Moses and the children of Israel fails. The Bible says in Romans 5:20, “Moreoever the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” The Old Testament was written during the age of the law. The law is just but harsh and can only condemn. But God’s grace is greater than our sin. And God’s is there much greater than law in the sense that we most often think of it. And this is exactly what we shall see when we study the accounts of the Old Testament in this age; that was called the Age Of The Law.

When tells Moses what to say to the children of Israel, a fairly large part of the message consists of God given very specific detail on what exactly is going to happen in the very recent future as Moses confronts Pharaoh. One of the great fears that plagues man and often keeps us from following the will of God is: fearing the uncertainty of future events. It seems logical to think if we knew exactly what would happen in the future then we could with great confidence do whatever God asked of us and become bold servants of Christ. Alas, this is not so, because of our own weak faith. As we move further into the book of Exodus and read about the conflict between Moses and Pharaoh, we should almost be surprised when we see how both the children of Israel and Moses doubt when the storm clouds fill the sky. When we consider the details about the future conflict with Pharaoh, given in chapters 3 and 4 of Exodus, it seems surprising that they should struggle with their faith.

Yet that is the way of man. And it is the same for us. We stand on the threshold of the end of this age. Very soon the great conflict between good and evil will reach its apex. Very soon God will fulfill His promises and redeem His children from the bondage and slavery of this corrupted world. Just like with Moses, God given us His Word. And Just like Moses, God has given many specific details about the near future and its outcome. Many of these details are found in the book of Revelation. Jesus has promised in Revelation 22:7, “Behold, I come quickly.” We have nothing to fear. We can serve the Lord with boldness. We have thousands of promises from God. God is reminding us everyday in just the right way, and if we pay close attention to His reminders our faith will be strengthened. And the presence of God goes with us who know Jesus the Savior. We can be certain there will always be fears and doubt in our faith in this life. But as the storm clouds darken the skies of your life and the rains of tribulation and persecution begin to fall, remember the promises of God, remember the details God has given concerning the future and most importantly remember the forgiveness that is found in Jesus Christ. And then, God in His grace will bring you through the trials of your faith. And you’re faith will grow as you accomplish the will of God just as it did with Moses.

The Bible goes on to say in Exodus chapter 4:1-9, “And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from before it. And the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand: That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. And the LORD said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.”

As we look at the response of Moses in Exodus 4:1; it cannot be said for certain if Moses’ response was because of a lack of faith or if was that Moses simply understood the lack of faith the children of Israel had. Yet, for the sake of His children God gave Moses several physical signs so that the people would believe. During this period of Moses life there was not even 1 book of the Bible that had been written yet. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We are blessed to live in an age in which we have the entire and complete Word of God. And we struggle every day with our faith. Imagine the struggles we would face without God’s Word. When we consider this we should be thankful to God and we should be understand more why the children of Israel struggled so with their faith. And because God’s Word had not been given in such a great abundance as in this age of grace, God would give physical signs to help the faith of His followers.

Yet, there are some physical signs that God has given to the people of this age, as well, for the sake of our faith. But before you go seeking signs to find faith remember that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And Jesus said concerning physical signs in Matthew 12:39-40, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; but there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For just as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly: so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

It’s just as Jesus said. The ungodly people of the world, those who do not have faith in God, and those who do not understand what it means to follow and to worship God will very often seek physical signs of some kind. But if you seek signs, it will be just as Jesus said. There is only one sign given to the people of this age, and it is not speaking in tongues, or some kind of faith healing. It is the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection from the grave. If you do not believe in the resurrection; then it were better for you to have never been born.

Jesus said that those worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth. True religion will only be found in the Word of God and nowhere else. If you have never repented of your sins and turned to Christ; then you can do so right now. Call out to Him and He will save you. Trust in Jesus; you will hear Him whisper in your heart, “Thy faith have saved thee, go in peace.”

___________________________________________________