Date: May 23rd,10
Speaker: Pastor Kevin Snyder
Title: When Did God Become More Than Just a Name
Text: Exodus 5-9
Introduction
Small Group Exercise: When did God become more than just a name to you?
Think about that.
Audience Participation:
Would anyone be willing to share when God became more than just a name to you.
Context:
This generation of Hebrews had heard about God but he seemed distant. God seemed to have moved away. They were suffering captivity and harsh treatment by the hand of Egypt.
And it through this time we see God become more than just a name to them.
They discover that God can and desires to be known and experienced as so much more.
Think of it like this:
Life like a pizza.
Every piece of this pizza represents a realm of your life.
- And if we were to simplify Christian growth down to it’s most basic, and simple level it would be this. It would be allowing Christ to enter into all the realms of your life. You learn to trust him as your deliverer – from the captivity of sin
- your healer – one you look to for healing in body, mind, and spirit
- your provider – one you trust for the basic needs of your life
Increasingly as God becomes more things to us, we look to him more in all the pieces of our life, an amazing thing happens we come to experience increasingly God’s presence in our lives.
And that is the journey these Hebrews are about to undertake. They are about to learn that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was more than a name.
Let’s look:
6 Then the Lord told Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he will force them to leave his land!”
2 And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the Lord.’?*? 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’?*?—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them. 4 And I reaffirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promised to give them the land of Canaan, where they were living as foreigners. 5 You can be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel, who are now slaves to the Egyptians. And I am well aware of my covenant with them.
6 “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. 7 I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. 8 I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’ ”
God is to show them that he is more than just the strong God – El Shaddai.
They are about to discover God as a promise-keeping God….as a deliverer…as their God. They are about to learn what it means for them to be his people.
What do they learn?
1. Lesson #1: They discover that God is above all gods.
He is God Most High.
In Exodus 7 – 12 we have the story of the 10 plagues God unleashed on Egypt.
- These plagues come in 3 sets of 3.
- Pattern is that Moses warns Pharoah of the 1st 2 but the 3rd comes with no warning.
- 1st 3 plagues – Nile to blood, frogs & gnats are bothersome
- 2nd set – are painful (flies, death of livestock, boils )
- 3rd set are natural phenomena (hail, locusts, darkness)
- 10th plague – is death of the 1st born
- It is believed that these 10 plagues happened over a span of about 9 months.
- Each of these plagues smashed some god of the Egyptians.
Take a look at this chart
What’s the point:
- God showed them that he was real not just an idol. He showed them his power over all the gods of Egypt.
- He showed them that “if God is for us who can be against us.”
But Pharaoh’s reaction is amazing. He hangs on.
- His country is devastated – crops destroyed, animals killed. They are for an agricultural economy having a total economic meltdown.
- But Pharaoh hangs on until the last plague death of the firstborn.
- You see, the 1st born of Pharaoh was seen as a god. He was the heir-god. It was an attack on the greatest god
- Isis – supposed to protect children
- Here shown as totally incompetent.
Isn’t it amazing his capacity for misery.
He is like a stubborn child…and so are we.
Application
But as I reflected on this…
I discovered Pharaoh isn’t as distant from us as we might think.
You see, we have our idols that we put our trust in….that we cling to at extreme costs.
We too will go through incredible misery and pain and problems before we will bow and submit our heart to God.
These idols control us and hold us captive.
And the 1st work God does in our lives is to pry the idols out of our hands. To shift our trust from money, people, things, careers, pleasures, to him. He shows us that none of these idols can support or help us when the crunch comes.
For the Hebrew people they discover that this God can lay a licking on all the other so-called gods.
- He is able to free us from the tyranny of sin and Satan.
- He can release from enslavement to our habits, and addictions.
Titus 3: 3 – 7
It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this. (The Message)
The first piece of the pizza…The 1st realm that we discover about God is ability to save, deliver, redeem us.
And many Christians stop there.
- They have been set free from sin like the people had been set free from Egypt.
- They have fire insurance.
- They trust their soul to God for eternity.
But God has so much more for you.
- His being Savior is only one piece of the pizza.
- He has so much more for you to experience.
- This is the beginning of the journey for the Hebrew people…not the end.
- The Christian life is more than just about being freed from something. It is about growing and discovering God and experiencing all his promises. He has a destination, a promised land for you.
Note:
God took 9 months to get Israel out of Egypt. But it took 40 years to get Egypt out of the Israelites.
- They had to learn what it meant to be the people of God.
- They were about to learn that god was more than just about one piece of pizza but the whole thing.
2. Lesson #2: The Lord is Your Warrior
Occasion: Red Sea – Egyptians pursuing them….up against the sea
Exodus 14: 11
23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He made the wheels of their chariots come off?d? so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward?e? it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
Application
- God doesn’t leave us in this battle alone.
- He doesn’t leave you to fight the temptations of going back alone.
- He doesn’t leave you to fight the enemy alone.
- No, the Lord is with you.
- He is on your side. He can deliver you and help you.
One of the 1st things we need to learn in the life is to rely on the strength of the Lord. To learn to walk by faith.
Listen to the song that came out of this (excerpts)
“I will sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider
he has hurled into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
3 The Lord is a warrior;
the Lord is his name.
11 “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord?
Who is like you—
majestic in holiness,
awesome in glory,
working wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand
and the earth swallowed them.
13 “In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them
- Friends, what’s facing you right now?
- Where does it feel you have your back up against it?
- Where does it feel you are being attacked?
What is your response to this test?
God wants you to discover him as your warrior. He wants you to discover that you can trust him to pull you through whatever you are facing right now.
He wants you to know him as your deliverer.
And as you learn to trust him and see how he delivers and battles for you, you will sing one day too.
3. Lesson #3: God as Your Healer
Exodus 15: 22 – 27
Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water. 23 When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”).
24 Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. 25 So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink.
It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him. 26 He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”
27 After leaving Marah, the Israelites traveled on to the oasis of Elim, where they found twelve springs and seventy palm trees. They camped there beside the water.
God wants them to discover him in yet another way – as their healer.
God not only wants to deliver you from being captive to sin….he wants to heal the wounds in your life.
He wants you to discover his healing, restoring power in your life.
- Perhaps you came out of Egypt with a whole lot of physical and emotional wounds.
- Perhaps your Egypt was an abusive parent or spouse.
- Perhaps it was betrayal by a friend.
- Perhaps it was being rejected or hated.
- Perhaps there are wounds deep to your spirit that are difficult to see.
- Perhaps you come out of Egypt with some physical wounds – some damage & problems from years of addiction or neglect of your body.
One of the realms God wants you to discover his him as your Healer.
At the end of the service today, invite you if you would like to have a prayer for healing said for you. Invite you to come at end of service by prayer room. I and the Deacons will be there and we will pray for your physical, emotional healing.
You see, one of the signs of the coming of Jesus’ kingdom was healing. He healed many who were sick.
And we are called to anoint the sick with oil, pray for them that they might be healed.
We want to give you an opportunity to bring that piece of your life to God today….bring that wounded piece of your life to God’s touch.
4. Lesson #4: God as Provider of Your Daily Needs
Exodus 16
There are so many principles in this chapter.
People are hungry…tempted to think of the food back in Egypt…distorted memory.
God sent manna & quail for the people to eat for forty years while in the wilderness
Listen & note some things
3 That evening vast numbers of quail flew in and covered the camp. And the next morning the area around the camp was wet with dew. 14 When the dew evaporated, a flaky substance as fine as frost blanketed the ground. 15 The Israelites were puzzled when they saw it. “What is it?” they asked each other. They had no idea what it was.
And Moses told them, “It is the food the Lord has given you to eat. 16 These are the Lord’s instructions: Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts?*? for each person in your tent.”
17 So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. 18 But when they measured it out,?*? everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed.
19 Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.” 20 But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell. Moses was very angry with them.
21 After this the people gathered the food morning by morning, each family according to its need. And as the sun became hot, the flakes they had not picked up melted and disappeared. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much as usual—four quarts?*? for each person instead of two. Then all the leaders of the community came and asked Moses for an explanation. 23 He told them, “This is what the Lord commanded: Tomorrow will be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath day set apart for the Lord. So bake or boil as much as you want today, and set aside what is left for tomorrow.”
24 So they put some aside until morning, just as Moses had commanded. And in the morning the leftover food was wholesome and good, without maggots or odor. 25 Moses said, “Eat this food today, for today is a Sabbath day dedicated to the Lord. There will be no food on the ground today. 26 You may gather the food for six days, but the seventh day is the Sabbath. There will be no food on the ground that day.”
27 Some of the people went out anyway on the seventh day, but they found no food. 28 The Lord asked Moses, “How long will these people refuse to obey my commands and instructions? 29 They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you. That is why he gives you a two-day supply on the sixth day, so there will be enough for two days. On the Sabbath day you must each stay in your place. Do not go out to pick up food on the seventh day.” 30 So the people did not gather any food on the seventh day.
31 The Israelites called the food manna.?*? It was white like coriander seed, and it tasted like honey wafers.
32 Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: Fill a two-quart container with manna to preserve it for your descendants. Then later generations will be able to see the food I gave you in the wilderness when I set you free from Egypt.”
Note:
- God provided their daily bread – 6 days a week.
- Gave them what they needed. What they couldn’t use just rotted.
- On the 6th day he gave them extra so they didn’t have to gather it on the Sabbath.
In the Lord’s prayer we read this
“Give us our daily bread…”
- Do you trust God as your provider?
- Do you trust him to provide for you the daily needs of your life.
Ways of measuring:
a. Anxiety level
Do we worry about having food on the table tomorrow? About having enough to survive? About getting enough?
In Matthew 6 – Jesus tells us the pagans worry like this because they do not know they have a Heavenly Father who is their provider.
b. Our Giving
God supplied what they needed in 6 days so they didn’t have to work on the 7th.
Do you believe that God will supply your needs if you give to him?
Sometimes we don’t think we have anything left to give to God. We’ll run short. And so we don’t give because we will need it.
- What that reveals is you think you are your own provider. You don’t trust God. You don’t trust that he will supply what you need and so you don’t give.
You see, if you trust God you can give. You know he will supply.
In fact, you know his supply hinges on us giving. God blesses the generous not the stingy heart.
God invites us to test him in this:
Malachi 3 says:
“You have cheated me of the tithes and offerings due to me. 9 You are under a curse, for your whole nation has been cheating me. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! 11 Your crops will be abundant, for I will guard them from insects and disease.?*? Your grapes will not fall from the vine before they are ripe,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 12 “Then all nations will call you blessed, for your land will be such a delight,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
Application:
There are a lot of people who do not trust the Lord with their finances. They don’t trust God to give them their daily bread.
i.e.
My prayer – give me what I need to today. Trust you to provide what I need.
i.e.
Good Friday – just before going to combined service.
Couple who said they met me and knew me from some place.
They were in a pickle – moved, had 2 kids & running short.
Asked if I could loan them & pay landlord their rent.
Reading book : “You were born for this”
Talks about a God pocket – money you put aside that is at God’s disposal. So you can give it freely.
Spoke of this verse:
“He who gives to the poor, lends to the Lord.”
Elaborates – when you give to the poor you are actually giving a loan to God. And do you think God doesn’t pay back his loans? Do you trust him?
Well, couple needed $375 and didn’t really have it but thought I’d apply this verse. Loaning to the Lord…been in this long enough to know wasn’t going to see it back from these people. Don’t do loans….give if I can but no loans
Definition of a distant relative: One who owes you money.
If people can’t pay back they want to avoid you.
Anyways, loaned to God $375 to help these people.
Well, folks the following Sunday – Ken Wiedrick 7 John Campbell came. Gave me thank you for serving in role of Cong Services for several years. It was volunteer. Never ever expected anything.
Well, they unexpectedly gave me a cheque.
Guess for how much?
No, $500
God pays back with interest.
$125 a week!
I only share that to show you God can be trusted to provide.
One of the greatest stress reducers in your life is letting God in on this realm of your life. Letting him be your provider.
Conclusion
The journey of the Christian life isn’t just being freed from sin. It is a journey of discovering all that God is and learning to trust him with more and more of the pieces of our lives. In fact, Christian maturity is really that.
- It is learning to trust him in all the realms of your life.
- It is then that your life begins to reflect God’s hand and activity. His peace and joy. His strength.
Who is God to you today?
- Is he just a name?
- Is your trust in your idols?
- How’s that working for you?
1. Learn to trust that he can deliver you from your life of brokenness and pain. But to do that you have to surrender to him. Give up the stubborn pride that won’t let go.
Maybe that’s where you are today. Wanting for God to become more than just a name. You need to discover him as Savior.
2. Perhaps you have done that…but then stalled.
And you need to trust the Lord’s strength today. Need to quit trying to things on your own.
Maybe you’re back is up against it today, and you need God to trust God like Moses at the Red Sea. Trust that god will go to battle for you and deliver you.
3. Maybe you are here, and the step you need to take is to seek God as your healer. As I said I want to invite you to come at end of song – over by prayer room…pray for your healing
4. Perhaps you need to discover Christ as your Provider.
Not just to trust him with your soul when you die, but to trust him and obey him with your finances. With your daily needs.
We are on this journey like the Israelites through the wilderness to learn more and more about who God is and wants to be for us.
And it takes years. And like them we don’t always get it right.
We forget quickly.
But today, I pray you can identify one piece of your pizza life and take another step in your growth of trusting that area over to Christ.
Amen
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* Yahweh is a transliteration of the proper name YHWH that is sometimes rendered “Jehovah”; in this translation it is usually rendered “the Lord” (note the use of small capitals).
* El-Shaddai, which means “God Almighty,” is the name for God used in Gen 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3.
Peterson, Eugene H.: The Message : The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, Colo. : NavPress, 2002, S. Tit 3:3-8
d Or He jammed the wheels of their chariots (see Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint and Syriac)
e Or from
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 14:23-31
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ex 15:1-18
Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Ex 15:22-27
* Hebrew 1 omer [2 liters]; also in 16:32, 33.
* Hebrew measured it with an omer.
* Hebrew 2 omers [4 liters].
* Manna means “What is it?” See 16:15.
* Hebrew from the devourer.
Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Mal 3:8-12