Exodus: What God Wants Men to Know

Attention

1. “There are many paths to God.” Hinduism embraces it, Islam rejects it, and many “Christians” vacillate.

a. “He goes by many names, He is served in different ways, but having faith is what is really important.”

b. Is that true? Does it matter who God is, what God wants, how we respond to Him in this life?

2. It does matter. Maybe it doesn’t matter to you if you are Hindu, but it certainly matters to God.

a. If God is merely a concept, then specifically identifying who He is and what He wants is immaterial.

b. But if God is real, if He is an actual Being with personality and will, it matters how we respond to Him.

3. Perhaps the Egyptians once thought it doesn’t matter who God really is; the plagues showed them otherwise.

[Proposition] God has manifested His power, so we may know He is Jehovah, the all-mighty God.

I.       God Wanted the Egyptians to Know Something

A.            The Severity of the Plagues

1.    The Ten Plagues and subsequent exodus of the Israelites was not merely a nuisance to Egypt.

a)         The plagues devastated the land destroying their food, faith in their leaders, and families.

b)        The destruction of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea left the nation severely weakened.

2.    Egypt was a powerful nation prior to the exodus, but God’s power brought them to their knees.

B.            The Purpose of the Plagues

1.    The plagues were more than a device to secure Israel’s freedom; they declared the true God.

a)         The Egyptians did not recognize Jehovah; they did not fear the true God of heaven. 5:1-2

b)        The Lord wanted the Egyptians to know something: His name, His power, His authority.

2.    The plagues were signs for Egypt; God multiplied these signs to emphasize the lesson. 7:1-5

a)         Jehovah controlled the Nile River, not Egypt’s gods. 7:17

b)        Jehovah controlled the frogs in the river; they came and left at his command. 8:8-10

c)         Jehovah controlled the signs that men could not duplicate. 8:17-19

d)        Jehovah controlled the events; they were supernatural, not coincidence. 8:22; 9:3-6

e)         Jehovah controlled the outcome of the exodus at the Red Sea. 14:15-18

3.    The LORD prepared Egypt for the time that His power might be manifest. 9:15-16

a)         Moses announced to Pharaoh the name and the will of Israel’s God. 3:18; 5:1; 7:16; 9:13

b)        Jehovah made the plagues severe so all Egypt would know He alone is God. 9:13-14; 10:3

4.    Jehovah went to war against the gods of Egypt, and Jehovah was vindicated as God. 12:12

II.    God Wanted the Israelites to Know Something

A.            The Name of God

1.    The name of God is very important in Exodus and in the events of the exodus.

a)         Jehovah sent Moses to declare His name, not only to Egypt but to Israel. 3:13-15

b)        The covenant name of God, YHWH, was an important part of Moses’ message. 6:2-8

2.    The Hebrew term YHWH (Yahweh or Jehovah) is translated LORD in most English versions.

a)         While many descriptive names are used for God in the Bible, Jehovah is His proper name.

b)        God is what the Lord is, and Jehovah is who the Lord is: the Self-existent, covenant God.

B.            The Knowledge of God

1.    Whereas the Egyptians came to know God thru defeat, Israel would know God in victory.

a)         Jehovah was the God who saved them and adopted them as His own. 6:7; 29:46

b)        Jehovah was the God whose works would be remembered and recited for generations. 10:2

c)         Jehovah was the God who would feed them in the wilderness. 16:12

d)        Jehovah was the God whose law would be a perpetual reminder of His person. 31:13

2.    During the plagues and exodus, God acted so the people would know He is Jehovah.

a)         Finally the Israelites come to Mt. Sinai; for three days they prepared to meet God. 19:10-15

b)        On the third day, God descended on Sinai with fire and smoke and great noise. 19:16-19

3.    The people were free; God had done as He promised; what would He say to them first? 20:1-2

God wanted Egypt to know and Israel to know He is Jehovah: all-powerful, self-existent, true and only, God.

III. God Wants Us to Know Something

A.            He is Jehovah God

1.    God wants us to know the same things; He wants us to know who and what He is. 6:2

a)         The greatness of God is a subject we can never fully grasp or exhaust.

b)        Self-existent: He depends on nothing; He needs nothing; He acts from love, not necessity.

2.    We must not see God as nebulous and impersonal; He is real; He is personal; He is awesome.

B.            The Redeeming God

1.    God cannot be properly known apart from the redemption of His people. 6:6

a)         Redemption is buying something back; God bought His people out of bondage in Egypt.

b)        To know God you must know His work of redemption: first from Egypt, now in Christ.

2.    You can’t know God without knowing He is the redeeming God who saves His people from sin.

C.            The Personal God

1.    God did not merely redeem His people and turn them loose; He adopted them as His own. 6:7

a)         Jehovah is a personal God; He seeks an intimate, personal relationship with His people.

b)        God isn’t seeking a corporate nod; He wants a personal, rational, loving response of faith.

2.    Jehovah doesn’t merely want to be known as God, He wants to be your God, and you His child.

D.           The Faithful God

1.    Jehovah is a God who keeps His promises; He kept His word to Israel; He will to us today. 6:8

a)         Israel did not deserve the blessings God gave them; they were faithless, complaining people.

b)        But God brought them out of Egypt and gave them Canaan to honor His word to Abraham.

2.    We can trust Jehovah; what He says in His word is right; it is true; He has proven trust-worthy.

E.            The True God

1.    Egypt did not know Jehovah before the plagues; they did not recognize Him as God. 12:12

a)         Jehovah wasn’t special, just the God of the Hebrews; Egypt had gods of their own to serve.

b)        Jehovah extended His arm and struck the Egyptians; He defied Egypt’s gods, and He won.

2.    Do not say Jehovah is a god; Jehovah is the God, the one and only, Lord of heaven and earth.

F.            The Healing God

1.    Some have suggested the OT dietary regulations conveyed special health benefits to Israel. 15:26

a)         The Jews’ diet certainly was special, but not because of its composition, because of faith.

b)        Jehovah took care of His people; when they obeyed Him, He strengthened and healed them.

2.    Jehovah still heals; He does not heal every person, man is mortal; God heals within and without.

G.           The Saving God

1.    Do not forget; don’t ever forget; tell your children; tell everyone what God has done. 20:2

a)         The exodus was a pivotal event; it is recalled again and again in the Bible as a sign of God.

b)        Don’t forget what God did for you and for me; don’t forget where we were; He saved us.

2.    Jehovah God brought us out of bondage that we might live in a land of promise forever.

Action

1. Do you know Jehovah as God?

2. He wanted the Egyptians to know. He wanted Israel to know. He wants you to know too.

3. Is Jehovah your God? Are you one of His? Has He rescued you from bondage, or are you still a slave of sin?

4. Jehovah invites us to leave the land of bondage and come to the mountain of the true God. Ac. 2:38; 22:16