I Am the Lord

Exodus 5:1-6:12

Key Verse 6:6

"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.'"

Through the passage today we would like to think about the Lord's desire for his children to know him. In the Bible we can see God making efforts to let all peoples on earth know him. This is particularly true with his relationship with his children. He wants his children to know who he is, what he can do, and how much he can do. 

Some of you already know the Lord, so you might say, "I know the Lord. Do not bother me." But even those who already know the Lord need to know the Lord better. Even the Apostle Paul, a prominent Christian, said, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death..." (Phi 3:10). Similarly, the Apostle Peter said, "Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus..." (2Pe 3:18). So today let us think about God's earnest plea to the Israelites that they should know him not just as God Almighty but as the Lord. 

In the passage we see the Lord God repeating himself, saying, "I am the Lord." Obviously, the Lord repeated this because the Israelites did not know him as the Lord. Why then should the Israelites know the Lord? What difference would it make if they knew the Lord better? 

A close study of the passage reveals two reasons: first, they needed to know the Lord so that they could know who they are (their identity), and second, they needed to know the Lord so that they could live by faith in the Lord. 

First, the Lord says to the slave nation Israel, "I am the Lord," to remind them that they are the children belonging to the Lord, not slaves owned by Pharaoh (5:1).

Look at Exodus 5:1. "Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: “Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.”’” Notice the word "my" (in "my people"). The Lord God calls the slave nation Israel "my people." It has been said, "Like father, like son." So if the Israelites were God's children they should have born within them the image of God. When we study the book of Exodus (and Leviticus) we realize that the Israelites in Egypt behaved as no different as unbelievers. Some of them were even worse sinners than the Egyptians. Still, however, God calls them "my people." This observation indicates that although one is a child of God, it is possible that one has no sense of identity as a "child of God." 

This is the point I would like everyone to think about this morning. The Israelites in Egypt had a number of problems. But of all the problems, by far the most serious problem they had was the problem with their identity. While in Egypt they did not have a clear sense of identity. They thought they were a bunch of slaves, not as people belonging to the Lord. So they thought like slaves and talked like slaves. Their behavior was exactly that of slaves, not as children of God. 

Had they had the clear sense of identity as the children of God, they could have lived in Egypt differently than they used to live. They could have lived for example as missionaries, not as mere slaves. 

Last weekend we had the European Bible Conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of the pioneering work in the European continent. The programs were so wonderful that I can spend hours talking about them. But primarily, as I prayed, it became increasingly clear that the work we see now came out all because a few women nurse missionaries kept their identity as "missionaries" not merely as "wage-earners." These nurse missionaries, such as Missionary Mary Song, Missionary Sarah Lee, and Missionary Susanna Min, did not go there as mere "nurses" but as "missionaries." Some missionaries went to the then West Germany with the title, “Missionary,” but after a while they forgot and abandoned their identity. They ended up living as immigrants. Then they left UBF. But a few kept their identity as missionaries: after long days of work at hospitals, they met together until late hours. They studied the Bible and prayed together. During weekends or vacations, they went out to college campuses and invited students to one to one Bible studies. 

What you think of who you are makes a difference as to what you do and how you do it. So as missionaries these nurses served the will of the Lord first. Most of the nurses were old misses. So they had other urgent prayer topics, such as marriage. But they sought the kingdom of God first. They brought to the Lord what they had, such as their time, money, and broken German. Although they were tired, they prayed, studied the Bible, regained strength, visited campuses, and invited students in broken German. 

Keeping one's identity as a child of God in this tempting world is not as easy as it seems. Think about Joseph in Egypt. He did not go there as a slave. Rather he went there as a child of God. As a young man belonging to the Lord, he chose to walk with the Lord. Then the Lord enabled him to live as a shepherd. Since he kept his identity as a servant of the Lord, step by step the Lord revealed his will to Joseph and used him as his servant. 

But the Israelites in Egypt in today’s passage did not live as the Lord's servants. Their identity as God's chosen instrument (Gen 12:2-4) had been long forgotten. Therefore they did not bother to pray to the Lord, nor did they teach the Bible to the Egyptians. Rather each and every day they strove hard only to survive. When things did not go well, they complained. 

At first glance it looks like a smart idea to ignore one’s relationship with God, mingle oneself with unbelievers, and live as unbelievers do. But the Bible abounds with examples that tell us that the opposite is true. To sell one’s identity as a child of God is not a smart idea: it is a stupid idea. Why? It is because the life that keeps one's identity as a servant of God is constantly upward mobile, whereas the life that sells his identity as a child of God and lives like pagans is constantly downward mobile. In Joseph’s case, since he lived as the Lord's servant, his life was constantly upward mobile like a good, solid, well performing company whose stock price constantly rises. The life that lives as a slave to Pharaoh however is the opposite. At first it looked like they were doing fine. But eventually the overall conditions of the Israelites as a slave nation went from bad to worse. Since Joseph was no longer in power, and since no one worthy among the Israelites in Egypt rose up, and as all the Israelites lived as mere "immigrants", Pharaoh soon started trampling upon the so called chosen people. He made their lives in Egypt bitter, and so after 400 years of life as immigrants they came to be stuck at the lowest bottom of the pagan world with no way out. 

God waited for this moment to come. In order to teach them the value of the identity as a chosen people, God sent Moses to them. One of the first messages the Lord asked Moses to give to the slave nation Israel was, "I am the Lord," and the Lord did it to teach them that they were called to serve the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob as their Lord, not Pharaoh. Pharaoh was not their master. They were not born to serve Pharaoh. They were born to serve the Lord.

Second, the Lord God asked Moses to tell the Israelites that He is the Lord, in order to help them live by faith in the Lord, not by sight. 

Let us read 5:1-23 responsively. This passage shows us the consequences of the Israelites living as mere “immigrants” [rather than as servants of the Lord.] When they woke up from their reality and tried to get out they were not able to. They tried to get out of slavery but had NO POWER to get out. They were ‘stuck’! They had a HUGE problem!!! And the problem was getting bigger!

What then was the solution? How could they free themselves from this horrible situation? Look at 6:1-5. We can find a clue, that is, faith in: 1) God's covenant with Abraham; and 2) the name of God as the Lord. 

The covenant on the land is closely tied with God's plan to save all peoples on earth through faith in Jesus, the offspring of Abraham (Genesis 12:2-4,7; 24:7; 35:12; Ezekiel 5:5; Romans 4:13,16-17). But the Israelites forgot God's purpose of salvation through their offspring (the Savior to come). [Put yourself in the shoes of the Israelites who had already lived in Egypt without any sense of calling for more than 400 years.] In Egypt they did not have in mind God's purpose of calling for them. They indulged themselves only in seeking three meals a day. This went on for 400 long years. The life without God and God's mission eventually started taking its toll on them. As they sold themselves to what is materialistic (such as secure job) they fell from the level of God to the level of man, then to the level of animals and further below. 

So what did they do? They did what they were good at doing: crying out! The Lord heard their cry. The Lord came down to rescue them. But in order for the help to come, they had to first put their trust in the Lord and obey him. 

So what did the Lord do for them? Look at Exodus 6:2-5. In order to help them believe in him, the Lord said, "I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name Lord I did not make myself known to them." Here the Lord distinguished his name God Almighty from his name "the Lord." Tapping into the meanings of these two different names of God requires another day of Bible study. But for our own purpose it is sufficient to say that the name "Lord" refers to far greater revelations the Lord was going to make on himself as the Lord than the revelations he had already made to Abraham as God Almighty. [Compare all the great work the Lord did for Abraham with all the glorious miracles the Lord performed to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.]

No one can know God unless God chooses to reveal himself. No one can fully know God. Had anyone known all there is to God, that person is already God. And man can know God only to the extent God makes himself known to him. And the revelation Abraham had already experienced is way more limited than the revelation God was about to make for the Israelites in Egypt. How much more (power and mercy) then was the Lord willing to reveal on Himself to the slave nation Israel? 

 

Let us read Exodus 6:6-8. Here the expression "I will" is repeated seven times. 

1) I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 

2) I will free you from being slaves to them, 

3) I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.

4) I will take you as my own people

5) I will be your God

6) I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. 

7) I will give it to you as a possession.'"

These seven “I will” statements begin with "I am the Lord" and end with "I am the Lord." This arrangement is like a delicious sandwich, like the ones served at Subways, such as the Chicken Teriyaki Sandwich on Italian bread stuffed with teriyaki chicken, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, sliced onions, olives, jalapeno peppers, pickles, with sweet onion sauce. 

Like the Italian bread that holds the ingredients, as long as they trust in the Lord and obey him, the Lord is going to fulfill the promises for them. For this reason, what the Israelites needed to do was to put trust in the Lord, and obey him fully. 

The Lord then asked Moses to tell the people what he was willing to do. The Lord did this expecting the Israelites to live by faith in the Lord, not by sight.

When they live by sight all they would end up seeing would be Pharaoh's angry face. With their human eyes they would see only physical things such as the supply of straw getting smaller, the daily work load increasing, the whips and swords in the hands of the Egyptian slave drivers, the scorching sun of Egypt beating down on them more harshly than ever, etc. When they look at the visible reality with their unbelieving eyes, they won't be able to treat fellow Israelites as brothers. To them fellow Israelites would be not brothers but competitors. The Egyptians put above them would not be seen as sheep (souls that need to be saved) but as slave masters. When they look at the Egyptians with human eyes the Egyptians would be seen not as objects of God's mercy, love, and power, but hatred and vengeance. 

But God did not call them to live that way. God called them to be a source of blessing to all peoples on earth. Here "all" includes "all" - the Israelites and the Gentiles, the Israelites and the Egyptians. But in order to live as a source of blessing to all, the first thing they needed to do was to restore faith in the Lord, God Almighty. 

When one chooses to live by faith in the Lord, then he starts seeing things, events, or people with the eyes of the Lord. For example, Pharaoh is God-made, just like a chair is man-made. So when the Israelites see Pharaoh with God's eyes, they can quickly find that Pharaoh is not invincible. So as they live by faith in the Lord they can pray that the Lord would help them overcome Pharaoh. And depending on their faith they can even pray for the opportunity to give Pharaoh a Bible study and make a disciple out of him. Joseph had this faith so when he stood in front of Pharaoh and talked about God's name. Pharaoh listened. And Joseph made a disciple out of the Pharaoh of his day. 

When one missionary visited Miranda County in Venezuela, Missionary Juan Seo called him aside and asked him to talk to Ricardo and his parents in law. The missionary complied. Then Ricardo shared with the missionary a problem: the number of sheep keeps growing. The auto repair shop where they are having Sunday worship service is way substandard. They need a Bible center that is bigger and nicer. Luckily the zoning of the repair shop is commercial and there might be a developer who might be willing to build a nice Bible center for them for free if they agree to give out some portion of the land to the developer so the builder can build a shopping center for himself. So they asked this missionary whether or not that would be possible. The missionary opened the Bible to Exodus 6:6 and gave them a speech on the very spot, saying that the Lord is greater than visible rulers such as Mr. Chavez or the ruler of Miranda County. So by all means the missionary asked Ricardo to pray for not just a small Bible center but for the nation of Venezuela as well as for its political leaders. He also encouraged Shepherd Ricardo to teach the Bible and make disciples out of blind sheep like Chavez. Then in the course of time, the Lord will grant them to build Bible houses not just in Miranda County but in Caracas and beyond. Then the missionary asked Ricardo, "Do you believe this?" He said, "Yes, I do." 

How did the Israelites respond to the Lord's challenge? Look at 6:9-12. This passage shows us that the Israelites chose not to believe. Why? Look at verse 9. They did not listen to Moses because of their discouragement and cruel bondage. But discouragement or bondage are lame excuses, for all hardships, difficulties, or obstacles are only a disguise for golden opportunities to experience the love and power of God. This is true because no difficulty, hardship, or obstacle is greater than the Lord. Nothing is impossible with God. All things are possible for him who believes!

At this moment we need to stop and think about the problem of unbelief. The Israelites did not believe in the Lord. Yet the Lord proceeded to help them out. But like all other habits, when one keeps unbelieving, this unbelief will become a habit. The habit then leads the unbeliever to suffer from the consequences of unbelief. Eventually, as they chose not to believe, all who came out of Egypt ended up collapsing in the desert, except for two persons: Joshua and Caleb. 

In conclusion, we learn that knowing the Lord is the key to knowing who we are and what we are called to do. Life here on earth can be either a slave ground or a holy ground. Unlike the Israelites, in and through Jesus, God has revealed himself fully as the Lord. The passage for today encourages us to come to know our Lord Jesus better, know for certain that we are the children of God, and that we called to serve his will in our generation.

One word: I am the Lord

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