Month: December 2020

1. None of these diseases

Exodua15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

This conditional promise is limited to the time and the people who are at that moment involved in the Exodus Salvation Event. The condition is fourfold: 1) if you listen to the Lord; 2) if you do that which is right; 3) if you hear the commandments; 4) and if you keep the laws of God, then God will not put on you the plagues of the Egyptians. None of the ten plagues with which Egypt was judged will come upon you. I am the Lord that heals you.

This promise actually came true for a period of time in the wilderness wanderings of Israel. For over 40 years the weary nomadic life of Israel did not make those under 40 years old sick or die. The Lord even provided water when they were thirsty, manna and quail when they were hungry, and defeat of enemy raiders when they were attacked. However, to prove the conditionality of the promise, when the people rebelled, complained and disbelieved God sent judgments like opening the earth, giving leprosy, sending poisonous snakes, sending out consuming fire, and attacking those who presumed to enter the land against God’s warning not to do so. These judgments came when they did not keep the conditions of faith and obedience.

God’s provision and care and healing for the people were nevertheless given as promised when they listened and obeyed. Even Moses did not grow old and weak over all the years. However, he was not allowed to enter the Land for his presumption. And according to God’s judgment on unbelief, all those over 40 years old who did not believe were judged with death in the wilderness. All those under 40 lived well until the time was up. Their clothing and shoes did not even wear out for all that time.

The God who is with them is the God who heals those who believe and obey. No one is able to believe and live perfectly all the time, except for Jesus, so the condition is not satisfied. Sin happens; diseases happen; death happens. Jesus takes it all away and grants a perfectly healthy life in eternity, where there will be no more sorrow, sickness, death or tears. And there is the tree of life whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. Perfect health and full life will come as promised to all believers in Christ. Meanwhile, God does heal, but He does not promise healing all the time while we wander in the wilderness of the world.

1. The Lord will Reign

Exodus 15:18 The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.

After the Exodus, Moses and the people sang the “Song of Moses.” They celebrated the victory over the enemy with song and dance: “the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation…the Lord is a man of war.” 

The Song seems to celebrate the miraculous defeat of the enemy even more than their own miraculous escape. Salvation and Judgment go together. When sin and evil is judged salvation comes. The judgment on Sin is the Salvation of the soul. This happened at the cross and the tomb. It is right and proper to sing and dance a celebration song in response to what Jesus has done for us.

A promise for us for all time is embedded in this celebratory song: The Lord shall reign forever and ever. This is good news for us every day, because we live with bad news and the fear of bad news always. The Lord is saying to us, “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” Hallelujah, our God reigns. Jesus is in charge. Our Savior is in control. What have we to fear? Jesus announced the kingdom of God. This is the reign of God breaking into our history and our lives with grace, mercy and peace. He is a good God for us, and He is a kind God with a good will toward us. He has come; He has conquered; He rules all things for our good. Repent and believe the gospel.

The kingdom comes: we enter the kingdom of God. Actually, the kingdom of God comes into us. This is my Lord’s Prayer: I will let God rule and reign and have His will and His way with me, for I know that it is gracious and good. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done. The great news of this proclamation is that God’s reign is forever and always. He rules with the end in mind. What happens now makes a difference in eternity. We look at the things that are not seen. We don’t always see the goodness of God in His ruling decisions, but we trust Him to do the good and right thing. And we are content. He is working an eternal weight of glory out of our temporary light afflictions. 

This is quite a remarkable thing for Moses and the people to sing and say. It is a proclamation of faith in the unseen goodness of God for the eternal future. They have seen God’s salvation; they praise Him for it; they submit to Him as Ruler; and they trust Him to be eternally good. We also have the same promise: The Lord reigns forever.

1. Lord will fight for you

Exodus 14:13,14 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more forever. The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

Moses, speaking for the Lord, promises the people that the Lord will fight for you. This is a specific promise for that people, for that time, and for that event. The army of Pharaoh on one side and the Red Sea on the other side hemmed in the people of Israel, though the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire held the army at bay. The people were naturally frightened. What could they do?

Moses says, “Fear not, be calm, and watch what the Lord will do to save you.” The Lord will fight for you by allowing you to cross through the sea and by drowning the army in the sea. “So hold your peace. Be still. And be in awe.” God did do a great miracle for them in the Exodus Event. He kept His promise.

The promise may be repeated for us and believed by us as well: The Lord will fight for you. In fact, the name Israel itself means, “God fights.” It could mean “God fights with you,” but it could also mean, “God fights for you.” God did fight, or wrestle, with Jacob, and so the Lord changed his name. But for Jacob’s believing descendants the name becomes a promise: God will fight for you. The promise came true at the Exodus. It came true throughout Biblical history. And the promise came true preeminently at the cross of Christ. There, in the death of Jesus, God fought for His people and defeated the Enemy once and for all.

This is the essence of the promise that we need to believe on a daily basis. God will fight for you, His son or daughter, against your enemies. Sin, Death, and the Devil are always nearby seeking ways to devour and destroy the soul. But they cannot do it because Jesus fought for us and won, and the Lord continues to fight for us against our spiritual enemies. The Enemy will show up and scare us in so many different ways that we don’t always recognize the troubles we fear as attacks of our spiritual enemies. God fights for us in regard to the things we worry about. We go through the waters of Baptism and live. We escape. God drowns sin and evil and death in the waters of baptism, the very waters that saved us. Remember your baptism. Remember the Exodus promise. Remember the Cross and the Empty Tomb. Remember you have a God who is fighting for you on your side. Repentance and faith is the way to life and victory. We win because of the Promise.

1. God will Pass Over

Exodus 12:13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. Verse 23: For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

The celebration called Passover gets its name from this verse, “I will pass over you.” This feast is an ordinance that God says will be celebrated forever. The Passover feast has morphed into the Lord’s Supper instituted as a follow-on by Jesus at his Last Supper. The present day Communion Services all over the world continues the Passover feast. The celebratory feast will continue into eternity at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom.

The Destroyer came through the land of Egypt on that night to kill the first-born of every human and animal family. But the Lord had commanded Moses to have all the believers in Israel sacrifice a lamb to eat a meal and use the blood to sprinkle on the doorposts of the house. The blood was a token, or sign, that the family in this house are faithful believers in the Lord. They obeyed and sacrificed the lamb according to God’s instructions.

God says, “When I see the blood.” He says the same thing to us: “When I see the blood of Jesus, my Son, on the door of your heart I will pass over you and not destroy you.” Faith in Jesus Christ places His sacrificial blood in the heart; God sees Christ; He sees the faith. He passes his judgment over you and goes on to judge those who do not believe (they have not the blood). Judgment is coming for sure; Egypt (the world) will be smitten. But the believers with the Blood escape the judgment. God will judge all sin, but we have no sin is we have accepted the death of Jesus as the judgment of God upon our sin. God will destroy the world but He will not destroy me.

God looks on the heart, and He sees either sin that must be judged or blood that cleanses from all sin. We will either be destroyed or we will escape the judgment. The difference hinges on faith in Jesus. On the basis of this promise we know that we are accepted by God and will live forever.

1. Judgment on the gods

Exodus 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.

God promises Moses that He will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt. This is a specific promise meant for a one-time event, the Exodus, but the enduring spiritual truth of this physical event includes a promise for us even today. 

The first way of understanding this promise is that the Lord did indeed judge the gods of Egypt through the ten plagues. Most of the plagues had something to do with a god of the Egyptian pantheon; especially the last one since the Pharaoh and his first-born was considered a god. The Lord the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is revealing to the world that He is the one and only true God, and there is no other. All other so-called gods are nothings or they represent fallen angels and demons. This One God judges all other beings who claim to be gods. The Lord says, “I am God; they are not. I will prove it to Pharaoh, all Egypt, and the entire world. Now Israel shall fear Me alone.”

The second way of understanding this promise is that the Son of God has executed judgment upon all false gods and false claims by His death and resurrection. Jesus says to the world, “I am God, your Lord and Savior, and there is not other name. I have all authority over all idols, gods, demon and spirits; I stand as judge against all philosophies, religions, sciences, arts, and anything that would claim your attention and trust.” All false gods, prophets, and religions will be cast into the lake of fire.

The third way of taking this promise is that Jesus Christ the Lord is in our daily lives executing judgment and authority over all the gods of the world. Anything from the world of humans or the world of demons is judged, condemned and stripped of power. Jesus Christ, though the Word and Spirit, executes judgment upon all false claims opposed to the Word of God. These false claims may originate from human thought or demonic influence. Either way, they are nothings. Put Jesus in the rightful place in your heart and He will put everything else in its place.

1.  A heritage

Exodus 6:8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord.

The promise of land given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is repeated for Moses, and for the all the believers who would follow him and believe God. The land will be our inheritance. The land is the kingdom of God, now spiritually residing and ruling in our spirits. It is the life of God, shared by God, and shared with all brothers and sisters who believe in Jesus. And it is eternal.

It is the inheritance reserved for us in heaven. Upon the death of the Son of God the inheritance is earned for all people. Upon our spiritual death through Baptism and daily repentance the inheritance is sealed in the heart. Upon our physical death at the end of our time on earth we will receive the inheritance forever. I Peter 1:3, 4: “He has caused us to be born again…to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” The Lord makes us alive again to the inheritance that we once had before Adam fell. The inheritance is kept in heaven for us, and we enjoy it upon death.

Meanwhile, we have the Spirit. Ephesians 1:13, 14: “(We) were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.” For the time being, we are not physically in the land; we are still sojourning is a foreign country, the world; but we do have the land in us, as a guarantee; heaven has come to us until we “go to heaven.”

1. I will bring you out

Exodus 6:7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

God promises Moses that He would make a people out of the children of Israel, and He will be their God. He will be the Lord their God who will bring them out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. This great event of deliverance is also meant for us who believe in Jesus. Through Jesus God will bring us out. Egypt is the world; the world places burdens upon us; Jesus brings us out from under the burdens of the world. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…my burden is light.” 

The burden of the Egyptians was hard and heavy. The slaves were made to work extremely hard, as if a heavy burden were loaded on their shoulders. The burden of a slave makes life hard. Living in the world is a heavy burden; we must work hard with stresses and strains, troubles and pains, just to make it from day to day. This is a direct result of the curse of the Fall into Sin. The world is under the control of Satan and Evil, of Sin and Death. It is a hard slave master. How can we get out from under? Christ sets us free; He has overcome the world.

Jesus sets us free with His Exodus. We come to the cross and the burden of sin under which we labor is lifted. A heavy life becomes a light burden. We are yoked with Christ who does the heavy lifting for us. Sin, Satan and Death no longer have control of our life; Sin is forgiven; Satan is crushed; Death is defeated. We are under a new master, under new management; we have a new owner; Jesus is in control. He is good and kind and generous and loving. He is always tuned in to our needs, and He knows how to help in every time of need. Jesus brings you out from under.

1. Bring out, rid of enemies, redeem

Exodus 6:4, 5, 6 And I have also established my covenant with thee, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of he Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments.

The Lord reassured Moses with a renewed promise that He will surely deliver His People through a Great Exodus. Moses needs God’s repeated promise to have the courage and strength to keep going and keep doing God’s will. And so do we. The promise is for us as we read and hear the history of God’s will and purpose. This Event sets the stage for God’s Salvation History in the Bible. God says to Moses, and to us: “I will do it. I will do what I said. I will keep My covenant promise. Trust Me.” God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; God made a covenant with their seed; God made a covenant with us who believe. Be sure that God will keep His promise to save. We know this by hearing and receiving the Gospel by faith and when we take of the “blood of the covenant.”

First, the Lord will bring us out of our bondage. “Abide in my word…and the truth will set you free.” We are in bondage to Sin, Death and the Devil. We are slaves. We cannot stop sinning; we can’t stop death; and the devil is always nearby to destroy. We cannot escape the slavery, unless acted on from the outside, by an act of God. Jesus did this for us and brought us out of slavery.

Second, the Lord will rid us of our enemies. The world lies in the Evil One, but fear not, Jesus has overcome the world. This is the victory that overcomes the evil one—our faith. We are the overcomers, yea, we are more than overcomers through Him who loved us.

Third, the Lord will redeem us with His great power and judgments. God showed us His power in the Resurrection of Christ, and He showed us His judgments at the cross. Our sin is judged, and we are redeemed, which means, we are bought back and brought back to God where we belong.

1. God will Teach

Exodus 4:12 Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.

This is a promise given directly and only to Moses: the Lord will teach Moses what to say. This is not a promise for us, but in the NT Jesus says the Holy Spirit will “teach you all things and bring to remembrance all that I have said to you.” This promise is for us. We can believe the promise that the Lord God, the Holy Spirit, who lives within us, will teach us what to say. Trust God to give you thoughts to think and words to say at the appropriate time and place when needed.

We do not even know the effect of our witness and the words we speak when we give a reason for the hope within. All who believe in Jesus can count on the leading and guiding of the Spirit, especially when we witness to Christ. 

The Lord gives this promise to Moses because he did not feel worthy or good enough to confront Pharaoh and speak for the Lord. God gives to Moses and to us the promise that He will do the speaking when we surrender our lips, mouth and tongue to the Lord so that the Spirit can use them. God will not let us use the excuse that we are inadequate. It’s His work anyway; it is not dependent on our eloquence. Moses objected to God’s call four times, and each time God said to him, “I’m doing this, not you. I just need a willing vessel. You will do this.” 

We certainly don’t know everything, but His Promise encourages us to trust the Lord to do and say what He wants us to do and to say. He may sometimes even want to use plain people, like Moses and you and I.

1. God will Smite the Enemy

Exodus 3:20 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.

The Lord promises to let His people go from Egypt and set them free by smiting this enemy of the people. This God did with the ten plagues. The promise to Moses was fulfilled in the Exodus Event. But this landmark deliverance prophesies the greater deliverance through the cross of Jesus Christ. The cross and resurrection fulfills the promise for us: Jesus smote the enemy and set the people free. Sin, Death and the Devil were smitten and defeated by the innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Christ in His passion and death, and through the subsequent resurrection from the dead.

Jesus smote the enemy not with plagues but through humility, suffering, giving, loving, submitting and dying. There is more power in love than in brute strength. The judgments of the Exodus were against the false gods and idols and demons of the Egyptian religion and evil powers. The judgments of the Cross were against the spiritual forces of wickedness. These judgments upon sin were placed upon the Son of God, who bore the punishment in our place as our substitute. Jesus’ substitutionary death took away the just judgments against our sin so that we might be let go from bondage to sin and death. We are free to go to the Promised Land.

The promise of “smiting” is useful and beneficial for us in our daily lives. The victory of Christ smites the enemies of the soul that would destroy us. The smiting happens when the Gospel is preached and heard. The Gospel breaks the enemies’ hold upon us and sets us free. The Gospel is the Truth that sets us free from slavery. The Enemy operates by means of The Lie. God uses The Truth to smite and disable the lies of Sin and Death and Satan. These enemies have no power against the Gospel Truth. They are figuratively, and truly, drowned in the waters of Baptism. We remember our Baptism and make it present and alive and operative in our lives through repentance and faith in the Gospel. Whatever problem, obstacle, trouble, suffering or issue we are presently dealing with we may overcome by applying the Gospel Truth to smite “Egypt.”