UNDERSTANDING God’s PURPOSE in ‘OUR’ DELIVERANCE!
January
20 Bible Reading: Exodus Chapters 7-9
UNDERSTANDING God’s PURPOSE in ‘OUR’ DELIVERANCE!
So the Lord said to Moses: "See, I have
made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You
shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall speak to
Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden
Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But
Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My
armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great
judgments. And the Egyptians shall know
that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the
children of Israel from among them." (Exodus 7:1-5)
The first
six chapters of Exodus are concerned with the person of the deliverer, while the next six chapters give a
detailed account of the work of
redemption. As a general laying out his war strategy, God explains to Moses
in the above passage what he should expect when he attempts to free the
Israelites from the Egyptian slavery:
- Moses would represent God before Pharaoh, and his brother Aaron will be his spokesman (prophet).
- Moses would speak to Pharaoh through Aaron everything that God would command him. The essence of this communication would be that Pharaoh should release the Israelites from Egypt and give them freedom.
- God will harden the heart of Pharaoh, so that this will create multiple opportunities for God to display His power through signs, wonders, and miracles in Egypt.
- God will finally lay His hand upon the Egyptians through great judgments, and will bring out the Israelites out of Egypt.
- Through it all, all the Egyptians would know that Jehovah was the one true God and He alone should be worshiped, served, and obeyed.
Thus, God’s
purpose of delivering the Israelites was that all the Egyptians would know
that Jehovah alone was to be
worshiped, and that was why He raised Pharaoh (see 9:16; Rom. 9:17, 18). God
had planned from the very beginning
that all the Egyptians would know
that He and He alone was the living God!
As we relate
this story to our personal lives, we are the New Testament Israelites, who were in the kingdom of darkness (represented by Egypt), and under the
control of Satan (represented by Pharaoh).
It was the mercy and grace of God who chose to redeem us from slavery through
His only begotten Son Jesus Christ (represented
by Moses). Our Lord Jesus Christ came into our world to save us (John 1:11)
just like Moses traveled back to Egypt to save the Israelites!
However,
when we are delivered from sin and death, God has a greater purpose through our
deliverance – that the unsaved world around us should know that Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, is ‘the way, the truth and the life, no one can
come to God except through Him’ (John 14:6) and that salvation is found through no
other name than through the name of
Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). Let us truly
understand God’s purpose in our deliverance today, and make every attempt to
tell everyone in our circle of influence that Jesus Christ alone to our means
of salvation!
