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August 25, 2002
14th Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 6:2-8
Pastor Ben Berger

God Is The LORD

(Exodus 6:2-8) God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 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. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD."

Who is God? There are many people in this world who call on "God," but do not know who God is. Their minds and consciences tell them that God exists, but they do not know who God is. So, they make up God. They decide that God is Buddah, or Allah, or something else, and they end up praying to wood, stone, or the figment of their imaginations. I could decide that this red pen is God. I could worship it, pray to it, give my life to it, but it wouldn't help me. Maybe it sounds ridiculous to call a red pen God, but it's no different than worshipping a god you don't know. If you don't know who God is, you can't believe in him. If you don't believe in the one true God, your faith is useless and you are still on the road to hell. Do you know who God is? If you're not sure, listen carefully. If you do know, listen again to receive his blessing. Today God himself tells you who he is. Both at the beginning and end of our text God says, "I am the LORD." The LORD (all caps) is a very special name for God that tells us exactly who he is. That God is the LORD tells us 1) he made a promise and 2) he will keep his promise.

The LORD made a promise because the LORD saw doubt. Three different people doubted the LORD. Let me tell you what led up to our text. If you don't already know the story of Moses, I encourage you to go back and read the opening chapters of Exodus. Just before God spoke to Moses in our text, Moses had approached the leader of Egypt. The Egyptians had enslaved the people of Israel for over four hundred years, and God decided it was time to leave. God chose Moses to tell Pharaoh to let Israel go. Pharaoh was the first person to doubt God. When Moses told him to free the Israelites at the command of the LORD, Pharaoh said, "Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go?" (Exodus 5:2)

It wasn't just Pharaoh who doubted the LORD though. Pharaoh accused the Israelites of being lazy, so he increased their workload. That made the Israelites quite unhappy. They too began to doubt the LORD and complain against him. When they complained, Moses also began to doubt the LORD. Here God was trying to free his people from slavery and all they did was complain because they doubted him.

Because the LORD saw doubt, he made a promise in order to erase the doubt. First, he would erase Pharaoh's doubt with a show of power. The next chapters of Exodus record the ten plagues God visited on Egypt. Every plague was result of Pharaoh's doubt. He did not think he needed to obey the LORD. Finally, after every firstborn child and animal in Egypt died in one night, Pharaoh changed his mind. He did not want to see God's power. But, he could not hold back his doubt for long. He sent his troops after Israel as they were leaving and saw God's power one more time as the Red Sea closed in on his soldiers. Pharaoh doubted, but God's power won.

The LORD also wanted to erase the doubt of Israel and Moses, but with a promise rather than with power. His power proves doubt wrong, but as in the case of Pharaoh does not change doubt to trust. The LORD didn't just want to prove Moses and Israel wrong, he wanted them to trust him. So, he reminded them of the covenant he made with their forefathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He promised to give them the land of Canaan. Over four hundred years later, as the LORD heard the cry of his people from Egypt, he remembered his promise. It's not that he forgot it; it's that now he was ready to fulfill it. So he would renew his promise to Moses and Israel. They too would see his power, but they would trust in him because they would see his faithfulness. They would trust him because of his promise.

Today, right now, this very minute, the LORD still sees doubt. He sees doubt all around the world. Unbelievers abound. They refuse to believe that God created the world. They refuse to believe that they need a Savior. They refuse to believe that they are in any danger, much less the danger of hell. The LORD will erase their doubt. He will erase their doubt with power. If not before, they will see God's power on the last day. They will see the destruction of this world as it goes up in flames. They will hear their own condemnation as God abandons them to the flames of hell. They will feel his wrath and will no longer be able to mock him. They will no longer doubt that he is the LORD.

Don't get too comfortable though. The LORD sees doubt right here too, in us. He sees people who give offerings reluctantly because we refuse to trust him to provide. He sees people who try to solve all of their own problems without him because we refuse to believe he works for our good. He sees people who look for their own enjoyment in the things of this earth because we refuse to believe he has something better in store for us. He sees people who deserve to see his power and hear his condemnation as much as every unbeliever in this world. He sees the doubt in us and wants to erase it.

Don't be afraid though. He also sees a group of people who trust in his Son. Therefore, he does not want to erase our doubt with power, but with a promise. He has already made many promises to us. He's already kept the most important one too. He sent his Son to forgive our sins and to take away our doubt. He's already chosen you to hear his invitation rather than condemnation. He's already reserved your seat at the wedding feast. And now he's ready to remember and fulfill his many other promises too.

The LORD doesn't just make promises, he keeps them too. God is the LORD: he made a promise, he will keep his promise.

After the LORD reassured Moses that he remembered his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he sent Moses to relay that promise to Israel. Seven times the LORD said "I will" to Israel. I will….We can summarize each verse into one "I will." In verse six the LORD says, "I will deliver you." The main complaint of Israel for the last 400 years was that they were serving as slaves in a foreign land. The LORD promised to take them out of Egypt. In verse seven the LORD says, "I will make you mine." Already at the time of Abraham God had set apart his descendants as his people. As the LORD led Israel out of Egypt, he gave Moses a set of laws that would set Israel apart from the other nations. Most importantly, Israel would become God's people because the Savior would come from them. In verse eight the LORD says, "I will take you home." He promised to take them to the land he promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

If you take the time to read the rest of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua, you will see how the LORD indeed kept all of his promises often in a miraculous way. God didn't just tell the people of Israel who he was; he showed them. He showed them that he is the LORD. He showed them by making a promise to them and keeping it before their very eyes.

God also shows us that he is the LORD by keeping his promises to us. The LORD says to you "I will…" I will deliver you. As I said earlier, the LORD has already delivered us from our worst enemy. He has delivered us from sin, death and the devil. He delivered us by sending his Son to be our Savior. "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall have eternal life," (John 3:16). He delivered us by taking our place. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God," (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Even now on earth the LORD still promises to deliver us. He says in Psalm 50:15, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you and you will honor me." And in 1 Corinthians 10:13, "God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." Whatever tough situation you're dealing with, God promises to deliver you. Either he will take it from you, or if he allows it to stay, he will give you the strength to get through it. Trust the LORD.

The LORD also promises, "I will make you mine." 1 John 3:1, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are." God made you his child through baptism. Every day you can remember your baptism. Your baptism is a guarantee to you that you are part of God's family. That's a guarantee that you are his heir and will have your own place in heaven. Trust the LORD.

The LORD also says, "I will take you home." Jesus said it himself to his disciples and to you before he returned to his Father in heaven, "In my Father's house are many rooms…I am going there to prepare a place for you…I will come back and take you to be with me," (John 14:1-6). This is a promise we're still waiting for. It's also a promise we know the LORD will keep. He has already kept every promise he's made to us. He's already done the work of preparing us for heaven by taking away our sins and giving us his Son's perfection. He's already prepared the feast. Surely we will come back to take us home. Trust the LORD.

Who is God? He says that he is the LORD. That name ought to bring only one word to mind: faithful. The LORD made a promise to you; he will keep his promise to you. The LORD is faithful. Every time you see that name I hope you remember God's promises. It truly tells you who God is. It reminds you of the fulfilled promise of a Savior. It points you to the sure to be filled promise of heaven. Rejoice that you know God is the LORD.