“I am the LORD” – Exodus 5:22-6:9

Okay, I want you to picture this scene with me. It’s a hot summer day and all the kids are playing in the city pool. Everybody is having fun. There’s a BBQ grill smoking over by the picnic table. There’s some music playing. Kids are laughing and about halfway toward the deep end there is a tall, strong father encouraging his little boy to jump into the pool into his arms. The father is able to stand but it’s up to his chest and so the little boy knows he can’t reach bottom.

He has his little floaties on his arms but he can’t swim and so he’s scared. He sees all the other kids jumping in the pool and his dad is encouraging him to just jump and he will catch him. So, tell me what you think is going through little junior’s mind right now. Does he trust his dad? Sure. Does he think his dad loves him? Sure. Does he think his dad is strong enough to catch him? Of course. Does he think his dad could possibly miss? Maybe.

There is a lot to be afraid of if you are little junior on the edge of the pool. But we adults think that is silly, don’t we? We know there is not a chance in the world that dad is going to miss that kid. He’s two feet away. It’s not like he’s jumping off a building. We can’t understand why that little boy won’t just jump. He’s missing out, isn’t he? He could be having so much fun if he would just trust his dad.

Now, what’s going to happen when that kid finally decides to jump? His dad is, of course, going to catch him but he is probably going to let that kid get a little bit wet, right? He knows it will be more fun for the kid if he goes in the water, so he catches him and dips him down and let’s the water go over him, all while still holding on to him easily.

But you’ve seen this before. The kid wasn’t expecting that. He wasn’t expecting the water to go a little bit up his nose. He wasn’t expecting his face to get wet and it scared him and now he is throwing a fit. Obviously, his dad can never be trusted again. He tells his mama later that 42 gallons of water went up his nose and now his eyes are bloodshot from being held under the chlorine-infested water. It was a catastrophe and he nearly died and he can never trust his lying father ever again.

What does dad think? He rolls his eyes and says, “Hmm…that’s pretty silly.” He knows the boy is too immature to understand and that’s okay. Dad doesn’t have to defend himself.

Turn to Exodus chapter 5 this morning and I want us to look at a similar situation with Moses and God. They are not in a swimming pool. The stakes are much higher than an afternoon in the water. The Israelites have been suffering in Egyptian slavery for hundreds of years and God, in His perfect timing, has told Moses to go to Pharoah and tell them to let His people go.

It takes Moses a minute but he finally does what God has told him to do. He went to Pharoah and said, “Let my people go!” And do you remember what Pharoah said? He said, “Well, let me think about that…no. And not just no but I think you are a bunch of lazy people who are trying to get out of work so now you need to make all the bricks you were making but now you have to get your own straw to make them with as well. How do you like that?”

So, now we pick up the story in chapter 5:22-6:9 as Moses goes back to God and gives him a piece of his mind. It’s a fascinating conversation. Let’s read it in Exodus 5:22-6:9.

22 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? 23 Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.” 2 God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 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. 7 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. 8 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.’” 9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.

I was in the grocery store the other day and I heard a little kid a few aisles over talking loud and complaining about this and that and his mother was trying to get him to be quiet and all the sudden I heard, “Mama, shut up!”

My first reaction was to duck! I don’t know what she did because I didn’t hear anymore from either one. I assume they left the store so she could beat the…I mean, teach junior some manners but I remember thinking if I had said that to my saintly little mother she would still be spanking me!

And so, when I read what Moses said to God in this passage, I wanted to duck. I just knew God was gonna go postal on him. But God didn’t chastise him at all. Now, you have to admit that Moses had a point. He did what God told him to do but the outcome was different than expected, right? But you still have to be careful telling God He has done “evil” as the King James says.

My NIV says, “You have brought trouble…” and what the original word means is to ruin or make unusable, to hurt or afflict. Does that sound like God? Does God ever hurt or afflict? Now, I grew up being taught in Sunday School that God sometimes allows bad things to happen to us but He doesn’t cause it. Do you agree with that?

Well, right here Moses said God brought evil. Job says it a couple of times in his book. And don’t forget in Isaiah 45:7 where God Himself says, “so that from the rising of the sun
to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. 7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the Lord, do all these things.” So…there’s that.

And if you want a New Testament illustration of God doing what we would call evil, all you have to do is look at the crucifixion of Jesus. That was God’s plan all along but it’s also a perfect illustration of how what we would call evil, God, in His sovereignty, uses for good, which is a lesson good old Joseph learned at the end of Genesis. Was it a good thing that Jesus died on the cross? Was it fair? Did He deserve it? Was it right? Those really aren’t even good questions even though they are tempting to ask. It’s also not the point God is trying to teach Moses – or us – in this passage. Notice that God doesn’t even respond to Moses.

Let’s keep reading again in Exodus 6. Go to verse 2. Did you happen to notice how many times God said, “I am the LORD!”? That is the same basic name that He told Moses in our passage last week when God said to tell them I AM WHO I AM has sent you. I AM WHO I AM and I am the LORD are also translated Yahweh or Jehovah.

God tells Moses here something interesting. Instead of smacking him down for blasphemy, instead God reveals Himself to Moses even more. In verse 3 He says, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them.” That name “God Almighty” is translated from El-Shaddai which means “the God who supplies.” That is different than Yahweh or Jehovah. The Great I AM means I am and I was and I will be forever more. It is perhaps the loftiest and yet most intimate name by which God is known and He is revealing it here to Moses – and us!

He is saying that even Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – the big three of the Old Testament - did not know God like this. They may have used that name a few times but they had no real experience with God being the One who was always in control, the One whose will was always going to be done and the One who could use even troubles to get that will done.

Let me give you a perfect illustration. I say it’s perfect. The illustration itself may not be perfect but Sara is perfect. Sara is my beautiful and perfect, sweet sugar angel Blue Heeler and tomorrow is her birthday. She will be fifteen years old! Yes, I know she doesn’t look a day over five but she’s fifteen and you can send presents here to the church if you like. 😊

Now, you know her as Sara and you know that she is sweet and perfect in every way but do you know what the name “Sara” means? It means “princess.” It does. So, now that you know what her name means, you better start treating her like a princess. Because she is. Her full name is Princess Sara SugarPants so you commoners should probably start using that name. I’m just saying.

For most of us today, our parents gave us our names because they like the way it sounds. Or maybe we are named after a relative or something but usually our names’ meanings don’t really mean much to us. It’s not that way with God. As God Almighty, El Shaddai, we know He will always provide and that’s comforting to know. But as I AM WHO I AM, God is in control and He can and will use evil or good, sin or righteousness, suffering or happiness however He chooses to get His will done and you don’t have to like it or agree with Him. He will not get His feelings hurt by your opinion. He is sovereign and all He expects of you is that you treat Him with the respect, adoration and worship that He deserves.

You don’t have to understand Him. I find great comfort in the fact that I don’t always understand God. I say all the time that if I could understand Him, He wouldn’t be much of a God would He?

You might not agree with His methods but I want you to look again at verses 6-8. He says, “I am the LORD and I will bring you out. I will free you. I will redeem you. I will take you as my people and give you what I promised to give you.”

That is exactly what God, Jehovah, I AM wants to do for you today as well. You don’t have to understand Him and He doesn’t have to apologize for what He does or how He does it. He is like the father at the pool who is trying to show his child how to live a full and abundant life. (John 10:10) It is not going to go how you planned it but it is going to go how God planned it. And that is way better!

Now, I don’t want you to think that God is behind every bad thing that happens. Not at all. Sometimes bad things happen to us as the consequences of our own bad choices or the choices of another. Rarely does sin affect just the sinner. It often spills over into the lives of the ones we love the most. That is a consequence of sin. God has lovingly given us free will and we are free to choose what we are going to do but we are not free to choose the consequences.

Another reason bad things happen is because we live in a fallen world. There was no cancer in the Garden of Eden but ever since that first sin, our world has experienced horrible consequences of that sin that continue today in the form of disease, pain, natural disasters and sorrow that we weren’t intended to have. I remember my mother telling me about when she was a little kid, she asked her mother why God allowed there to be stickers in the grass. Her mother wisely told her it was because we live in a fallen world.

Lastly, sometimes it is Satan himself who is attacking us and causing us problems. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” He hates you and wants you dead and if the Great I AM will not allow him to kill you, he will attack you every other way he can.

Job said, “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.” (Job 14:1) Trouble comes from all over and sometimes it even seems to come from God Himself and when that happens, you just have to trust Him. He has proven Himself to be loving and good and wise all through this story of Moses and the Israelites. He proved Himself in the New Testament when even Jesus said, “Lord, take this cup from me. But not my will but yours be done.”

And He has proven Himself in my life too many times to mention and in your life too if you will acknowledge it. He wants good things for you in this life like a good father would but His main goal is not for your protection or even your provision in this life because this life is short compared to eternity. His main goal for your life is for you to look, sound and walk like Jesus. And when you do that, your treasures in Heaven will literally be out of this world.

Are you going to believe? Are you going to trust God with whatever is going on in your life today or are you going to be like the Israelites in verse 9 who were so discouraged they wouldn’t listen? It’s a choice you have to make. Trust God who has a perfect record for thousands of years or try to do it yourself with your sketchy record. How is that working out for ya so far?

Jump in and trust Him today. It won’t always be easy. In fact, it will rarely be easy but whose life is easy? Jump in, trusting Him to do whatever He wants to with your life. To not trust Him is not just silly. It’s tragic. We aren’t guaranteed another breath. Choose today who you will serve, God or sin. Those are the only options and there is a way that seems right to a man but in the end leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12)

Jesus said, “I AM the way, the truth and the life. Nobody gets to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) All you have to do is believe. Trust Him to forgive your sins and to cleanse you of all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) Make that commitment today and allow the I AM WHO I AM to come into your life and change you from the inside out. Do it right now as the music plays.