EXODUS 2-6 GOD BRINGS DELIVERANCE2015 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Exodus 2-6 God Brings Deliverance

As we look at the book of Exodus this morning, we are looking, of course, at a very powerful account of what God did in bringing his people out of Egypt. And

And what God did in this time is so amazing that, well, we're still talking about it 4,000 years later. It's an amazing work that God did as he delivered his people from bondage in Egypt through mighty and powerful signs. And this morning, as we look at Exodus, we're going to be talking about deliverance and the reality that God brings deliverance.

God brings deliverance. And that's not just true for the Israelites back in Egypt, but that's something that God wants to remind us of this morning. That in your life, there is things many times that, well, that bring bondage. For example, and first and foremost, really, is the bondage of sin. And

And God brings deliverance for sin. He sets us free from the bondage to sin and death. That's the beginning. That's what we call salvation. But then as we progress and continue to walk with God, there's things that we encounter in this life that oppress us, that come against us. And I want to encourage you in those things as well to call out to God for deliverance.

We sometimes battle with addictions, even as believers in Jesus. There's things that we're caught up in, that we know we need to stop, that we want to stop, but that we have a hard time letting go of, and we need deliverance from those addictions.

Sometimes there's financial situations in our lives and there's constraints upon us and difficulty that we're trying to make things work, but the pressure is on all sides and we need deliverance. Sometimes there are sirens and emergency vehicles. Lord, bless them and use them as they go to minister to whatever's happening.

Sometimes there's world conditions around us. Sometimes there are emergencies. There's these events and situations that happens in our life and we cannot escape it. And it's oppressive. It's depressive. It's heavy upon us and we need deliverance. Perhaps sorrows or things of that nature that are happening in our life.

And as we consider what God did in bringing Israel out of Egypt, understand that God wants to do that same kind of work with whatever it is that happens and goes on in your life. Whatever struggles you might have, God wants to bring deliverance.

There's five points I'd like to share with you this morning from the book of Exodus as we look at the first few chapters and see how God began this process of bringing his people out of the midst of bondage.

The first point we'll find here in the passage we just read in Exodus chapter 2, verses 23 through 25, and that is for us to cry out to God for deliverance. Here we see in Exodus chapter 2, the children of Israel begin to call out to God to ask for help. Again, verse 23 says...

Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage and they cried out and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. Here we see that Israel begins to cry out. The word to cry out, it means to shriek.

It means to call out from anguish or from a sense of danger. It's a cry, a shout. It's something vocal. It's something that's heard. I like the way that one dictionary defined it. It said, basically, it's a distress signal.

So maybe you could think of a flare or a sound being sounded out. Or maybe you're thinking of the bat signal shining against the sky. That's this distress signal. Something's wrong and we need help. They cried out. They lifted up their voice. They shrieked. And notice what it says in verse 24. Just the first three words. It says, so God heard.

And that's an amazing thing. They cried out, so God heard. God heard their cries. God heard as they began to call out, to cry out for help. Now, of course, God knows everything. He knew that they were in bondage before they cried out to him. He knew they were going to be oppressed in this way before they even entered into this time of oppression.

But God begins this work of deliverance as they begin to call out to him, to cry out to him. And maybe it stirs up a question in our minds. Why did God wait for them to cry out when he knew they were being oppressed? When he knew what was about to happen? Why did God allow it to happen? Or why did God wait until they cried out to him again?

to begin to work deliverance? It's a question we often ask, and we cannot answer all the why questions. We don't know everything about why God does what he does. But here's what we do know about God. God is a gentleman, and he gives us choice. He does not force his help upon anybody.

He does not force salvation upon anyone. He does not force forgiveness upon anyone. He does not force his help upon any of us. As a gentleman, he gives us a choice and he allows us, he waits for us to invite him in to the situation. He waits for us to ask and say, I give you permission, God. I desire for you to work in my life.

And you might wrestle with that a little bit. That might be a little bit troubling to you. But you know, it's not all that different than some of the laws and rights that we have as citizens here in the United States. Did you know that you have the legal right to refuse medical treatment?

You have the right. If you're in a bad accident and the ambulance is there, you're on the side of the road, you're badly wounded, you're badly hurt, and you are there and they want to take you to the hospital, you have the right to refuse. Now, I'm not recommending this, okay? I'm just saying you have the right. They cannot force medical treatment against your will. You have to give the doctors, you have to give the medical professionals permission to

to apply medicine. It's a similar thing with God. God is able to help. He even desires to help, but he often waits for us to give him permission. To cry out to God is to give him that permission, to let him know, I want you to work. I invite you to work. I need your deliverance.

Now what I think is interesting about this portion here, and it caught my attention as we were reading it through this week, as I was reading through Exodus chapter 2, I noticed the timing. In verse 23, it says, And then notice what it says. Then they began to cry out to God.

It was at this point, and it's highlighting this specific point in history, that they began to cry out to the Lord. Now, here's why that's interesting. I want to show you a quick timeline and just walk you through just some of the things that have led up to this. You might remember back in Genesis chapter 46, when Jacob, also known as Israel, moved his family to Egypt. Egypt.

And they settled there in the land of Goshen because there was the famine that was going on and Joseph had been promoted to second in command of all Egypt. And so they had this place set aside for them and they had provisions set aside for the family. And so they moved the family there to Egypt and they were provided for and they were protected during the famine. Then in Genesis chapter 50, Joseph dies. This is after his family has been there in Egypt for about 70 years.

And as we head on into Exodus chapter 1, we read that there arose a new king over Egypt who did not know Joseph. And not knowing Joseph, he began to be freaked out about the children of Israel because there were many of them. And so they decided, you know, these people, they're not of us, and yet they're living amongst us. And so we need to like...

put some pressure upon these guys. We need to put them as forced laborers so that they don't rise up against us and overthrow us. And so they began at that time to oppress the Israelites. Now we don't know exactly when that happened. We don't know exactly what king it was that began this. But it happened for some time that the Israelites were oppressed by Egypt because of this fear.

As a result of that, well, in Exodus chapter 2, we see that Moses is born. And although the command was that all the boys were to be put to death, Moses' parents preserved Moses. And through, you know, the work of God, the providence of God, Moses was raised actually in Pharaoh's house by Pharaoh's daughter. When he was born, Israel had been in Egypt for about 350 years.

They had already been experiencing suffering and bondage and forced labor. When Moses is 40 years old, still in Exodus chapter 2, he sees an Egyptian beating an Israelite. And he looks around, he sees nobody else is watching. And so he kills the Egyptian, recognizing that the Israelites were his blood relatives.

And so he kills the Egyptian and hides him in the sand, but then he finds out that Pharaoh knew about it. The word had spread. And so he flees from Pharaoh. When he's 40 years old, he runs out of Egypt and he heads across the desert to Midian. Now this is happening around the time that Israel has been in the land of Egypt for 390 years. And then 40 years later, Moses encounters God at the burning bush.

He's 80 years old and God sends him back to Pharaoh and is going to use Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Now, that's the timeline, but I walk you through all of that to just point out something simple. And that is Exodus chapter 2, when Moses killed the Egyptian. That's the time reference that we're talking about here in verse 23.

And when it says, now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died, it's talking about the king of Egypt that was going to punish Pharaoh, or punish Moses for killing the Egyptian. And so Moses flees, and then that king, that Pharaoh dies, and now a new Pharaoh is in his place. And it's at that time that the children of Israel groan because of their bondage, and they cry out.

Meaning that they've been in bondage for a couple hundred years probably at this point. Again, we can't say for sure when it started. But they've been in bondage for at least Moses' 40 years and sometime before that. A couple generations at least have been in this suffering and bondage from Egypt. And yet they haven't called out to God. Perhaps individuals have, but collectively as a people they have not cried out to God yet.

until this time. They've waited for many years to cry out to God. And I point that out just to say we should learn from their example and what not to do. Because it's at this time as they cry out to God that God is now beginning this work. God is now sending the deliverer. And for you and I as well, a lot of times we wait for

We don't have any idea why they didn't come together and cry out to the Lord. But, you know, if we were speculating, we might come up with things like, well, maybe they thought they could have some political advantage in some way and get out of this. Or maybe they thought they just had to bear it for a little bit longer and then it was going to be over. Maybe they had this plan or that plan. In a similar way, when we experience things in our life, suffering, affliction, bondage, whatever it might be,

A lot of times we try to work it out on our own for a long portion of time. And then finally, when we get to the end of ourselves, then we cry out to God. It doesn't have to be that way, but that's often how it is. We exhaust our own resources and then we call out to God. It's kind of what Israel did here. They

waited for some time, endured for some time, and then they cried out to God. And then God heard. And then in verse 24, it goes on to say, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel and God acknowledged them. So God heard them and he remembered the covenant that he made with Abraham. He's paying attention to them now.

again at this point, and he's going to be working on their behalf. But notice, not because they're so amazingly good, but because of the covenant that he made with Abraham. I like what Dave Guzik says about this. He says, God did not turn his attention to Israel because they were such good people, but because of the covenant he made with them.

He gives his love and attention to us on the same basis, the covenant relationship we have with God through Jesus. Sometimes one of the reasons why we delay in crying out to God is because we try to earn God's deliverance. We try to become worthy of God's deliverance. I got to clean up my life. I got to fix things up, and then I can call out to God and ask him for help. But God does not

respond to our cry on the basis of our goodness, how we measure up. He responds on the basis of his covenant. It's a new covenant that was accomplished for us by Jesus upon the cross where he paid the penalty for our sin and that believing in him, we have forgiveness and that we have right standing with God.

And so we can cry out to God no matter what our situation is, even if it's self-inflicted, because, well, we stand before God by faith in Jesus Christ without sin, completely righteous. And he responds to us on the basis of what Christ has done for us, not on the basis of what we have done for him. And so I want to encourage you this morning to cry out to God.

Israel is a good example here. They cried out to God and so God heard them and God began to work. Don't delay. Don't wait so long to cry out to God, but send out the distress signal. Don't wait until you've tried everything else. Don't wait until you deserve deliverance. You'll be waiting a very long time. No, cry out to God. You have a health condition.

that is difficult, that's persistent, that is afflicting. You have family situations that are troublesome, that are burdensome. You have addictions or sin that weighs upon you and holds you captive. Cry out to God, whatever your situation might be. As you cry out to God, God hears you. And then as we go on now into Exodus chapter 3 for point number 2, God promises deliverance.

As you cry out to God, God promises deliverance. In Exodus chapter 3, Moses encounters a bush that is on fire, but it is not being consumed. It's God meeting with Moses at the burning bush.

And so as Israel cries out to God, God begins to pay attention to them. He hears their cry. He's going to bring deliverance now. And so he picks the man. He picks Moses and he begins to talk to him in Exodus chapter 3. And we're jumping in to the middle of that conversation. But here's what God says to Moses in verse 7. It says,

Notice God says, I have surely seen the oppression. The word seen, it means to inspect, to perceive or consider. God hasn't just kind of casually observed, you know, out of the corner of his eye, he kind of noticed there was something going on. But he has inspected everything.

He's looked, he's considered, he's seen exactly what was going on. But then it also says, not only have I surely seen the oppression, but he says, I've heard their cry. God saw and God heard. He knew exactly what was going on. And again, we might say, well, God, if you knew what was going on, then why'd you wait for them to cry out? Why don't you just resolve it before they cry out?

But God begins to work in this situation when both happen, when he sees it, which is always, but then also when they cry out to God. God can handle things on his own, but often he waits for us to cry out and to invite him to deliver us. Notice at the end of verse seven, he says, for I know their sorrows. God knows their sorrows. He knows what's going on. He is willing.

understanding the situation. Again, it's not that they're off in a distance, kind of in the back of his mind, out of the corner of his eye. God knows about the sorrows of his children. He knows and he cares. The scriptures say, cast your cares upon him because he cares for you. God cares for you. He knows what you're going through. He knows your sorrows. He's seen what's happening in your life, but has he heard your cry?

Well, when he hears your cry, then notice verse 8. He says, So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from the land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

God says, I've seen them. I've heard them. I know their sorrows. And so I have come down to deliver them. God says, I'm bringing deliverance.

This word deliver, it means to snatch away, to rescue. I'm gonna swoop in and save the day, God says. I'm gonna deliver them from the danger, from the oppression, from the struggle, from the difficulty. Not only that, not just remove them from that place of oppression, but then I'm gonna give them this land that I promised to their fathers. I'm gonna give them the promised land and I'm gonna take them in and give them peace, amen.

And so God, when we cry out to him for deliverance, brings deliverance, but then he also goes above and beyond and gives us peace. He brings us into his promises. Verse 9. And so God here reiterates, the cry of Israel has come to me. He's heard their cry.

He's seen it. He knows their sorrows. He's heard their cry. He says, I've seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. This word oppress, it means to squeeze. It's the applying of pressure on all sides. And you and I know what that's like. We experience things in life where pressure is applied on all sides. Those tough spots, those difficult situations. And we often go through things in life that

Well, we endure more difficulty than we would think it's possible for a person to endure. Sometimes the heartache is so great. You couldn't have imagined beforehand that someone could suffer so greatly, that someone could hurt so much. Sometimes the financial difficulty is so great that you couldn't have imagined it beforehand. There's this oppression, there's this suffering, there's this difficulty.

You can apply that to whatever you might be going through or whatever you might encounter in the days to come. We experience this pressure, this pressing. But notice, as we cry out to God, God promises deliverance. God declares, and he will be faithful to his word, that he will deliver his children. The psalmist recognized this in Psalm 121, a familiar portion for many.

The psalmist says, I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? Then he goes on to say, my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Where does your help come from? Where do you look when you look to the hills? What are you looking for? Sometimes we're looking at the credit cards. You know, you're in the situation and so, well,

That's my help. That's how I'll resolve this. That's how I'll fix this. This will take care of this pressure in my life. But then don't wait until the credit cards are all maxed out. You still have the pressure of the finances and then you cry out to God. Sometimes we look to the wrong hills. Where does your help come from? Your help comes from the Lord, the creator of the heavens and the earth. And God promises deliverance as his children cry out to him.

In verse 10, as God continues to speak to Moses, he says, So God says, I've heard, I've seen, I know their troubles. And so now I'm going to send you, Moses. I'm going to send you and you're going to bring my people out. I'm going to accomplish deliverance and you're the guy I'm going to use.

And so Moses now begins to head to Egypt, and he's going to deal with Pharaoh and represent God to Pharaoh. But before he does, he spends some time with the children of Israel there in Egypt. And we pick that up in Exodus chapter 4. You can turn there, Exodus chapter 4. It's point number 3. Here we learn to believe that God brings deliverance.

As Moses goes back to Egypt, getting ready to address Pharaoh, he spends some time with the elders of Israel and lets them know what's going on. He lets them know what God has done in revealing himself to Moses, in the words that he shared, in the miracles that God gave to Moses so that he could prove to them that he was from the Lord. Notice verse 29.

It says, And so they have this meeting with the elders and they say, hey, God appeared to us and God has spoken that he is going to bring deliverance.

And then God gave them signs as proof. You might remember that. The putting of the hand inside the cloak. And then when Aaron pulled it out, then it would be leprous, white as snow. And then he put it back in and pulled it back out and it was healed completely clean. And so they did that sign and the elders of Israel were impressed. Wow, that's a miracle. Another one that they did was they threw down the staff and it became a snake. And that would be

Well, pretty remarkable. And then they picked up the snake and it became a staff once again. And so the children of Israel hear from Moses and Aaron. They hear what God has said through them. They see these two signs that they are given. And then notice in verse 31. So the people believed. And when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that he had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

They heard from Moses and Aaron. They saw those two signs. And the people believed that God was there to bring deliverance. It's pretty amazing. They believed that God was there. Now, this account isn't over. As you go through the rest of the book of Exodus, you'll find, you know, the children of Israel. They do have their doubts. They do have their grumblings. But they're a good example for us here. For right now, they believe.

that God is there to deliver them. The word believe, it means to stand firm, to be certain. And so at this point, they're certain. They're standing firm. They're convinced. Wow, what an amazing thing. God is going to deliver us. And you can imagine some excitement beginning to build, right? I mean, they've been in bondage for a couple generations. For the current generation that's hearing this, they've been in bondage their whole life. They've been slaves in Egypt.

But God is here to deliver us. They're certain of it. They're standing firm in it. They believe that God brings deliverance. And so they bow down and worship God. They begin to honor God and praise God because he has promised deliverance. Because they believe God. They weren't, you know, like, well, I don't know. We'll kind of just wait and see.

They weren't skeptical. They weren't like, you know, we'll prove it first. They were convinced that God was there to bring deliverance. You know, as we look at their example today, as we look at these points to cry out to God for deliverance, as we see that God promises deliverance, I want to encourage you this morning, right now, to believe that God brings deliverance. Believe that God brings deliverance from sin.

for salvation. Believe that God brings deliverance for whatever else you might be going through as well. Believe that God brings deliverance. Trust God. Be certain of that. Stand firm and know that God will deliver you. Now, you might think, well, hold up, Jerry. Just wait a minute here. I mean, it was...

It was easier for them to believe than it is for us to believe because they had these miracles done right before them. They had the staff and it became a snake and the hand that was leprous. And we always think it's easier for other people to believe or to obey God than it is for us. But factor in the whole account. Here's Moses. He's back talking with the people of Israel. But he's been gone for 40 years already.

And the last time they saw him, he was running from Pharaoh because he had murdered somebody. So here's this murderer who has returned 40 years later after they haven't seen him. They haven't had any prophets speaking for God during this time. They haven't seen any major miracles or they don't have any indication really that God is working for them.

And then all of a sudden Moses shows up with Aaron and so here's this murderer returned and he has this story about a bush that's burning that's not consumed. Listen, there was lots of reasons for them to be skeptical. There was lots of reasons for them to doubt if an escaped murderer walks back in here this morning after 40 years of being, you know, who knows where and begins to tell us, God spoke to me and I have a word. I saw this tree. It was on fire, but it didn't burn.

We'd be like, okay, did you escape from the loony bin or did they let you out? I mean, what's going on? Why should we believe you? It wasn't easier for them to believe than it is for us to believe. We both have to believe. And I would suggest that we have a far greater sign than what Moses and Aaron offered to the people of Israel. Something far greater than a staff becoming a snake and a hand becoming leprous and then healed. We have...

The ultimate sign of God's love for us, the cross. And I would ask you to consider Romans 8, verse 32. In Romans 8, verse 32, Paul says, He who did not spare his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Paul says, God didn't spare his own son. The father did not withhold his only begotten son.

his most treasured above all. He delivered Jesus and Jesus volunteered to be the sacrifice for sin. The greatest price that could ever be paid, Jesus paid by dying upon the cross for us, by receiving the penalty for your sin and my sin. He did not spare his own son, but he delivered him up for us all. And so then Paul asked the question,

So then how will God not also then give us all things? If God already gave us the most valuable thing, if he already paid the ultimate price, how much more will he give us whatever else we need? How much more will he deliver us in whatever capacity we're experiencing affliction and suffering and oppression? Of course he will, is Paul's point. He will give whatever we need to us.

Because he's already paid the ultimate price. He's already demonstrated his ultimate love for us. And so we have the greatest sign so that we can believe that God brings deliverance. And by believing what Paul is talking about here, by believing what Christ did for us upon the cross, we get the biggest deliverance of all. And that is the deliverance from sin. The deliverance from the penalty of sin, which is judgment, eternity, separated from God.

And believing in Jesus, we receive God's forgiveness. And we receive right standing before God. Believe that God brings that deliverance to you. You're forgiven. You're cleansed as you call upon the name of Jesus Christ. And then in addition to that, the struggles you have, the afflictions you have, the difficulties, the pressures, the oppression, believe that God brings deliverance.

Believe that he can set you free. He's not just concerned about the big things. He's not just concerned about salvation. He's concerned about all of your life. He sees, he hears, he knows what's going on, and he cares. Believe that God brings deliverance. Now, maybe you're thinking, well, this sounds kind of like a little bit too good to be true. Maybe you're kind of overselling this. I mean, what's the catch? Well, I wouldn't necessarily call it a catch, but

there is something to factor in. And that's what we go to now in point number four as we look at Acts chapter five. And that is that God brings deliverance in his timing. And this is an important key. God brings deliverance in his timing. After Moses finishes meeting with the elders of Israel, he then goes to Pharaoh and lets Pharaoh know God's appeared to him and God is calling Pharaoh to let his people go.

And Pharaoh says, no way. Not happening. Not going to happen. No. He refuses. Not only does he refuse, but he says, you know, you guys have way too much time on your hands. Coming up with ideas. You need to go worship in the wilderness. You got too much free time. I'm going to make you work harder. And so he demands that the children of Israel produce the same quota of bricks that

But he says, now you have to find your own straw. We're not going to provide you straw anymore. You got to find it for yourself and still produce the same amount of bricks every day. And they're not able to do it. It was too hard of a task. And so when they could not complete it, then they were beaten by the Egyptians. And they're saying, why are you beating us? We're doing the best we can here. And you took away our straw. We can't fulfill the same quota. And Pharaoh says, well,

Maybe you should rethink how much time you have on your hands, how much you want to go worship this God in the wilderness. And the children of Israel go back to Moses and they say, hey, you haven't made anything better. You've made it worse. You've made it more difficult on us. And Moses feels the burden of that and he takes it to the Lord here in Exodus chapter 5, verse 22. It says, so Moses returned to the Lord and said, Lord,

Why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it you have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people. Neither have you delivered your people at all. Moses goes back to the Lord and says, Lord, what are you doing? Why have you brought trouble on this people? Now, I think this is really important for us to consider. Sometimes we get a little bit freaked out

about having some real honest discussions with God. But I want to encourage you that God is able to handle your honest discussions and questions and troubles and confusions. Notice what Moses says here. Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? He's saying, Lord, you've done this. You've brought trouble. This word brought trouble, it means to do injury. It can even mean to do evil or wickedly.

Lord, you've brought injury. You've injured this people. You've hurt them. God, why have you hurt them? It could almost be seen as like this is an evil thing that has happened. God, why is this happening? Why did you do this? And I think this is a good example for us because, again, God can handle your questions. Now, it's a different thing to be angry at God and railing against God and accusing God of evil, but to have honest questions and discussions.

God can handle that. Well, he can even handle you yelling at him, but I don't necessarily advise it. But when there's these issues, there's these things you don't understand. God, why have you allowed this? It's evil. It's unjust. It's not fair. It's not right. Why are you doing this? Why are you allowing it? Sometimes we're fearful of being honest with God as far as this is what's happening in our hearts, but we don't dare let God know that. But of

I would say lay it bare. Let it out. Bring forth those questions, those challenges, those struggles that you have. Moses says, I don't understand. Why is it that you've sent me? You said you were going to deliver your people, but things have got worse instead. He says he's done evil to this people, speaking of Pharaoh. But then notice the end of verse 23. Neither have you delivered your people at all. The opposite is,

of what I thought was going to happen, God, is what happened. You told me you were sending me to deliver your people, but you haven't delivered your people. In fact, things have become worse. Here we get a little indication of what's happening in Moses' mind. He was expecting deliverance to happen quickly. He was expecting it to happen immediately. Now, we can look back at Exodus chapter 3 and see that God had told Moses ahead of time,

I'm going to send you to Pharaoh, tell them to let the people go. He's not going to want to let the people go. And so I'm going to have to show these signs. And ultimately, I'm going to kill his son before he lets Israel go. So God told him ahead of time,

But Moses, like you and I often, we have this convenience of like turning on and off our ear, right? We kind of hear what we want to hear. All right, I'm going to Israel or going to Egypt to deliver Israel. God's going to set them free. And Moses is kind of expecting like this is all going to happen right now. It's all going to happen overnight, instantly. Deliverance is going to take place. He's not expecting for things to get harder.

And that's the point here, that God brings deliverance in his timing. He doesn't always meet our expectations. If we were to have our say, we would say, deliver me right now, instantly, this moment, make it all go away. But God brings deliverance in his timing. God promises deliverance as you cry out to him. But understand that that deliverance will come according to God's timelines.

Now, that's not to make us suffer more because God wants to pay us back for something. The full payment for everything that we deserve, that's given to Jesus. As a believer in Jesus, you cry out to the Lord. God's not out to get you, but he does delay. He does wait and do things according to his timing for his reasons, which this side of eternity, it's always gonna be difficult for us to understand. And yet we can trust and know that God will,

knows what's best. And so God doesn't bring instant deliverance, but he is bringing deliverance. But in order for Israel to experience the deliverance that God is bringing, first, there's going to be some endurance. And deliverance and endurance often go hand in hand.

As you cry out to God for the situations that you experience, God does promise you deliverance. You can believe that God will deliver, but understand that it will take place in God's timing. And until that deliverance is brought, it's guaranteed, you will be delivered, but you need to endure until you are delivered. You can see that in the example here in Exodus, because God sends Moses to Pharaoh, and things get harder.

And then God sends Moses back to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh still refuses. And so then God begins to send 10 plagues upon Egypt. And these plagues are supernatural works of God so that Pharaoh knows that God really is God, and that God is the one who is calling his people out of Egypt. But as these plagues begin to be poured out upon Egypt, it's one at a time. God brings the plague through Moses' leading,

And then God removes the plague when Pharaoh says, okay, okay, okay, I give, I give. And then he'll change his mind. Never mind, you can't go. And so then God will bring the next plague. And then Pharaoh will put up with it. And then he'll change his mind. Okay, okay, I give, I give. And he'll remove the plague. And then he'll bring the next plague. He goes through this for 10 plagues. But it's interesting, the first three plagues, Israel experiences along with Egypt.

There is some endurance required because, well, as the waters turn to blood, Israel experiences that as well as Egypt. As these plagues come, they are suffering along with Egypt. Now, at the fourth plague, God makes a distinction. He says, all right, now I'm going to prove to you that I am God, that these are my people, and the plagues are going to happen on Egypt, but not on my people. But until that fourth plague, they had to endure those three plagues along with Egypt. Right?

God brings deliverance in his timing. And until that deliverance is brought, there is endurance that is needed. Now, of course, we would say, why not just deliver them instantly? Why not just knock them all down and bring them out? Why go through this process? But God loves process. We want the shortcut, but God loves process. Here's plague number one. Here's plague number two. But God, we're suffering here. Plague number three. You know, he

He loves his process. And through that process, he's doing all kinds of things. He's working in Moses. He's working in Pharaoh. He's working in the Egyptians. He's working in the people of Israel. He's doing all kinds of things through that process of time. It's not in vain. It's not for nothing. He's accomplishing things. But endurance is required for us to experience God's deliverance. God's people will be delivered.

But they have to endure. For us as believers today, we are looking forward to the rapture of the church, right? And that is a promise. And we do look forward. And there is that escape that Jesus talks about. Pray that you might be worthy to escape. But sometimes as Christians, we get the mistaken idea that because we're looking forward to the rapture, that means we are not going to suffer at all. But that's not what the Bible says. Jesus says, in this world, you will have tribulations.

There is going to be suffering. There is going to be tribulations that we experience when things happen in our nation. You know, as we watch our nation turning away from God, it's easy for us to start thinking, well, this must be the final moments then because our nation is turning against God and we're starting to suffer. But you know, nations have turned against God throughout all history and God's people have suffered throughout all history. It's new to us, but it's not new to history.

We kind of get so focused on ourselves, we forget about the rest. We think we're not supposed to suffer. We're just waiting for the rapture. No, there's a real promise of tribulations that we will likely encounter. Now, not the great tribulation. We're promised to be preserved from that. That's the rapture of the church. But up until that point, there's going to be birth pains. There's going to be difficulty. And we're going to have to endure in order to be delivered.

In your life, as you're experiencing suffering and difficulty, whatever it is you might be going through, as you call out to God and cry out to God for deliverance, he promises it. You can believe it, but also understand that it will come in his timing. And until then, you hold on. Press on. Don't give up. You remember the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12. He talked about this thorn in the flesh that he had.

It was some kind of affliction. We don't know exactly what it was. It could have been health. It could have been a spiritual thorn. It could have been, we don't know. But he had some kind of affliction and he cried out to God three times for the Lord to take it away. And remember God's response to him in 2 Corinthians 12, verse nine. God says, my grace is sufficient for you for my strength is made perfect in weakness. That time of endurance where we have to wait for the deliverance of God,

It's not where God just leaves us on our own. All right, you put up with that, deal with that all by yourself, and then I'll come and deliver you. No, no. God says, yeah, it's tough. I understand. I hear. I see. I know. I care what you're going through, how much it hurts. My grace that I'm pouring out upon you is sufficient. I'm going to get you through by my grace. And although you're weak,

And it's really overwhelming and it's really hard what you're going through. My strength is made perfect in that. I'm going to strengthen you. I'm going to help you. It comes in his timing. There's endurance required, but it's God who gives you the grace and the strength necessary for you to endure. Paul cried out to the Lord three times to be delivered from that thorn in the flesh. And God said no. But Paul ultimately was delivered from that thorn in the flesh.

Just like every one of us will ultimately be delivered from every affliction, from every difficulty, from every pain, from every sorrow, as we enter into eternity with God. That's the ultimate promise that we need to be looking towards. Now, as we go on to the final point in Exodus chapter 6, point number 5 is you shall see God's deliverance. Exodus chapter 6 now is God responding to Moses saying, hey God, why have you made it harder, more difficult for the people?

Well, God responds in verse 1. He says, God tells Moses, you watch and you will see what I am going to do. Moses, you shall see my deliverance. You shall see my work. You're going to see it, Moses. You're going to watch me work. And Pharaoh says,

He's holding on to Israel. He's saying, no way, I'm not letting him go. And by the end of my work, Pharaoh's not just gonna let the people go, he's gonna push them out. He's like, get out of here. Don't stay here. Even if you wanted to stay, Pharaoh would be driving you away. God is gonna so reverse Pharaoh's heart through the midst of his work in these plagues. Now you shall see what I will do.

Then jumping down to verse 6, he says, Then verse 7, Notice that. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God who brings you out from under the burdens of Egypt.

Notice what God says he will do. Did you see the repetition of I will, I will, I will, I will? God says, I'm going to do this work. I'm going to accomplish it. You're gonna see it. I'm going to do it. I'm gonna bring you out. I'm gonna rescue you. I'm gonna redeem you. I'm gonna take you as my people, my people.

And then you shall know that I am the Lord your God. And I'm going to bring you into the promised land, just like I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God says, I'm going to do it. I'm going to do the work. As you cry out to God, God hears. And he promises deliverance. And you can believe him. He is going to bring that deliverance. It will happen in his timing, which might not be your timing. So endurance will be required there.

But you can hold on to this. You shall see God's deliverance. Any affliction that you face, any suffering that you encounter, any difficulty that you have, any oppression that is there, the pressure that you experience, you shall see God's deliverance. And some of that might be fulfilled here in this life.

And some of that might be fulfilled in eternity. Think about what Paul said in 2 Timothy 4, verse 18. It's his final letter. He's writing to Timothy. He's in prison. He's expecting to be executed. And he says, the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Eternity is the ultimate fulfillment of all of these promises of deliverance. Paul says, I'm going to be executed. And he calls that deliverance.

Now, we wouldn't call that deliverance many times, right? I thought you were going to deliver me, God. I did. I brought you into eternity. Remember that this life is just the first lap of an infinite race. It's just the first lap. Sometimes we look only at this life and say, well, God's not fulfilling his promises. God will fulfill his promises. And saying that he fulfills those promises in eternity is not a cop-out. It's something that we can hold on to. You shall see God's deliverance, if not now.

you will see in eternity God's deliverance. Guaranteed, without question, for sure, you shall see God's deliverance. God brings deliverance, and it begins when we cry out to him. I want to invite the worship team back up to close us in one last song. And as they come up and get ready, I want to share with you one last scripture. And that's 2 Corinthians 1 9-11.

There the Apostle Paul is talking to the Corinthians and saying, hey, we had really huge difficulties and we want you to know about that. He says in verse 9, we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. He says it's God who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver us in whom we trust that he will still deliver us.

Notice all the delivering, right? God delivered us past. He does deliver us present. He will still deliver us future. There's God who's bringing this deliverance in our lives through the midst of the difficulty that we experience. But then notice verse 11. He says, you also helping together in prayer for us. God's doing this work. He's bringing deliverance and you helped because you were praying for us.

And so this morning, as we finish up, I want to encourage you to cry out to God for deliverance, but I also want to encourage you to get help. And I'm going to invite some of the couples. You can come on up and be available for prayer up here. If you want help in crying out to God for deliverance, Paul says, you helped us. And so God has delivered us, and he does deliver us. He still delivers us. If you want that kind of help like Paul experienced,

These guys are going to be up here during this song. You can come up or after the song is over and the service is dismissed, you can come up. They'd love to pray with you and to cry out to God with you for deliverance. And as they do and as you do, you can know God hears and he promises deliverance and you shall see that deliverance. Let's worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.