Home > Church Family > Sermon Summaries > 22 Mar 2003, Pr George Porter - God Forgives and Delivers

God Forgives and Delivers

22 Mar 2003, Pr George Porter

(George is Thornleigh's Church Pastor)

Title: God Forgives and Delivers

Scripture Reading: Exodus 3: 1-8a

Theme: Moses Delivered from Sin & Delivers Israel

Introduction

Exodus 1:1 We find a list of Abraham and Isaacs descendants, the children of Israel who migrated to Egypt to survive the seven yr drought in their home country. Jacob and his eleven sons including families. Total 70 souls. Joseph was already in Egypt and was in charge of the drought relief programme.

Joseph was a favourite of Pharoah and Pharoah honoured Joseph's God by allowing the Israelites to occupy the land of Goshen. They did not have to mortgage their homes or animals to the Crown as the Egptians did in exchange for food. The Israelites remained free. They increased rapidly and became leaders throughout the realm.

TIMES CHANGED

Exodus 1:6 Joseph died. So did the Pharaoh who favoured him & his people.

Exodus 1:8 A new Pharoah came who had no regard for the Joseph.

Exodus 1:10-14 He was afraid of the mighty people in his country and set up schemes to work them to death.

Exodus 1:15-22 Pharaoh instructs midwives to kill new born Hebrew sons. Later he instructed Egyptians to throw newborn Hebrew boys into the Nile.

Exodus 2:1-2 Moses is born to Jewish parents of the Levi clan. (6:20 Amram & Jochebed. They had Miriam and Aaron as well. ) Jochebed hid Moses at home for three months.

Exodus 2:3-10 Jochebed made a basket and placed Moses in the river to keep him safe. Miriam was left to keep an eye on him. The Princess came to the river and discovered Moses. Miriam approached the Princess and suggests she find a Hebrew nurse. The Princess agrees and Jochebed gets Moses to care for until he reaches early manhood. The Princess paid her to care for her adopted Hebrew child.

No doubt God of the Hebrews was caring for Moses and protecting him as His future instrument to deliver Israel from Egyptian bondage. No doubt Jochebed taught Moses the Truth of the Creator God and His Covenant with Abraham and his people Israel. Moses never forgot this instruction and worshipped the God of his father's even when he was returned to the Palace of the Princess.

Moses spent about 30 yrs in the Palace. No doubt as a Prince he would have had the best education in the land. He became a powerful leader and potential ruler.

Exodus 2:11-22 God's man Moses believing he was to deliver his people was distraught by the treatment that the Pharaoh inflicted on the Jewish people. He was so upset by the issue that he murdered an Egyptian and had to flee to Midian. This at age of forty, to become Reuel's (Jethro) son-in-law and shepherd of his sheep for another 40 yrs.

The disaster for Moses was the sin of murder. He was spoilt. It was a disaster for God. His deliverer had delayed the deliverance of Israel. Sin spoils everything.

I will explain it this way. Take a piece of A4 white copy paper. It is clean and appears perfect. Then mark it in places with a black pen and it is imperfect and of no use for copying. Useless for the work it was meant to achieve. That is what sin does. Moses spoilt his sheet of apparently perfect paper. It is through our inherited tendencies that Satan renders us imperfect and often unable to do the work God has intended that we accomplish for Him. So Moses with his inherited tendency to anger and racial hatred spoilt himself and God's plan. God delayed deliverance for Israel.

God did not give up. He forgave Moses and retrained him to finally do the appointed work. You see God covered Moses spoilt white page with Christ's white page. He was forgiven. He believed God and sought forgiveness and was accepted. That is righteousness by faith. Belief in God's love and forgiveness was accounted to him for righteousness, as it was for Abraham and for us too. His life covers our sin marked life. When we are humble enough to believe that God can use us to do His work for him.

Exodus 3 and 4 God approaches Moses via a burning bush miracle. Two chapters of dialogue. God with Moses to convince him of forgiveness and that God still wanted him to get on with delivering Israel. What forgiveness. What love. What patience.

Exodus 4 Moses was not sure that it was a good idea so he argued with God. God turned Moses' rod into a real live snake in a miracle to convince Moses that God would do the real delivering if he only obeyed and made himself available.

Moses went. He met Aaron on the way. They performed miracles in the sight of the Israelites and told them that the Jehovah God had sent them to deliver them all from Egypt. The Hebrews believed.

They met Pharaoh and performed miracles but Pharaoh's magicians under the power of Satan appeared to match them. But their snakes had no life.

GOD WORKS THROUGH A FORGIVEN MURDERER.

Now that is forgiveness.

Exodus chapters 5-14 God worked the miracles of the Ten plagues (curses) on Pharaoh and Egypt to show His Jehovah creator God powers over and in opposition to the Pagan Gods of Egypt. Water to blood, frogs, lice, flies, death animals, boils, hail, darkness and death to first born - on Egyptians.

Exodus Chapter 11-13:16 God informed Moses of the final curse. The death of the firstborn children through Egypt at midnight on the set date. God also established and gave instructions for the Passover feast. The Passover lamb was to be slain and eaten and the blood placed over the doors of the Hebrews homes. This would save them and deliver their home from the angel of death. If not obeyed Jewish firstborn children would die also. It is blood that conveys the forgiveness and love of God. Jesus Christ's blood for us. The symbol of Jesus Christ the "Lamb of God" who takes away the sins of the world.

Israel obeyed Moses and God's instructions and after the angel of death did his work Pharaoh let the Jews go. Deliverance of God's people and destruction of the Egyptian army in the sea followed.

We too can be delivered from our little Egypts of sin. We too can be forgiven and get on with the work God intends us to do with Him. When we humble ourselves as Moses did. What a wonderful picture we get of our creator Jehovah God. His magnificent love and covering forgiveness. Oh what a God we have. Let us all make Moses' God our God.

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