EXODUS 6:6-8. “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgment: …I will take you to me… I will be to you a God… I will bring you in… I will give it you for an heritage.”
PROMISES. “I will bring you out” – from those burdens you’ll be free; The load you have now will soon be gone. God gives you His word – you some day will see The true Canaan-land, and you will call it home.
“I will rid you out of their bondage” – impressed by chains; Liberty will release you – you will be free to stand. Freedom from God will blot out all sin’s stains, And as one of God’s children, you can enjoy Beulah-land.
“I will redeem you,” He said – God paid all the cost. His arm of great strength reaches to the uttermost place. The guilt was too great – without Him I’d be lost; But all that was needed, He paid it all by His grace.
“I will take you to Me” – we are the people He chose. No longer our own, we belong to the King. As heirs of His promise, we have nothing to lose, By the full-hearted surrender of our “everything.”
“I will be to you a God” – there will never be another, For He redeemed our souls with a cost so high. Through ages eternal, we will worship forever “The Lord is our God” the redeemed loudly cry.
“I will bring you in” – to the place He has promised We move with strong pace and faith full assured. With all those of faith, we too are the bless`ed, Enjoying each day all His grace has procured.
“I will give it you for a heritage” – all here we enjoy. Redemption and fellowship – God’s people now have A foretaste of heaven – when His word we employ; Finding great joy in each promise He gave.
“The promises from Thee, Father God, have given to Thy people all down through the ages, the grace to endure hardships and sicknesses, war and defeats, pain and suffering with grace and courage. I have never been called upon as yet, to go through what many of my brothers and sisters in the Lord have had to experience, but I know by experience in a measure, the joy of claiming the promises Thou hast given. Accept my heart-felt thanks, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.”
EXODUS 6 - 7:13 FEAR OF FAILURE There are times when we are called to step out again in faith even when our last experience in life produced nothing as far as we were concerned. We felt like we failed. Moses probably hoped Pharaoh would respond to the request for deliverance and wasn't really prepared for rejection. He took the lack of response of Pharaoh as a failure on his part. We usually do not know much more of God's will than that which affects us right now or in the immediate future. Setbacks are not necessarily failures. Failures and the ability to fail are actually ways of discipline. They are hard to take because we measure our activities by successes not failure. After failure there is the temptation to say, "I am done." I will not try that again. An observation has been made that anyone who has not failed, has not accomplished anything. The fear of failure paralyzes a person to where they are of no use to God or men.
If we thought we would accomplish a victory and personal pride is in any way involved, failure is a good way to bring us down to size. If we thought our success was because of our ability and strength, failure will bring us back to where we depend on God. A sense of failure may come because of nervous tension that leaves us drained of emotional and spiritual strength. A farmer will go back and do the same thing over again after a crop failure because he knows the principle of sowing and reaping, he works under, ultimately depends on God to be successful. A fisherman will return to the sea day after day even though he comes in sometimes empty-handed because he understands the principle of nature that sea creatures live under. If he is patient and perseverant, he will catch fish. We can never blame God for lack of success, but it is good for us to understand that failures are one of the ways God works His will with us.
On the other hand, we need to remember when we are called by God to high service for Him, that calls for high living from us. There is incumbent on the servant of God, the necessity of walking worthy of God and of the vocation to which He has called us. Respect, integrity, dignity and honor are necessary characteristics of those who are called to represent and speak for God in an ungodly age. Dignity under the shadows of failure actually shines light on what may not have been understood and really learned in any other way. Under the tension of opposition and antagonism is where the representative of God shines the brightest in spite of perceived failure.
The forbearers of Moses and Aaron are listed in this chapter because those people of faith left their imprint of confidence in God on their sons. Even though they labored as slaves in Egypt and are probably buried in unmarked graves along with millions of other slaves in that country, their legacy still lives on. We can visit the graves of faithful servants of the past and it can stir us to rise to the challenge of our day the same as in the times in which those worthy people lived. A family grave site may produce a fresh resolve to go on for God in spite of obstacles and failures which we have experienced.
Moses didn't understand the underlying fear Pharaoh had of him until God told him. Sometimes when we are down in spirit and have a tendency to doubt what we are called to do, God has us in the place and state of mind where He can reveal things to us, knowing that now this will not be a cause for pride and self- exaltation. Pharaoh thought of Moses as a god, but Moses didn't think that of himself. Now he realized it was God who was working through him even in perceived failure and would give success in His own time. At eighty years of age he was still learning what God is like and who he is himself.
When these two old men went into Pharaoh again, there seemed to be a quiet confidence that whatever was going to happen, success or failure, they would leave the results to God. The miracle of the rod becoming a serpent, even though it was duplicated by Egyptian magicians, was unmistakably a work of God. The other serpents being swallowed by Moses' rod-serpent, would have given all who witnessed that event, the fact of the supremacy of God over all the gods of Egypt. This God is the same today. He is our God and I will trust Him in success or failure.
"I can't understand! How could it be that I failed so bad!" These kinds of words are often heard when one is feeling sad. By this means we can learn what it really means to be a tool in God's hands. Success and failures are under His control, the results are His decisions, not mans'.
To try to take credit for what God does, leaves us in a vulnerable position. It usually is indicative of one who is self-centered, not a good spiritual condition. God makes the decisions as to the final result of a task we are sent to do. He knows before hand the end of a thing, we don't until all is through.
When failure appears to be the outcome of some special work God gave to me, The best thing I can do is humbly and quietly wait for the results to see. God has His own agenda and plans; may I never insert those of mine In a place where they should never be, that rest in His will I can find.
I may not know any more than the beginning because that is all I need to know. When God's time comes, if He chooses maybe to me, He will show The hidden things that I couldn't bear at the beginning of the task. By them I may realize the outcome was far more that I could think or ask.
There is no doubt that failures have come and now I look back to see How gracious God's mercies are when He withheld the unknown path to me. Now I rejoice where I would have cried - success was entirely different Then what I expected; now I can know the blessed outcome of the event.
"Father in heaven, I can see in this place now what I was unsure of before. It seemed to others we were having an adventure and they wondered why we were coming here. Now I know these people need spiritual food Thou didst give me to prepare for them and I praise Thee for this. Thanks so much for leading us here. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."