Deliver Us

Posted On February 12, 2023

“He heard their cries from heaven, and remembered his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bring their descendants back into the land of Canaan. Looking down upon them, he knew that the time had come for their rescue.”

Exodus 2:23-25 TLB

“Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end they will come away with great wealth.'”

Genesis 15:13-14 NLT

Back in Genesis 15, God told Abraham that his descendants would be oppressed as slaves in a foreign land for 400 years. In Exodus 1, we see that prophecy come true. But by the end of Exodus 2, the time has come for them to be set free…

Our plan for 2023 is to journey through The NeverEnding Story of the Bible and discover how we fit into it along the way. Our plan for this year is loosely based on The Story, an abridged chronological version of the Bible, and the accompanying study guide The Heart of the Story by Randy Frazee.

Here is where we are in The Story:

MOVEMENT TWO: The Story of Israel (Genesis 12-Malachi)

Chapter 4 – Deliverance

This chapter in The Story includes Exodus 1-7, 10-17. Joseph and his brothers had settled in Egypt, and after they died, their descendants multiplied and filled the land. A new pharaoh came into power, and he grew fearful of the Israelites’ numbers and strength. So he forced them into hard labor as slaves. And, in hopes of controlling their numbers, he issued a brutal command: “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.” (Exodus 1:22 NLT)

Meanwhile, a couple from the tribe of Levi gave birth to a son…

“As God’s plan to build the nation of Israel continued to unfold, he consistently chose the unlikeliest of people to play leading roles…. However, few people, at first glance, are as unlikely a leader as our next character in the story.”

Randy Frazee, The Heart of the Story

God protected baby Moses and led him to the household of Pharaoh himself, where he was adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses was raised as a prince of Egypt, but he knew that he was a Hebrew. When he had grown up, he witnessed an Egyptian beating a fellow Israelite, and he stepped in, killing the Egyptian. Rightly fearing that Pharaoh would find out, Moses fled for his life to the land of Midian. There he met a priest named Reuel, also called Jethro, and married into his family. Moses settled down with his wife and children to a quiet life tending sheep…

“One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.”

Exodus 3:1-2 NLT

God called to Moses from the burning bush and gave him a surprising command: “Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:9-10 NLT)

Excuse me? This came completely out of the blue for Moses! In fact, the very next verse tells us that Moses protested and insisted that he was not the man for this job, especially not at this stage in his life. In Acts 7:23-30 we find out that Moses was 40 years old when he fled to Midian, and it was 40 years later when he saw the burning bush: Moses was 80 years old when God called him to go back to Egypt.

“Why Moses? Or, more specifically, why eighty-year-old Moses? The forty-year-old version was more appealing. The Moses we saw in Egypt was brash and confident. But the Moses we find four decades later is reluctant and weather-beaten…. What does he know now that he didn’t know then? What did he learn in the desert that he didn’t learn in Egypt?

The ways of the desert, for one. Forty-year-old Moses was a city boy. Octogenarian Moses knows the name of every snake and the location of every watering hole. If he’s going to lead thousands of Hebrews into the wilderness, he better know the basics of Desert Life 101.

Family dynamics, for another. If he’s going to be traveling with families for forty years, it might help to understand how they work. He marries a woman of faith, the daughter of a Midianite priest, and establishes his own family.

But more than the ways of the desert and the people, Moses needed to learn something about himself. Apparently he has learned it. God says Moses is ready.”

Max Lucado, Cast of Characters

God said Moses was ready, but Moses said otherwise. He came up with excuse after excuse about why he could not do this: He wasn’t a leader, the Israelites wouldn’t believe him, and he wasn’t a good speaker. Moses begged God to send someone else.

“‘Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.’ But Moses protested to God, ‘Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?'”

Exodus 3:10-11 NLT

“In Lower Story logic, Moses isn’t qualified for such an important task. But in Upper Story understanding, God sees Moses’ weaknesses as providing the best conduit for God’s strength.”

Randy Frazee, The Heart of the Story

I can’t blame Moses for protesting. I’m sure I would have done the same. In fact, I have. I’ve argued with God about His calling for my life. I’ve come up with excuse after excuse about why I can’t do what He’s asked me to do. I’ve felt inadequate and broken and full of doubts. If this describes you, too, I’m not surprised. It seems to be the way God works.

“God uses broken people…. God has nothing but sinners to work with, and He seems to specialize in using the unlikely. He calls to those furthest from Him, and He draws them near….

God shows compassion in His response to a hesitant, doubtful Moses. God knows his story; He knows his brokenness. Later, we see God’s compassion again when Moses goes back to the Israelites the second time, after their workload has been increased and their former excitement has turned to despair. They can’t muster any kind of faith on their own. Heartache and oppression have stolen their ability to hope and trust in the words of God. He knows they have no strength to fight, so He sends someone to fight for them. He sends someone who has received His compassion, who can demonstrate it to them. He sends a conduit of hope and freedom to a people who are hopeless and have never known freedom.”

Tara-Leigh Cobble, The Bible Recap

Often, God delivers us so that we can be used by Him to deliver others. But when the time comes, we may be tempted to ask for deliverance from our assignment. Let’s not give in to that temptation. Moses needed a lot of convincing, but to his credit, he obeyed when God told him to go. I’m sure he never dreamed what lay ahead for him, but he trusted God, and he became a part of God’s story in a big way. The same is true for us!

“Live with the sense that God has a special plan for your life, because he does. You may feel unqualified for the assignment, but say yes to God. He will give you the strength and power to see it through.”

Randy Frazee, The Heart of the Story

This week’s Scripture passages remind us that when we cry out to God, He hears us, and He delivers us from our troubles. Let’s be willing to do the same. As followers of Christ, we have all been delivered from death and chosen to accomplish important work for His kingdom. God can use us to deliver faith, hope, and freedom to people who feel hopeless and enslaved by sin.

So, when God calls out to us, let’s answer His call and be willing to go wherever He sends us. We may feel inadequate for the task ahead, but that’s because we aren’t meant to do it alone. God’s strength was sufficient for Moses, and it’s sufficient for us!

“The voice from the bush is the voice that whispers to you.
It reminds you that God is not finished with you yet.”

Max Lucado, Cast of Characters

References:

• Cobble, Tara-Leigh. The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide to Reading and Understanding the Entire Bible. Bethany House, 2020.
• Frazee, Randy.  The Heart of the Story: Discover Your Life Within the Grand Epic of God’s Story. Zondervan, 2017.
• Lucado, Max. Cast of Characters: Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon God. Thomas Nelson, 2008.
• The Prince of Egypt. Dir. Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells. DreamWorks Pictures, 1998.
• “The Prince Of Egypt Deliver Us / English Lyrics.” YouTube, uploaded by real.eyez.realize.real.liez, 9 October 2015, https://youtu.be/xU6nJz2rTM4.
• “The Prince Of Egypt – Through Heaven’s Eyes English (Lyrics).” YouTube, uploaded by PrinsenAvEgypten, 23 June 2013, https://youtu.be/WmIqNxtT8Y0.
• The Story: Read the Bible as One Seamless Story from Beginning to End. Rev. ed., Zondervan, 2008.

Images:

• Deliver Us featured image taken from “The Prince Of Egypt Deliver Us / English Lyrics.” YouTube, uploaded by real.eyez.realize.real.liez, 9 October 2015, https://youtu.be/xU6nJz2rTM4.
• Egyptian Hieroglyphs image by Zigor Agirrezabala Vitoria from Pixabay
• Burning Bush image by Jeff Jacobs from Pixabay (edited)
• Desert image by Enrique from Pixabay
• Tapestry image taken from “The Prince Of Egypt – Through Heaven’s Eyes English (Lyrics).” YouTube, uploaded by PrinsenAvEgypten, 23 June 2013, https://youtu.be/WmIqNxtT8Y0.