God Reveals His Plans


Exodus 3:13-22
13Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14God said to Moses, “I AM who I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” 15God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. 16Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done to you in Egypt, 17and I promise that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.” ’ 18And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ 19But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. 21And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22but each woman shall ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”

As I was reading this passage for today I was immediately struck by the fact that God gives Moses a rare and detailed look at what is coming in the future. I don’t know about you, but let me just say – that never happens to me! God does not share what is coming up for me. I admit that sometimes it would be extremely convenient to know what’s coming. But apparently God doesn’t feel the need to show me the future. And I get it. For most of us, that would be a terrible thing to know. We would mess that up in no time.

But in this particular instance, God deems it important to tell Moses what is coming for him, the Children of Israel, and the Egyptians. And I believe God shares this information for an important reason. It is time for Moses to recognize the sovereignty and power of God. There’s work to be done and Moses needs to trust that God is in control in order for him to move forward. Remember, Moses really doesn’t have a great deal of experience with God. He is just getting to know about God and the word relationship couldn’t really be used yet. This knowledge of God is in its infancy. But God is asking Moses to trust Him for some really major things here.

Even if God shared the events coming up in your future would you trust Him more? Would that knowledge help you to press into Him or would you run ahead on your own? What God is promising Moses is monumental not only for Moses but for an entire nation. God promises Moses:

  • God Himself is in control of this entire situation
  • He’s the God of their forefathers – even though that stretches back several hundred years
  • God sees what is happening to His people and He doesn’t like it
  • God promises to bring His people out of Egypt and free them from bondage
  • God promises to lead them into the Promised Land
  • God promises Moses the people will listen to him
  • God informs Moses that the Pharaoh will not cooperate
  • God promises to “compel” the Pharaoh
  • God promises the Egyptians will be plundered by His people
All of these promises pile up before Moses and he is challenged to believe that God does indeed have the power to do as He says He will. He has made promises to us as well. We have the same opportunity to trust that God will deliver us from our bondage to sin, death, and the power of the devil. And we have the benefit of standing on this side of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Promise kept. Now we await the culmination of the final promise – the return of Jesus. He’s been a promise keeper so far. There’s no reason to doubt He won’t keep this last one as well.

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