Who is God?
At the beginning of the book of Exodus,
surely that’s the question the people had to wrestle with.
Because they were a nation of slaves,
waiting on God
to show up and make good on the promises he made.
For God had vowed to the founder of these enslaved people,
a man called Abraham,
that his offspring would be a great nation.
Who would bless the earth,
and dwell with him in a land called Canaan.
But Abraham had been dead for centuries.
And his children weren’t a nation, they were in captivity.
And while they were growing in number,
so was their slave master’s cruel activity.
So, who is God?
When you’ve experienced nothing but
400 years of his passivity?
Were God’s promises fake?
Was his faithfulness flawed?
Or maybe,
All the stories they heard were
nothing but frauds.
This is the question of Exodus:
Who is God?
To answer this,
God raises up a deliverer,
a man named Moses.
And discloses Who he is
by speaking out of a bush engulfed in flames.
God tells Moses who he is,
by God telling Moses his name.
Who is God?
God is I Am.
As in,
"I Am with you.
I Am faithful.
I Am listening.
I Am able."
So, as Israel was bringing all their questions
to the table like,
"Who is God?
Where is he?
Will he come?
Does he see?"
God was answering all of these
by being I Am to his people.
I Am was with them
when he heard and responded to Israel’s cries,
and when he performed wonders and miracles
before Pharoah’s eyes.
I Am was with them
when the plagues began their takeover
of every false Egyptian god,
and when he provided a way for his people
to be passed over by blood.
I Am was with them
when he moved Pharaoh’s heart
to allow the people to flee,
and when he saved Israel and punished Egypt
by parting and closing the Red Sea.
I Am was with them
through the wilderness in fire and in cloud,
and when with manna and quail,
he fed the grumbling crowds.
I Am was with them on the mountain,
when he made his glory and power prominent,
when he called the people his own, and made with them a covenant.
I Am was with them in the tabernacle,
when he gave Israel a tent,
in which they could dwell together.
And when he filled that tent with his glory,
so much so,
that even Moses could not enter.
I Am was with them,
because that’s who God is.
A God who enters into our story:
working behind, among, through, above
everything in the world,
just to show us his glory.
Who is God?
God is,
I Am.
And no matter who you are,
this is a question you have to wrestle with:
Who has God shown himself to be
in the pages of Exodus?
Because the whole world
has been in Israel’s position.
We've all been slaves to
broken hearts and evil systems.
We are all oppressed by death,
and will fall under its final opposition.
And so,
surely we've all wondered,
"Who is God?"
Will he fix this wicked condition?"
And what Exodus shows us,
is that God answers our petition.
Because the I Am who rescued
his people from Egypt,
rescued the whole world,
in the person of Jesus.
Jesus was with us,
by becoming human,
as a response to our cries.
Like Moses stepped out of Egypt,
this new deliverer stepped out of heaven,
and walked by our side.
Jesus was with us,
because the true plagues of sin and death,
had made their takeover.
So Jesus became sin,
and was pinned under death,
so these plagues might pass us over.
Jesus was with us,
by falling under the waves,
to open a path of dry ground,
so that we who deserve
to be lost in the water like Egypt,
instead, like Israel, can be found.
Jesus is with us today,
in our deepest hungers and hardest strife.
For through his spirit and word,
He provides for us, like he provided for Israel.
But this time, we get the bread of life.
Jesus is with us,
As God was on the mountain with Moses.
But instead of man climbing up to find God,
Jesus came down and found us.
Jesus was,
and is,
and will be with us.
Because as his body was opened,
so was the tabernacle's tent.
So he can make us
and the world his dwelling,
both now and when he comes again.
Who is God?
Who has he revealed himself to be
in the pages of Exodus?
He is,
I Am.
He is,
with us.
God is our rescuer.
God is,
Jesus.
Hey! We're Spoken Gospel,
and you've just seen our introduction to the book of Exodus.
We're wanting to make introduction videos
to every book of the Bible,
using spoken word poetry, to tell the story.
Spoken Gospel is a non-profit that speaks
the Gospel out of every corner of scripture.
This video was made possible by
a small group of generous people.
It's our goal to offer these videos
for free, forever, and we need your help
to make that possible.
So, would you join us
in helping us produce our next introduction,
the book of Genesis?
So go to SpokenGospel.com to join us
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in every book of the Bible.