"Who Is The Lord, That I Should Obey?" (Exodus 5:1-9)
Rev. Charles B. Evans, May 20, 2018Part of the Morning Worship at North Greenville Church series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
In our society, God has been acknowledged and revered. This is changing, and people are ignoring God's commands. Modern society is like Egypt under Pharaoh. Pharaoh confronted God, and so do we. There are three questions we must answer: Who is God?, Why is God to be obeyed?, and In what must we obey?. First, God is the God of the Hebrews, the Lord our God, the one true and living God. He interacts with His creation and shows us His attributes and issues His proclamations. He is sovereign over heaven and earth. All honor is due Him. Second, He is to be obeyed because of His holiness and His absolute sovereignty. He lovingly commands obedience. Our obedience glorifies God, but our disobedience defames God. He blesses us through obedience. Third, we must obey Him by having faith in Jesus. Knowing and obeying comes by repentance. Personal holiness grows through obedience, and this brings spiritual growth in the likeness of Jesus. The Holy Spirit sanctifies, but we must not resist Him. Our spiritual service is to trust and obey and do good. Pharaoh knew who God is, but disobeyed. We should pray for our own obedience and for our society's obedience.
| Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
|---|---|---|
| « Hearing God Speak | None | The Cross In Life » |
Exodus 5:1–9 (Listen)
5:1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” 6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”
(ESV)