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Awesome Hands – part 46

“By my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them”

Previously, we learned that Moses was being sent to the Pharaoh to tell the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.

Moses takes this message to the king of Egypt and as Pharaoh listens to Moses he determines that the children of Israel are idle and need to work more.

Exo 5:16 There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.
Exo 5:17 But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.

What we have done up until this point has been caused of the Lord for us to do. Just like self- righteous. In type and shadow, we are like self- righteous Job in that we do not know that the works we have done have all been provided for by “the king”.

The king has given us straw to help us along in our work, but NOW the king is going to orchestrate the situation so that we will have to acknowledge our involvement in the situation.

In other words, just like the Israelites now have to gather their own straw and still meet the quota of bricks they are to make, the will be shown that this work is NOT acceptable to the king.

Of course, this is just one type and shadow among many, but in our study today we are going to see that this brings us to a point where we recognize ourselves for what we are, someone with uncircumcised lips UNABLE to do the work the Lord has sent us to do.

However, the Lord is going to reaffirm with us that it is NOT us who do the work at all, but it is the LORD who has caused us to be His servant.

“With a strong hand”

Before the Lord “sends us” to do His work, He tells us to count the cost. This process is used because the Lord knows that we will not be able to succeed without Him doing the works in us.

Yet, He wants us to be able to give an account of the “evil experience” we are going to endure. This is a miraculous thing the Lord does because it is a way to personalize what the Lord does for and through each of us.

The cost for me may be different than the cost for another in DETAILS, but really the Lord simply is telling us that it is going to cost EVERYTHING we are since WE are NOTHING anyways in and of ourselves.

Obviously, this isn’t a very positive message for the old man in each of us because we want to be something or amount to something or matter somehow to someone.

Exo 6:1 Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.

It may seem like a light thing that the Lord is doing TO Pharaoh, but if the Lord is going to do a “strong” thing to a king of the kingdoms of earth, how much more will He do it to the meek and feeble of the earth?

Earlier Moses was told this:

Exo 4:20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand.
Exo 4:21 And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

Now in chapter 6 verse 1 we see that the Lord will with a strong hand cause Pharaoh to let go and drive out the Israelites.

Exo 13:6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.
Exo 13:7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.
Exo 13:8 And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.
Exo 13:9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.
Exo 13:10 Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.

Now, you are hearing it from my mouth that the Lord has a message for you. His message is that whatever comes upon you, what thing you have determined to do or not do, whatever thoughts you entertain or drive out from your minds is ALL of the Lord.

This may seem like a small matter, but indeed it is the work of the STRONG HAND of the Lord.

The Lord starts out in Exo 6 telling Moses, God’s PROPHET to behold what He will DO to Pharaoh. Why? This is exactly what God DOES to all of US!

Through Pharaoh, God will work thisà“with a strong hand shall he [ Pharaoh] let them go, with a STRONG HAND shall he [ Pharaoh] drive them out of his land”

How does this Lord accomplish this? “I will harden his heart,” is the answer. The result of this is for us to count the cost and know the Lord will and does do the SAME to US!

What we do with this understanding, knowledge and wisdom is that we speak this law of the Lord with our mouth as was seen and read in Exo 13:9. This is the judgment that the Lord has called and chosen us all to be faithful to.

What we speak is that the Lord is working all things after the counsel of His own will and a part of that “working” is that His strong hands works through “our hands” to accomplish His will and at the end, when we arise, we will give an account of what the Lord has caused to happen to and through us.

“By my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them”

Exo 6:2 And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the LORD:
Exo 6:3 And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.
Exo 6:4 And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.
Exo 6:5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have remembered my covenant.
Exo 6:6 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 judgments:

“Tell them that I am that I am sent you”.

The covenant that God made with the fathers of the tribes of Israel DID NOT know Him by his “true name.” They knew him as God Almighty.

However, when the Lord comes to use with the judgments we are talking about, He comes so on a personal level. He comes to us in custom built and custom made trials, tribulations and JUDGMENTS which FULLY accomplish the knowledge, wisdom and understanding that it is HE ALONE who delivers us from what HE ALONE has caused in our lives.

Some examples of a “stretched out arm with great judgments” and what that means, can be found in a few examples of other places “ stretched out” arm is used.

Isa 40:21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
Isa 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
Isa 40:23 That bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.

Isa 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;

Zec 12:1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.

I could list many examples of the 238 this phrase is mentioned in the Hebrew but the idea being conveyed is that of a full spreading out or accomplishing of the task the Lord has set out to do.

So, in context of Exo 6, the judgment the Lord is bringing to both the Pharaoh AND the Israelites will be completely accomplished for what the Lord is judging at that time. In this case, it is for the task of setting the Israelites free from the bondage of slavery to the “king of Egypt”.

However, as we will continue to learn throughout the rest of our lives, this understanding and knowledge is just the BEGINNING of what the Lord is working in His people.

When we come to know the Lord Jesus the Anointed, the One we now learn the name of as JEHOVAH, and not only God Almighty, then we come to learn that He is placing HIS NAME on our HEAD.

With this, the judgments that come will be seen by everyone around us and NO ONE that has the OLD MAN in them will like it at all. In fact, they will have EMNITY towards JEHOVAH because of it!

How then do you think this plays out practically in our lives with family and friends?

Exo 6:7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the LORD your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
Exo 6:8 And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.
Exo 6:9 And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
Exo 6:10 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Exo 6:11 Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.
Exo 6:12 And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?

We know that all of mankind are God’s children. In type, they are like Israel when we come to them and deliver them the message that God is their deliverer and refuge.

Yet, they will not hear nor hearken to this message because God has hardened their hearts as He did with us at one time or another in our walks and could do again at any time.

Recognizing the situation for what it is, and knowing that he was speaking to the “people of God” who wouldn’t even listen to him, Moses tells God that he has no hope that the Pharaoh would listen to someone who doesn’t even believe what he is saying.

Moses himself has been a “doubting Thomas” during his constant exchanges with the Lord, so how is he going to be able to convince the Pharaoh to let God’s people go?

Exo 6:13 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.

Yet, the Lord COMMANDS that we do as He says and don’t bring out own thoughts into the situation.

The charge the Lord gives Moses and Aaron is clear. The word charge used in English here is the Hebrew word tsavah (tsaw- vaw) , and it is used 494 times with 333 meaning commanded

tsa va h

tsaw- vaw’

A primitive root; (intensively) to constitute, enjoin: – appoint, (for-) bid. (give a) charge, (give a, give in, send with) command (- er, ment), send a messenger, put, (set) in order.

An example of “charge” is:

Exo 34:32 And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai.

“Uncircumcised Lips”

Often times, when we read the scripture we want to add our own interpretation to what it is we are reading. Compiled with that is that when we witness for the Lord, we want to witness for Him and be proven right in what we say as if this makes us somehow closer to God.

What Moses is experiencing here is that he is being sent to Israel, having seen a great sight in a burning bush and speaking with an angel of the Lord out of the burning bush, yet NO ONE will listen to him.

What Moses has yet to discover but soon will, is that Moses is just a tool in the hands of the Master Potter and the reason Moses’ uncircumcised lips will not convince anyone is because the Lord Himself has set the hearts and minds of those Moses is sent to up to react this way.

The Lord wants a circumcised heart and WORDS which flow from our mouth which glorify Him. When we speak His words, we are speaking judgment on the old man in us all and the “king of Egypt” which sits on the throne of our hearts and minds.

So, the reply of the Lord to Moses plea of having no one listening to his uncircumcised lips is to remind Moses of the work the Lord has already accomplished up until this point.

The Lord has inspired for us to know this and lists off the names of the tribes fathers so that we can recall what He did to bring 70 people into Egypt, be grown up into a mighty people, and now has them enslaved to be delivered by a messenger of God.

I will not read the recounting of these names in verses 14-25, but the Lord is telling us that if we are paying attention we are ALSO included in the work He has been doing with His people all along.

With that, I will read finish reading starting in verse 25.

Exo 6:25 And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife; and she bare him Phinehas: these are the heads of the fathers of the Levites according to their families.
Exo 6:26 These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.
Exo 6:27 These are they which spake to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the children of Israel from Egypt: these are that Moses and Aaron.
Exo 6:28 And it came to pass on the day when the LORD spake unto Moses in the land of Egypt,
Exo 6:29 That the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, I am the LORD: speak thou unto Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say unto thee.
Exo 6:30 And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?

The Lord inspired these words to be written to prepare us for what is to come next. What will come next is that we are going to see great plagues and great judgments placed on those we are sent to!

Exo 7:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
Exo 7:2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.
Exo 7:3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

What are these “my signs and my wonders” the Lord speaks of and who are they meant for?

1Pe 4:16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

All of the things that will happen to Egpyt, the Pharaoh, the Israelites and Moses and Aaron happen to us all when the Lord comes to judge us, and what does He judge us AGAINST?

Isn’t it interesting that Moses speaks about his uncircumcised lips?

Luk 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Act 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

The commandments we are to preach are those Christ gave us to start off with. We are to love God with all our heart, soul strength and mind and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

There is no way we can get through the judgments of the Lord without being a part of His House, His Temple of which we are. We are His body, the church of the living God and He is at the HEART of it.

Deu 11:13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
Deu 11:14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
Deu 11:15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.
Deu 11:16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
Deu 11:17 And then the LORD’S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.
Deu 11:18 Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
Deu 11:19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Deu 11:20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

This process we are talking about here is the month Abib spiritually and is so VERY important to those who are coming to know the judgments of the Lord.

This is a great feast unto the Lord!

Look at how closely worded the Passover event that leads to eating unleavened bread is to KEEPING HIS COMMANDMENTS and writing them on our HEARTS and MINDS!

Exo 13:6 Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to the LORD.
Exo 13:7 Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee in all thy quarters.
Exo 13:8 And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.
Exo 13:9 And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.

Exo 13:14 And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

Exo 13:16 And it shall be for a token upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt.

Exo 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
Exo 13:22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.