During a recent study of the early chapters of Exodus I stumbled (the Lord led perfectly, I stumbled) across the following teaching:
Exodus 3 contains the extraordinary meeting between Moses and the Lord at Mount Horeb, when the Lord appeared to Moses in a bush that was burning with fire yet was not consumed. As well as God’s great declaration of Himself – “I AM WHO I AM” – the Lord makes here a number of great promises to Moses.
Feeling empowered and assured by these promises, Moses first speaks with the Elders of Israel, who accept Moses and His message from the Lord. Next, Moses meets with Pharaoh, who not only rejects Moses’ message (bad!), but increases the Israelites’ workload in response (worse!), which leads to Israel’s Elders blaming, and turning against, Moses for the whole thing (worst!).
Moses’ reacts to this terrible turn of events by seeking the Lord in prayer (good) – albeit with quite an accusatory tone (not so good) (Ex. 5:22, 23). The Lord responds with incredible graciousness to Moses, repeating and reiterating many of the promises that He first made to Moses, back in Exodus 3, such as:
“I’ve established my covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob… to give them the land of Canaan”
“I’ve heard the groaning of the children of Israel”
“I will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians… I will be with you… I will do it”
“I will take you as My people, and I will be your God”
“I will bring you to the land I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, Jacob…”
What especially struck me at this point was in remembering that God – according to who He is (i.e. faithful, true, omnipotent, unchanging, good…) – does not need to repeat any promise He makes having made it the once, whereas we, on the other hand – according to who we are (i.e. weak, forgetful, easily discouraged…) – need God to repeat His promises made to us repeatedly! So, whose needs does God allow for – His, or ours?
It is an extraordinary act of kindness and graciousness that God is pleased to repeat the promises He makes to us over and over – and to leave us with a book in which He has recorded those repeated promises, enabling us to read those repeated promises over and over and over again!
As one example as to the usefulness of this, we find in Hebrews 13:5 one of the most loved of God’s promises:
“I will never leave you, nor forsake you” – a promise repeated from Joshua 1:5.
Now, if anyone should dare try to steal that promise from any believer today, with the assertion that God’s original promise was exclusively made for a particular person, Joshua, and in a particular situation, his leading Israel into the Promised Land, the response can now be made – “Yes, that promise was made initially for Joshua, but God has repeated that promise, ensuring that the promise is given it to all of God’s people, including myself!”
You Shall Call His Name Jesus
When the angel instructed Joseph that the baby that His betrothed was with should be given the name Jesus, the angel explained that this was because “He shall save His people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21) The name ‘Jesus’, being the Greek form of the name Joshua, or Yeshua in Hebrew, carries the meanings of “Saviour”, “God saves” “God, the Saviour” and other slight variations of the same.
What we thus find is that within the very name of Jesus Christ – the Son of God, and Saviour of the world – is the very promise that God will indeed save His people. That means that whenever the name of Jesus is proclaimed, so too is the promise of God found within the Name proclaimed.
The significance of this for the non-Christian is clear: the promise of God to save is offered out to all whenever the name of Jesus is declared in their hearing and will be for as long as this remains the “Day of Salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2).
And, for the Christian: whenever the name of Jesus is heard, the promise is repeated to them that God will save them; that when God has begun a good work in them He will bring that work to completion (Phil. 1 :6); that Jesus will save to the uttermost those who have come to God through Him (Heb. 7:25).
It is the name that speaks of the person, and the name of Jesus speaks of the Saviour, the One who will save His people from their sins.
This is a glorious truth that can be remembered this Christmas time – and all the year round – that whenever we hear the name Jesus, God is repeating His promise to save. For the Christian, this a promise of certain completion to our salvation. For the non-Christian, this is the offering out of that promise to them, a promise that will become theirs when they come to Jesus and know Him as their own Saviour.
Frederick Whitfield (1859) was testifying of this very truth when he composed the much-loved hymn:
Comments