This week we start a new series in our Holy Word for Morning Revival, the first part of the Crystallization-study of Exodus, which will span for 12 weeks and will reach to the first several verses of Exodus 19, where we see that we are a kingdom of priests.
This particular week we will focus on the crucial aspects of the revelation of God in Exodus and of God’s building as the goal of God in His salvation, provision, and revelation.
In the book of Exodus we see at least fourteen aspects of God, and we as God’s people need to know our God. Our consideration of God is under the blessed requirement of the greatest commandment, You shall love the Lord, your God, from your whole heart, and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength (Mark 12:30).
We want to know our God because we love Him. On the one hand, God Himself commanded us to love Him, and we need to love Him with our whole being. On the other hand, as we see who God is and what He is doing for us and in us, we spontaneously love Him. Praise the Lord that He has commanded us to love Him!
If we don’t love the Lord our God, we will not be interested to know Him. But because we love Him, He reveals Himself to us and we get to know Him more and more.
The One who really loved God with all His being was the Lord Jesus: He is the love of God Himself; He is the love of God-man, God mingled with man to express the divine love in the human love to love God and man.
The Lord Jesus is the only One who could stand before the Father and before the enemy and say, I love God from My whole heart! As we take Christ as our person, we become the God-men who love God from their whole mind and their whole soul and their whole strengthen and their whole heart.
Oh, may we be those who love God and seek to know Him as He reveals Himself to us again and again!
14 Crucial Aspects of the Revelation of God in the Book of Exodus
In the book of Exodus we see God being revealed to His people in various aspects, and below are fourteen of the most crucial aspects of the revelation of God in this book.
1. God is the self-existing and ever-existing God
When God appeared to Moses in Exodus 3:14 He introduced Himself as, I am that I am. God is the I AM; He is the self-existing and ever-existing all-inclusive One. Even though in our culture the atheists are increasingly aggressive, we strongly believe and loudly affirm that God is, and he who comes forward to God must believe that He is (Heb. 11:6).
God is uncreated, self-existing, immutable, and ever-existing; with our limited human mind we do not understand HOW He is such a one, but we believe that He is! The fact that God is the I AM means that God is, and we are not! We believe that God is, we are not, and Jesus is the Son of God – He is the I AM!
2. God is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob
In Exodus God is revealed as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (see Exodus 3:6, 15-16; 4:5; Matt. 22:31-32). He is the covenanting God, the calling God, the God who justifies (Abraham), the God who is our grace to be enjoyed by us (Isaac), and the God who transforms us, deals with us, and matures us (Jacob).
The fact that God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob implies that He is the God of resurrection (see Matt. 22:31-32) and that He is the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Matt. 28:19).
3. God is the God of the Hebrews
Our God is the God of the Hebrews (Exo. 3:18; 5:3; 7:16; 9:1, 13; 10:3). Abraham was the first Hebrew: he crossed the river from Ur of Chaldea, following God wherever He showed him to go. A Hebrew is a river-crosser; as believers in Christ we are river-crossers, going on from one realm to another and crossing one river after another to enter into the full enjoyment of God.
As the God of the Hebrews God appears to us to call us out of Egypt, out of any usurpation of the world, to go to Him in the wilderness and hold a feast unto Him to worship Him.
4. God is the God of Israel
God is the God of Israel (Exodus 5:1; 24:10; 32:27; 34:23); this title mainly refers to God being the God of a transformed people. In God’s eyes we are a transformed into victors, kings, and princes to rule and reign with God, and our God is the God of Israel!
In our eyes and according to our feeling we still have a long way to go, but our God, the God of Israel, sees us as princes and victors to rule with Him and express Him!
5. God is the speaking God
Throughout the book of Exodus we see that our God is the speaking God (Exodus 4:10, 30; 9:35; 20:1). If you read the book of Exodus to see how much God spoke, you could even say that God is the main character of this book: He spoke again and again, and His speaking is toward us, toward the enemy, and toward Pharaoh.
Our God is a speaking God, and today in the church life we are in the tent of meeting gathered together in and with the Speaking God! We simply need to tell Him, Lord, speak to me! I am willing to hear what You have to say to me. Do You have to say something to me today?
6. God is the God of the covenant
Our God is the God of the covenant (Exodus 2:24; 6:4-5; 24:8; 13:5), mainly seen in the fact that He called three people (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) and made a covenant with each one of them, blessing them and speaking to them no matter of their disposition or even response.
Our God is a covenanting God: He is for all men, and whoever you are, God is for you! As long as a human being has breath, he can receive God, and God can call him to be one of His people!
7. God is the sovereign God
Through the stories in Exodus we can clearly see that God is the sovereign God (Exodus 3:20-21; 4:21; 7:3-5; 8:10; 9:16; Rom. 9:15-23). He hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and Pharaoh hardened his heart. He caused Pharaoh to stand so that He may express and show forth His glory.
He led His people out of Egypt with a strong hand, and He protected them, cared for them, and was everything to them. God is sovereign, and there’s nothing we can say or do to change that. We can know God’s sovereignty in our life.
8. God is the redeeming and saving God
The God revealed in Exodus is the redeeming God and the saving God (Exo. 6:6; 15:13; 14:30, 13; 15:2). He didn’t just rescue His people out of Egypt but He redeemed them (as typified by the death of the firstborn son – a type of Christ, the real Redeemer and redeeming sacrifice). God redeemed us, His people, to bring us to Himself.
Also, God is a saving God: He is constantly saving us from anything that is not Himself, and He saves us from any problem or enemy. Praise our Redeeming and Saving God!
9. God is the blessing God
God is the Blessing God (Exodus 23:25; 32:29). He blessed Moses, He blessed His people, and He is richly blessing us, the church. Without God’s blessing the people of Israel could not get out of Egypt and go into the wilderness to hold a feast unto Him; without God’s blessing we are nothing and we can do nothing. When there’s God’s blessing, the outcome is much more than we can do by ourselves.
10. God is the healing God
In the experience of healing the waters at Marah we see that God is the Healing God (Exodus 15:26). God doesn’t just heal the bitter waters: He heals our bitter being! Our God is Jehovah Ropheka, Jehovah our healer, the God who heals us. We all need God’s healing; we all need to come to Him and be healed by Him – He is our Healer!
11. God is the infusing God
In calling up Moses on the mountain to give him the law we can clearly see that God is the infusing God (Exodus 34:29-35). In Exodus 34 Moses had a lengthy stay on the mountain in God’s presence, and he was infused with God so that even his face shone.
God didn’t want to merely give Moses the tablets of the law; God wanted to have Moses spend time with Him so that He would infuse Moses with Himself. Before God gave the law to Moses, God gave Himself to him!
12. God is the courting God
In Exodus we see how God is the courting God (see Exodus 19:4-6); throughout the Bible we see how God loves us, courts us, woos us, so that He may betrothe us to Himself (see Jer. 2:2; 31:32). God’s calling through the preaching of the gospel is His courting us; He seeks to not just save us but court us until we become His loving bride, loving Him in an affectionate way. The whole Bible is a book of courtship, and our God is a courting God.
13. God is the processed and consummated God
A deeper aspect of God seen in Exodus and throughout the Bible is that God is the processed and consummated God (Exo. 17:6; John 19:34; 7:37-39). In Himself, God is unchanging and immutable; but in His economy in relation to man, He became approachable.
In His relation to His people, God came, stood on the rock, asked Moses to strike the rock, and flowed out as water to quench His people’s thirst. This shows that God was processed and consummated to become the Spirit as the water of life to get into us and quench our thirst, and this water gushes up into eternal life!
14. God is the God who dwells in the tabernacle
At the end of the book of Exodus, after the tabernacle was built and set up, God is revealed as the God who dwells in the tabernacle (Exo. 25:8-9; 29:46; 40:1-2, 34-38). This is how Exodus ends, with God filling the tabernacle and dwelling among His people.
This tabernacle today is the church as God’s dwelling place (Eph. 2:21-22), and this tabernacle was enlarged to be the temple for our dwelling place. In the church life today God dwells in us – we are His dwelling place – and we as His priests, His serving ones, dwell in God – He is our dwelling place. Hallelujah, our God now dwells with us in the tabernacle, the church life!
Lord Jesus, we love You! We want to know You as our God! Unveil us to see You, know You, and experience You as the God of the Hebrews, the God of Israel, and the speaking God! Lord, You are the God of the covenant, the sovereign God, and the redeeming and saving God! We want to know You as the blessing God, the healing God, and the infusing God. Oh Lord, thank You for courting us and coming into us as the processed and consummated Triune God to be our drink! Hallelujah, our God dwells among us in the tabernacle of God, the church! Lord Jesus, we love You!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my Christian experience, bro. Ron Kangas’ sharing in the message for this week, and portions from, The Central Line of the Divine Revelation, msgs. 1-2, as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (1), week 1 / msg 1, A Revelation of God and God’s Building as the Goal of His Salvation, Provision, and Revelation.
- Hymns on this topic:
# We are the Hebrews, that’s our real name; / We’ve crossed the river, we are not the same. / Building God’s house that He may dwell on earth, / Building God’s house that He may dwell on earth. (Hymns #1271)
# Abba, “I AM,” eternal, self-existing, / Ancient of Days who forever shall be, / Thy throne in the heav’ns established aboundeth / In holiness, glory, authority. (Hymns #752)
# I am the Lord that healeth thee, / I am the Lord that healeth thee; / Jehovah-Rapha is My Name: / For I am the Lord that healeth thee. (Song on the Lord as our Healer)
About aGodMan
[In Exodus 34], through God’s speaking to Moses during his lengthy stay with God, Moses was thoroughly infused with God and saturated with Him. As a result, Moses’ face shone. According to this chapter, God did not first give Moses the tablets of the law; rather, He first spent time to infuse Moses with Himself by speaking to Moses concerning the enjoyment of Himself (cf. 2 Cor. 3:3). Before God gave the law to Moses, God gave Himself to him. This clearly portrays God’s intention. (Exo. 34:29, footnote 1, Holy Bible, Recovery Version)
I worked on a song the other day, based on this footnote; try this out:
tune: The Name Of Jesus/67
https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/67
In Exodus 34, through God’s speaking to Moses–
During his lengthy stay with God, Moses was thoroughly–
Infused with God and saturated–
With God. As a result, Moses’ face shone.
According to this chapter, God did not first give–
Moses the tablets of the law; rather, He first–
Spent time to infuse Moses with Himself–
By speaking to Moses concerning the enjoyment…
Of Himself. Before God gave the law to Moses,
God gave Himself to him. This clearly portrays God’s–
Intention. Hallelujah, this intention is for man.
Before giving Moses the law, He gave Himself to him.
source: based on Exo. 34:29, footnote 1 in Recovery Version Bible.
Amen! O Lord Jesus, I love You Lord! Hallelujah! You are altogether lovely my Beloved. We are not, but You are the I AM to us, the all inclusive One, the all sufficient One, the One to satisfy our every need. Lord Jesus, we want to know You more deeply, to know You more dearly, in all these 14 aspects. … “Hallelujah, our God dwells among us in the tabernacle of God, the church! Lord Jesus, we love You!” Amen.