Sermon Tone Analysis

Exodus 1:1-2:25

The stage is set for a mighty work of God.

The Lord's people face a crisis situation.

they are being oppressed by the Egyptians.

God sees what is happening.

He is making His plans - to give His people a better future.

It may have seemed like God was doing nothing abiout Israel's problems - "a long time passed " (Exodus 2:23).

God was nit standing back, paying no attention to what was going on.

He was busy - preparing Moses to be the leader of His people.

He was taking steps wowards the great event of the deliverance from the oppressors.

God was looking ahead to the Exodus and the movement from the land of bondage to the land of promise - "He remembered His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Exodus 2:24), and He was about to fulfil this promise with a mighty demonstration of His saving power.

Exodus 3:1-22

Moses was called to be a servant of God's people.

He was to be the leader who would play an important part in bringing the blessing of God to the people of Israel.

He was not to be a 'lone ranger.'

He was to "assemble the leaders of Israel" (Exodus 3:16).

He was to share with them the Lord's vision for His people's future.

God was taking them away from "misery."

He was leading them on to blessing - " a land flowing with milk and honey."

Moses was not to go to the Pharaoh as a 'lone ranger' - "you and the leaders must go to the King of Egypt" (Exodus 3:18).

There are important lessons here for God's servants today.

We move forward together - as "one body in Christ."

Exodus 4:1-31

In Moses, there is great weakness.

In the Lord, there is great strength.

By himself, Moses was completely out of his depth.

With God, Moses would go from strength to strength.

He had God's promise as well as God's command: "Now go, and I will help you speak and will teach you what to say" (Exodus 4:12).

Moses was not to be left on his own.

As well as having the help of the Lord, he would also have the help of Aaron, his brother: "I will help both of you speak, and I will teach you what to do" (Exodus 4:15).

Moses and Aaron were not to work in isolation from the other "leaders of the people of Israel."

They were to share with them "everything the Lord had said" (Exodus 4:29-30).

God's Word to Israel was a Word of power - He "did miraculous signs for the people" (Exodus 4:30) - and love - "The Lord was concened about the people of Israel" (Exodus 4:31).

Exodus 5:1-8:31

It gets worse before it gets better.

Things seemed to be going from bad to worse for God's people.

They become "discouraged" (Exodus 6:9).

They were unable to look beyond their present difficulties.

They needed the Lord's Word of encouragement - "The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I use My power against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of there" (£xodus 7:5).

Before there was salvation for Israel, there needed to be judgment for Egypt.

The judgments on Egypt (the "plagues") were a call to repentance.

If there had been a willingness to listen to God's Word at the beginning, these "plagues" would not have happened.

Each "plague" was a call to repentance as well as a judgment on disobedience.

Each "plague" could have been the last - if Pharaoh had said 'Yes' to the Lord.

Pharaoh said 'No', and the "plagues" continued.

Exodus 9:1-11:10

More plagues, more opportunities for repentance - God was appealing to Pharaoh to change his mind about God and the people of God.

The call to repentance was ignored.

Pharaoh put on a show of repentance (Exodus 9:27-28; Exodus 10:16-17).

- but he didn't mean it: "Pharaoh was stubborn", "the Lord made him stubborn" (Exodus 9:35; Exodus 10:20).

He was a man of unbelief.

God confirmed him in his unbelief.

the final plague - the death of the firstborn - represented the end of the road for Pharaoh - "the Lord made Pharaoh stubborn" (Exodus 11:10).

God was saying, 'Enough is enough.' God was going to bring His people out of Egyot - with or without Pharaoh's permission.

there were good things happening - "the Lord made the Egyptians kind to the people.

And Moses was highly respected by Pharaoh's officials and all the Egyptians" (Exodus 11:3) - but this didn't change the fact thatPharaoh was resistant to God.

This resistance did not hinder God in the outworking of His great purpose of salvation.

Exodus 12:1-13:22

The purpose of the Passover was to build a bridge between the past, the present and the future: "Remember this day - the day when you left Egypt, the land of slavery.

The Lord used His mighty hand to bring you out of there" (Exodus 13:3), "In the future, when your children ask you what this means, tell them, " 'The Lord used His mighty hand to bring us out of slavery in Egypt'" (Exodus 13:14).

What must be remembered about these events is this: the Lord was in control.

Once they had come out of Egypt, God continued to be in control of their journey.

In Exodus 13:17-18, we read that God closed one door - £the shortest route" - and opened another door.

God's perfect way may not always be "the shortest route" - but it is His way, and it'es the best way.

Exodus 14:1-15:27

Here, we see "the great power of the Lord" (Exodus 14:31).

This leads to worship - "I will sing to the Lord.

He has won a glorious victory ... The Lord is my strength and my song.

He is my Saviour.

This is my God and I will praise Him ... " (Exodus 15:1-2).

In thework of God's redemption, we see His love and power - "Lovingly You will lead the people You have saved.

Powerfully, You will guide them to Your holy dwelling" (Exodus 15:13).

This is the greatness of God's power - it is power which serves the purpose of His love.

The Lord is King - "The Lord will rule as King forever and ever" (Exodus 15:18).

He is not a tyrant.

He is not a dictator.

He is the King of love.

He loves us.

we are to love Him, living for Him and looking to Him to fulfil His promises in our lives.

Exodus 16:1-17:16

The Lord provides.

Through the provision of manna and water, the Lord sustains His people.

Strong in Him, they press on to victory.

This is a picture of the Christian life.

Before we can be soldiers of Christ, we must receive our strength from the Lord.

We come to Him, looking to Him for strength - His strength.

Jesus is the Bread of Life.

He is the Living Water (John 6:51: John 4:14).

Strengthened by Him, we will not be defeated.

We will be victorious - "more than conquerors through Him who loved us."

His love will give us the victory.

"Nothing will be able to separate us from His love" (Romans 8:37-39).

In the provision of manna and water, we see love.

In the victory over the Amalekites, we see the victory of love: "Love has the victory forever."

The God who loved His people - revealing His love in the Exodus, maintaining His love in the wilderness - gave them the victory.

Exodus 18:1-20:26

The Word of God tells us what God has done for His people: "the Lord saved them" (Exodus 18:8).

The Word of God teaches us that being saved by the Lord places us under responsibility to be obedient to Him (Exodus 19:4-5).

the vital connection betweensalvation and obedience is brought out clearly in the giving of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17).

Before speaking to His people about what they must do if they are to live as His obedient people, God reminds them of what He has done for them: "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of slavery in Egypt" (Exodus 20:2).