At Mercy Hill Church, we continued in our Let My People Go series this week through the book of Exodus. This series has shown us the character of God through His deliverance of His people. As we’ve seen so far:
- God saves people through His Savior for His glory.
- In His kindness, God invites us to know Him.
- God’s presence helps us push through fear and excuses.
- And this week, we focus on the foundational truth: God is our deliverer.
We live in a broken world filled with pain, sickness, and sin. There are foster children in our church who will forever hoard food because they know what it’s like to be hungry. People battle cancer, carry scars from abuse, and grieve the pain of abortion or domestic violence. And beyond the brokenness around us, we wrestle with sin and failure within ourselves. But the good news is that God doesn’t leave us there. He is a mighty deliverer who leads us out of slavery to sin and into eternal life through Jesus, the greater Moses.
There’s one question I want you to grapple with today: Do you know God as your deliverer? Take a look at Exodus 6:1-8.
Our God is Mighty
“But the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.’” -Exodus 6:1
This first verse in the passage today is a bit confusing. At first glance, it might seem like Pharaoh holds the power, but God makes it clear: Pharaoh’s actions are guided by His hand.
Imagine teaching a child to cast a fishing line. The child holds the rod, but your hand is over theirs, guiding the motion. That’s Pharaoh—powerful by human standards, yet under the sovereign hand of God. Throughout the Bible, we see many characteristics of God—His love, tenderness, compassion, faithfulness, and justice—but we cannot miss the attribute highlighted in this passage: He is mighty.
God is not only a loving Father—He is also a mighty warrior whose strength ensures our deliverance. “The Lord is a man of war” it says in Exodus 15:3. Isaiah 42:13 also highlights this attribute of God: “The Lord goes out like a mighty man… He shows himself mighty against his foes.” And this mighty God is also our deliverer and redeemer. The fact that He is mighty makes His deliverance that much sweeter, and this truth should change your heart towards Him.
When God Tells Moses Who He Is, He Connects It With What He Is Going to Do.
“God spoke to Moses and said to him, ‘I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them.’” -Exodus 6:2-3
This verse may seem puzzling, since God is referred to as Yahweh throughout Genesis. But theologians suggest that God is revealing a deeper understanding of His name here. The Lord is shedding new light on His name and relationship to His people.
This concept is called progressive revelation—this theological term simply means that as time goes on, God reveals more and more of His character.
Think about sitting in a deer blind at dawn. Everything looks like a deer in the low light. But as the sun rises, you realize what you thought were deer are actually trees and bushes. More light brings more truth. In the same way, God is revealing more of who He is through His actions—delivering His people from slavery so they will forever know Him as their Redeemer.
God is still Creator and Almighty, but now He reveals Himself as Deliverer. His identity is forever linked to His act of redemption.
There’s another point I want to make looking at these verses. God states that He appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and promised them a land. This story is one that the Israelites should know and cling to, but they were clearly not remembering. If the children of Israel could forget, how much more prone are we?
Parents and grandparents, there’s a call for us here! Our children need more than secondhand faith—they need to know and stand upon the Word of God. Let’s be intentional in teaching them who God is so they will know Him as their Deliverer. D.A. Carson said it like this: “One generation believes something. The next assume it. And the third will forget and deny it.” May this never be true of us!
Application: Trust God As Your Eternal Deliverer.
I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” -Exodus 6:7
God doesn’t just free His people—He adopts them into His family. He is to Israel what Boaz was to Ruth—a Kinsman Redeemer who says, “I will take you into my family.” Just as Ruth would forever see Boaz as her redeemer, Israel would forever see God as the One who delivered them.
How could we not be overwhelmed by what God has done for us? While Israel was delivered from slavery in Egypt, we are delivered from slavery to sin and death. Jesus is our greater Moses, leading us to the ultimate Promised Land—a new heaven and a new earth.
Take another look at Exodus 6:6: “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.”
Jesus stretched His arms out on the cross and took God’s judgment for our sin. The price of our redemption was His very life, and He paid it with joy so that we could dwell with Him forever.
In light of the truth of the gospel, I want to call you today to never get over your salvation. The gospel isn’t the diving board—it’s the pool. We don’t move beyond it; we grow deeper into it. Knowing God as our Deliverer cultivates a heart of gratitude that shapes how we live, love, and pursue holiness for the totality of our lives.
Do You Know God As The One Who Delivered You?
You might believe in God. You might know some Bible stories. But do you know Him as the One who delivered you?
A few months after 9/11, survivors began sharing stories of a mysterious man with a red bandana who helped save them. Welles Crowther, a 24-year-old equity trader on the 104th floor of the South Tower, had trained as a volunteer firefighter. When the planes struck, he tied a red bandana around his face and began rescuing people—carrying some down 15 flights of stairs and then heading back up to save more. His body was later found among firefighters in the rubble.
We all know that firefighters can save people. But to the 12 people Welles Crowther is credited with saving, he isn’t just a firefighter—he’s their personal rescuer. Their lives were changed forever because of what he did for them.
Now multiply that by infinity. Hebrews 2:15 says Jesus delivered us from slavery to the fear of death. Matthew 25:34 says He has given us the inheritance of His Kingdom. And in Exodus 20:2, God leads with His salvation: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
It changes us to know He saved us. Let your heart be stirred daily by this reality: you were once a slave to sin, but through Jesus, you have been set free. Let that truth shape the way you live and the way you love others.
And if you have never trusted Jesus as your Deliverer, why wait? Just as God delivered Israel from Egypt, He wants to deliver you from sin and death. Surrender your life to Him today, and experience the freedom that only He can give.
-Andrew Hopper, Lead Pastor
Watch the full sermon from week four of the “Let My People Go” series below:
