The Story: Deliverance
This is a really exciting chapter. You really need to read the whole thing through for yourself. Basically in chapter four of The Story, which we will be looking at this week, God reveals Himself in three ways as He carries out a bold plan to deliver His chosen people from slavery. I’ll let you discover what those three ways are for yourself.
God has many different names and each one reveals a different part of his character. I love the name “Wonderful Counsellor” as I often need advice on how to deal with certain situations. Other favourites of mine include “Abba” which means “daddy” and “The Rock”. I wonder what names you relate to the most?
The name of God revealed this week is the Hebrew word, Yahweh. In English it means “I am who I am”. This name is not as easy to understand as others but I believe that God is trying to get across to a people beaten down through years of slavery that He is someone who has always been there. “I am” a God who was with the first created beings. “I am” a God who was there when the world was destroyed by a flood. “I am” God.
As we read on through the chapter we discover a powerful God as He allows 10 plagues to come to Egypt before Pharaoh finally lets the slaves leave.
There is one thought comes across to me very powerfully in this chapter. It is that the “upper story” begins to be described in more detail. The God who we have been following since chapter one will always search for ways to keep connected to us. The many stories of different individuals all seem to include this thought – that God is desperate to stay in touch with us. It is His plan to restore the connections broken by sin.
The tenth plague not only reveals God’s power right there in Egypt but it reveals His plan for the shedding of blood on the cross, involving sacrifice and death that will enable Him to restore His relationship with us forever. It helps us start to realise that our involvement with God and acceptance of what He offers is our own decision to make, a decision that leads to either death or life with Him forever.
