The plagues were not random punishments but deliberate judgments revealing Yahweh’s supremacy over Egypt’s gods and over all spiritual powers. The plagues expose false order and false mercy by unraveling Egypt’s Ma’at and showing that only Yahweh brings true order, light, and life. Through the chaos He sends, God displays His grace—holding creation together by His word; His mercy—sparing His people not because they deserve it but because He is compassionate; and His unrivaled power—defeating every rival deity, culminating in the darkness that shames Amon-Ra and anticipates the death and resurrection of Jesus, the true Light of the world. Therefore, like Psalm 105 urges, we respond by thanking, praising, seeking, and remembering the Lord for His mighty works and saving grace.

In Exodus 7:1–7, we meet the God who hardens hearts—not as a cruel puppeteer or powerless bystander but as the sovereign Lord who strengthens the will already set against Him, so that His name might be known in all the earth. Pharaoh’s resistance becomes the stage for God’s revelation: that He alone is Yahweh, the covenant-keeper who liberates His people and humbles the proud. Every act of judgment and mercy in the Exodus displays His faithfulness, pointing forward to the greater deliverance in Christ. At the cross, the God who once hardened the proud heart of Pharaoh softens the hearts of rebels, revealing His glory fully in Jesus—the One who laid down His own will to accomplish the Father’s.

In Exodus 5, Israel learns that everyone serves someone—and that the wrong master only multiplies burdens. Pharaoh’s command to “get back to your burdens” exposes the cruelty of false masters who demand more and give nothing. But Jesus, the greater Master, stands before the weary and says, “Come to me… and I will give you rest.” This sermon traces the contrast between Pharaoh’s yoke and Christ’s, showing that true freedom is not found in autonomy but in serving the gentle and lowly Lord whose service becomes our rest.

In one of the strangest and most debated stories in Scripture, God meets Moses on the road to Egypt—not to bless him, but to kill him. In Exodus 4:18–26, we see both the terrifying wrath and the steadfast love of God collide in one moment of blood and mercy. Moses, the chosen deliverer, had neglected the covenant sign; and yet through the blood of his son, the wrath of God was turned away. This strange encounter is not a detour from the gospel—it reveals it. In the blood that spared Moses, we glimpse the blood that would one day save us all: the Son cut off so that we might live.

The whole Bible points to Jesus, and in this story of Moses receiving three signs from Yahweh, we get to witness not merely parallels to Jesus' story but rather the establishment of a pattern which Jesus would fulfill perfectly. Moses is chosen to be the shepherd-messenger, and one thousand years later, Jesus would be the Good Shepherd. Moses brought a message of being freed from slavery to Egypt, while Jesus brought a message of being freed from sin. Moses was given three signs to help the Israelites believe his message, but these three signs were not magic tricks; they were signs of transformation and hope, pointing to the hope we have in Christ, who became sin in our place and was struck that we might be spared.

This sermon contrasts the despair of praying to an unknown god with the hope of knowing Yahweh by name. When Moses asks, “What is his name?” God reveals himself as “I Am Who I Am." He is existence itself — absolute personality, freedom, and eternality. Yet this revelation alone could remain distant and even terrifying. The good news is that Yahweh also names himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — a covenantal God who binds himself to his people in love and faithfulness. He is not simply God in the abstract but God-for-us, inviting all who believe to share in the promises made to Abraham. This covenant commitment finds its deepest fulfillment in the incarnation: Yahweh takes on flesh in Jesus, “Yahweh saves.” In Christ, the eternal “I Am” becomes vulnerable, even killable, for our sake. The New Testament bears witness that Jesus is Yahweh, doing the works and receiving the honors due only to God. Thus the call is clear: confess Jesus as Lord, believe in his resurrection, and find deliverance. Unlike a vague prayer “to every god,” prayer to Jesus rests on the sure name of the God who is, who was, and who is to come — the God who saves.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not primarily about how we are freed from sin and forgiven. It’s primarily about how God made a way to dwell with us forever. The good news doesn’t end at the cross; nor does it end at the empty tomb. The story reaches its full conclusion at the burning edge of the first New Creation dawn, when heaven and earth fully unite and we are right in the midst of God’s eternal, glorious presence forever — enjoying him and being enjoyed by him. Entirely and utterly caught up into Blessedness himself. So one vital part of that gospel message is that Jesus frees us from sin, and in him we are forgiven. But there’s so much more! Similarly, it’s so easy to think that the book of Exodus is all about how God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt. But it’s not. That’s just the prelude. Exodus is primarily about how God made a way to dwell with his people.

In Exodus 2:23–25, we see Israel move from slavery to groaning to prayer—and God responds with salvation. This shows us that God will not deliver us from what we still love, but when we come to hate our sin and groan under its weight, he delights to hear our cries and act on his covenant promises. Human hopes will always disappoint, but when our groans turn to true prayer in Jesus’ name, God hears, sees, remembers, and knows—acting not on the basis of our worthiness but on the basis of his covenant with Christ. Therefore, every believer can have confidence that God answers prayers, because for him to ignore the cry of one for whom Christ died would be to break his promise, betray his Son, and waste his suffering.