Dr. Paul Manuel—2003
When preaching, I generally treat a single biblical book or a single passage rather than doing a topical study, but this series is on the subject of divine deliverance. In each session I will address a different kind of deliverance that God provides for His people:
We will begin our series by looking at a passage that describes Physical Deliverance and asking quite a different question: Why does God even bother to deliver? Then we will extend the consideration to other passages to determine whether or not He is still in this line of work. Finally, we will try to predict when—that is, under what conditions—He might deliver. Because this is topical, I will either be moving through a large portion of text or referring to several passages, so please follow in your Bibles.
Our first text is the exodus account. I have chosen this passage because biblical writers often appeal to the exodus as the model, establishing that God Provides Physical Deliverance for His People. It also answers our first question...
A. Why does God provide physical deliverance?
In Exodus 3, Moses notices an unusual phenomenon, something that both intrigues him and informs him.
When I first read that verse, especially the last part, I thought: "God delivers His people because He is concerned about them." Then I looked at the Hebrew and discovered that what the NIV translates as "be concerned" is simply the verb "to know." In other words, the first reason God gives for delivering is quite basic...
Sometimes when I am scrabbling to produce, time is running out, I am behind schedule and am not even making good progress, I will be frantically trying to do whatever it is I am doing, and Linda will say to me: "I know it doesn't help much, but I love you." She is right: it does not help much. I am still scrabbling, time is still running out, I am still behind, and I am still not making progress. But if I take a moment to reflect on what she just said, I realize what she is telling me: that she is aware of my problem, that she has taken notice of it, and—by implication—that she cares; and that is good to know. Likewise, there is a certain comfort in realizing that God hears our cry, that He sees our suffering, and that He knows our plight, even if our situation has not changed.
Well, Israel's leaders upon hearing Moses' report consider it good news. We read in...
Back in chapter 3, verse 17, we find the second reason God provides deliverance...
How much of what goes on in your life is God's doing? ...This is a murky area for us today, because we are not inclined to attribute every good feeling or propitious event to divine activity, and rightly so.3 Nevertheless, you can probably point to some change in your situation whose best explanation is that God intervened, and it is those situations that transform your understanding of God. Suddenly, He is no longer a distant figure whom you know only through stories. When God acts, you come to know Him as you did not before.
The Israelites discovered, among other things, that God has His own schedule. Had I been in charge, I would have issued Pharaoh the ultimatum, skipped straight to the last plague when he did not comply, and Israel would have been out of Egypt within a week. God, however, stretches the entire operation out for several weeks. At first, the Israelites are disappointed, because their predicament gets worse instead of better.4 Nevertheless, the "delay"5 allows God to compile an impressive series of experiences for them that leave no doubt who is responsible for their deliverance when it finally comes, especially when the plagues become suspiciously selective, targeting Egyptian property and leaving Israelite property untouched.6 Divine intervention is simply the best explanation.
You may have noticed that I worded this third reason more generally than the first, saying that God wants "people" rather than "His people." to know Him through it. That is because, as the need for deliverance drags on, it attracts the attention of those who might not otherwise notice God's involvement. Had Pharaoh released Israel after Moses' initial request, most Egyptians would have attributed the decision to some political motivation and would probably not even have been aware of the spiritual motivation. But after blood, frogs, gnats, flies, disease, and boils, God has the attention of everyone in Egypt.7
Well, the plagues continue: hail, locusts, darkness, death of the firstborn. By the end of the last plague God has everyone's attention, and they all know the logical outcome of their leader's recalcitrance.
Related to this revelation is the fourth reason God provides deliverance, for there is a purpose to knowing about Him...
From the exodus story, we see four reasons why God provides physical deliverance. He knows His people need it, He fulfills His promise for it, He reveals His character by it, and He derives glory from it.
Of the kinds of deliverance we will consider, physical deliverance is the most difficult to apply. As those who have been grafted into Israel, we should review this account of the exodus and even view ourselves as having benefited from it,9 but it still happened 3500 years ago. Was this an isolated incident, or has God provided physical deliverance for His people since then? Moreover, does God provide individual deliverance or just national deliverance?
We could cite several biblical examples that God has continued to deliver and that He responds to the individual needs of His people.
Does God always provide physical deliverance? David, having the advantage of extensive personal experience, says "Yes!" in...
In posing the question—"Does God always provide physical deliverance?"—what we are really asking is a more personal one—"Will God provide physical deliverance for me?" Perhaps the question is better phrased...
B. When does God provide physical deliverance?
Returning to the exodus account, we note that the Israelites spent quite a while in slavery to Pharaoh before God delivered them. We read in...
If we could survey all the biblical data, we would see that God delivers His people far more frequently than He does not. I cited only two examples from Paul's life, one pro and the other con, giving the impression that the evidence is evenly divided. It is not; Paul experienced God's deliverance on many more occasions, and there is a certainty of deliverance that permeates Paul's letters.[16] This certainty is more representative of the biblical text, because the impression we get as we read the scriptures is that God delights in providing physical deliverance for His people, which is why He says in...
- Physical deliverance
- Spiritual deliverance
- Final deliverance
- Dependable deliverance
A blonde [no one in this congregation] decides to try horseback riding, even though she has had no lessons or prior experience. She mounts the horse unassisted, and it immediately springs into motion. It gallops along at a steady and rhythmic pace, but the blonde begins to slip from the saddle. In terror, she grabs for the horse's mane but cannot get a firm grip. She tries to throw her arms around the horse's neck but slides down the side anyway. The horse gallops along, seemingly ignorant of its slipping rider. Finally, giving up her frail grip, the blonde attempts to leap from the horse and throw herself to safety. Unfortunately, her foot becomes entangled in the stirrup, and she is now at the mercy of the horse's pounding hooves as her head strikes repeatedly against the ground. She starts to lose consciousness, but to her great fortune... Bobby, the Wal-Mart greeter, runs over and unplugs the horse.Even better than Bobby, the Wal-Mart greeter, God is able to help when you need deliverance.
We will begin our series by looking at a passage that describes Physical Deliverance and asking quite a different question: Why does God even bother to deliver? Then we will extend the consideration to other passages to determine whether or not He is still in this line of work. Finally, we will try to predict when—that is, under what conditions—He might deliver. Because this is topical, I will either be moving through a large portion of text or referring to several passages, so please follow in your Bibles.
Our first text is the exodus account. I have chosen this passage because biblical writers often appeal to the exodus as the model, establishing that God Provides Physical Deliverance for His People. It also answers our first question...
A. Why does God provide physical deliverance?
In Exodus 3, Moses notices an unusual phenomenon, something that both intrigues him and informs him.
Exod 3:2 [T]he angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, "1 will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up." 4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." ...7 The LORD said, "1 have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.God Himself provides the rationale for this deliverance. In v. 7 He says, "I have seen their misery; I have heard their crying; I am concerned about their suffering."
When I first read that verse, especially the last part, I thought: "God delivers His people because He is concerned about them." Then I looked at the Hebrew and discovered that what the NIV translates as "be concerned" is simply the verb "to know." In other words, the first reason God gives for delivering is quite basic...
1. He knows His people need it (Exod 3:7-8; cf. 4:3 1).This is easy to forget when you are suffering, because the immediacy of your predicament often overwhelms you. Nevertheless, if you will reflect on it, there is a certain comfort in realizing that God hears your cry, that He sees your suffering, that He knows your plight, even if your situation has not changed.
Sometimes when I am scrabbling to produce, time is running out, I am behind schedule and am not even making good progress, I will be frantically trying to do whatever it is I am doing, and Linda will say to me: "I know it doesn't help much, but I love you." She is right: it does not help much. I am still scrabbling, time is still running out, I am still behind, and I am still not making progress. But if I take a moment to reflect on what she just said, I realize what she is telling me: that she is aware of my problem, that she has taken notice of it, and—by implication—that she cares; and that is good to know. Likewise, there is a certain comfort in realizing that God hears our cry, that He sees our suffering, and that He knows our plight, even if our situation has not changed.
Well, Israel's leaders upon hearing Moses' report consider it good news. We read in...
Exod 4:29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites.... 31 And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.At this point, they are still slaves and still suffering, yet realizing that God is aware of their plight and of their hope for deliverance, that He knows His people need it, is good enough news to elicit their worship.
Back in chapter 3, verse 17, we find the second reason God provides deliverance...
2. He fulfills His promise for it (Exod 3:17).
Exod 3:17 ...I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into...a land flowing with milk and honey.'The reference here is to a statement God made to Abraham that, although his descendants would move from Canaan to Egypt, they would eventually return to Canaan.1 As the narrative continues, however, it becomes clear that this promised deliverance is not immediate. On the contrary, the plight of God's people actually gets worse, for when Moses issues God's demand, Pharaoh counters by increasing his demand on God's people.
Exod 5:17 Pharaoh said, "Lazy, that's what you are...! That is why you keep saying, 'Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.' 18 Now get to work. [As punishment for your laziness] You will not be given any straw, yet you must produce your full quota of bricks."Understandably dismayed, the people complain to Moses, and Moses complains to God. God, however, reiterates what He said earlier (in chapter 3) and adds a third reason for deliverance in chapter 6 (v. 7b):2
Exod 6:5 I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 ...I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.... 7b Then you will know that I am the LORD your God....God provides deliverance because He knows His people need it, because He fulfills His promise for it, and because...
3. He reveals His character by it (Exod 6:7; 9:14-16).The Israelites knew about God. They had the stories from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (3:15). They had heard, for example, of God's power when He destroyed Sodom and of His grace when He rescued Lot. Yet, there is a difference between knowing about God second hand and knowing God first hand.
How much of what goes on in your life is God's doing? ...This is a murky area for us today, because we are not inclined to attribute every good feeling or propitious event to divine activity, and rightly so.3 Nevertheless, you can probably point to some change in your situation whose best explanation is that God intervened, and it is those situations that transform your understanding of God. Suddenly, He is no longer a distant figure whom you know only through stories. When God acts, you come to know Him as you did not before.
The Israelites discovered, among other things, that God has His own schedule. Had I been in charge, I would have issued Pharaoh the ultimatum, skipped straight to the last plague when he did not comply, and Israel would have been out of Egypt within a week. God, however, stretches the entire operation out for several weeks. At first, the Israelites are disappointed, because their predicament gets worse instead of better.4 Nevertheless, the "delay"5 allows God to compile an impressive series of experiences for them that leave no doubt who is responsible for their deliverance when it finally comes, especially when the plagues become suspiciously selective, targeting Egyptian property and leaving Israelite property untouched.6 Divine intervention is simply the best explanation.
You may have noticed that I worded this third reason more generally than the first, saying that God wants "people" rather than "His people." to know Him through it. That is because, as the need for deliverance drags on, it attracts the attention of those who might not otherwise notice God's involvement. Had Pharaoh released Israel after Moses' initial request, most Egyptians would have attributed the decision to some political motivation and would probably not even have been aware of the spiritual motivation. But after blood, frogs, gnats, flies, disease, and boils, God has the attention of everyone in Egypt.7
Exod 9:13 Then the LORD said to Moses, "...confront Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go... 14 or...I will send the full force of my plagues against you...and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. 16 But I have raised you up [or spared you] for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."The situation may be similar for you. You may need physical deliverance from a harsh work environment, an impossible semester, a financial crisis, or a debilitating illness; and, despite your best efforts, the situation does not improve. As the problem drags on, however, others become aware of your plight and of your frustrated attempts to resolve it so that when God finally acts, those who notice your difficulty can also know Him (in a sense) through your deliverance.
Well, the plagues continue: hail, locusts, darkness, death of the firstborn. By the end of the last plague God has everyone's attention, and they all know the logical outcome of their leader's recalcitrance.
Exod 12:33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. "For otherwise," they said, "we will all die!"The Egyptians may not know God as the Israelites do, but they are well aware that some being whose powers far exceed anything their own gods can muster has been escalating the urgency of His demands. If they do not act now, soon they may no longer be around to act. This is not particularly complete or comfortable knowledge about God, but it is knowledge nevertheless. God provides deliverance because He reveals His character by it.
Related to this revelation is the fourth reason God provides deliverance, for there is a purpose to knowing about Him...
4. He derives His glory from it (Exod 14:17-18).The story reaches a climax when, after the Israelites are on their way, Pharaoh changes his mind and leads his military forces to bring them back. The former slaves find themselves in an even worse predicament than before, trapped now between the sea and the pursuing army. There is no way out...that is, not until God intervenes by parting the sea and by stating the final reason for deliverance.
Exod 14:17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.It is to God's advantage to deliver His people from their distress, because deliverance brings honor to God. He derives glory from it, through the demonstration of His greatness: the greatness of His power and the greatness of His mercy.8
From the exodus story, we see four reasons why God provides physical deliverance. He knows His people need it, He fulfills His promise for it, He reveals His character by it, and He derives glory from it.
Of the kinds of deliverance we will consider, physical deliverance is the most difficult to apply. As those who have been grafted into Israel, we should review this account of the exodus and even view ourselves as having benefited from it,9 but it still happened 3500 years ago. Was this an isolated incident, or has God provided physical deliverance for His people since then? Moreover, does God provide individual deliverance or just national deliverance?
We could cite several biblical examples that God has continued to deliver and that He responds to the individual needs of His people.
- When David volunteers to face Goliath, King Saul asks in amazement how he can even consider such a mismatch. David answers:
1 Sam 17:37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.
- When Herod places Peter in chains to await execution, the apostle dreams of being rescued by an angel, only to discover that it is not a dream.
Acts 12:11 Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches...."
- When Paul is under arrest and sailing to Rome, the ship encounters a terrible storm, convincing the crew all is lost, but he encourages them.
God has proven by these and other instances that the exodus was not an isolated event and that deliverance in not just national, that it is also individual, and that He continues to deliver His people.Acts 27:23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.
Does God always provide physical deliverance? David, having the advantage of extensive personal experience, says "Yes!" in...
Ps 34:17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.... 19 A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all.Anyone who reads the biblical text must admit that David was an authority on physical deliverance. Yet, what are we to do with instances that seem to contradict his assertion?10 For example, Paul speaks about a "thorn in the flesh" and about his repeated supplications to God for deliverance from it. Instead, God said to Paul:
2 Cor 12:9a My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.I guess this is God's polite way of saying "No!" How, then, can we reconcile David's experience with Paul's experience? It is one thing to bring suffering on ourselves through our own sin; then we may be on pretty shaky ground expecting God to deliver us, as when David pleaded in vain for the life of Bathsheba's son, conceived through their adulterous relationship,11 but Paul's suffering is not the result of his sin.
In posing the question—"Does God always provide physical deliverance?"—what we are really asking is a more personal one—"Will God provide physical deliverance for me?" Perhaps the question is better phrased...
B. When does God provide physical deliverance?
Returning to the exodus account, we note that the Israelites spent quite a while in slavery to Pharaoh before God delivered them. We read in...
Exod 12:40 ...the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years.I doubt that God waited so long because, until then, no one had complained. Even after He starts the process, He drags it out longer than seems necessary. Similarly, David spent years fleeing from Saul before God finally delivered him,12 despite David's repeated pleas.13 The point is that God's schedule does not always coincide with our own. Hence, when He does not deliver immediately, we should not assume either that He does not hear us or that He will not help us but realize that...
1. He provides it in His own time (Exod 12:40).Furthermore, as we saw in the exodus account, God's decision to deliver His people is not arbitrary. He has specific reasons for what He does...as well as for what He does not do. When He does not deliver Paul from his "thorn in the flesh," it is because deliverance in that case would not have been in Paul's best interest, as Paul himself admits:
2 Cor 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh.It is helpful to know the reason when God does not deliver. At least then one can justify suffering by appealing to some lofty purpose, but usually we are not sure.14 We simply have to accept the fact that when it comes to deliverance...
2. He provides it on His own terms (cf. 2 Cor 12:17).I wish there were more data on this point. I wish I could formulate a general principle that if God does not give you a reason for rejecting your request for deliverance within a certain time after you submit it—say, twenty-four hours—you can then be sure He has accepted your request and will eventually deliver you...but that is not how He operates. Apparently, God considers it more important that you trust His judgment, that you believe He really has your best interests at heart.15 Consequently, if God delays or even denies your deliverance, you should not assume that He has forsaken you or failed you. Rather, you should keep in mind that He provides it when and how He sees fit and that His decision will ultimately and always work to your benefit.
If we could survey all the biblical data, we would see that God delivers His people far more frequently than He does not. I cited only two examples from Paul's life, one pro and the other con, giving the impression that the evidence is evenly divided. It is not; Paul experienced God's deliverance on many more occasions, and there is a certainty of deliverance that permeates Paul's letters.[16] This certainty is more representative of the biblical text, because the impression we get as we read the scriptures is that God delights in providing physical deliverance for His people, which is why He says in...
Ps 50:15 [C]all upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you....Why should He issue such an invitation if He has no intention of honoring it?! As a general principle, then, we can say that God Provides Physical Deliverance for His People, which means that you can and should expect Him to provide physical deliverance for you.
For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.
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Jim Skaggs