#65. “Ye shall know that I am the Lord” (Exodus)

     Before we leave  Exodus xxix.  one phrase occurring in verse 46 demands our attention:

     “And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them:  I am the LORD their God.”

     The expression:  “they shall know that I am the Lord” is one that comes over and over again in different settings, and it seems a fitting opportunity to pause here and give it consideration.  It occurs first in Exodus in connection with the promise of redemption, it runs through Exodus, both in connection with Israel and the Egyptians, and the closing references are connected with sanctification  (xxix. 46  &  xxxi. 13).   Seven references deal with Israel, seven with the plagues of Egypt, and two have to do with individuals — Jethro and Moses.

     The seven passages that are concerned with Israel are as follows:

     The seven passages that are concerned with Egyptians are similar in arrangement:

A1   |   vii. 5.   Egyptians shall know.

A2   |   vii. 17.   Plague connected with river    \

        |   viii. 10.   Plague lifted from waters      /

        |   ix. 14.   Plagues sent upon heart                 \

        |   x. 2.   Signs wrought among them              /

        |   xiv. 4.   God obtains honour upon Pharaoh at Red Sea    \

        |   xiv. 8.   God obtains honour upon Pharaoh at Red Sea    /

     Thus there is a twofold way in which this mighty lesson of the ages is impressed.  The Lord’s people learn by the judgments that fall upon the ungodly, and by the Lord’s own dealing with themselves.  The ungodly, too, are to learn this lesson, even though in their case it will not bring similar blessings.  We are more concerned just now, however, with the Lord’s people, and the way in which they are led along this pathway of knowledge.  The first step must, in the nature of things, be redemption.

     “By My name Jehovah was I not KNOWN to them … I will REDEEM you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments … and ye shall KNOW that I am the Lord your God, which bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” (Exod. vi. 3-7).

     The patriarchs certainly heard and used the name Jehovah.  Abram “called on the name of Jehovah” (Gen. xiii. 4).  Abram said, “I have lifted up mine hand unto Jehovah” (xiv. 2), and named the mountain of his great trial of faith, “Jehovah-Jireh” (xxii. 14).  Isaac “intreated Jehovah for his wife” (xxv. 21), and to Jacob the revelation was made at Bethel:  “I am Jehovah, God of Abraham thy father” (xxviii.13).  Yet it could be said that the name Jehovah was not known unto them.

     This immediately revolutionizes our idea of what knowledge is.  How did Israel know that name in a way that was radically different from any experience of man hitherto?  The answer must be found in their actual deliverance from Egypt, and the manifestation of the power of the Lord in that deliverance.  His judgment upon the gods of Egypt, and their oppressors, His remembrance of His covenant, and, moreover, the fact that the redemption from Egypt was not only by power, but through the shedding of blood — all this, and more, led to the point wherein it could be said that Israel knew the Lord.  This is a foundation truth still.  Men may be acquainted with the “God of Creation” and “Providence”, but to know Him necessitates an experience of redeeming grace.

     The next step that Israel had to take in this deepening knowledge was the lesson of separation, viz., “I will sever” (Exod. viii. 22), “the Lord put a difference” (xi. 7).  This distinction is twofold:  (1) In connection with divine judgment.  (2) In connection with human judgment.   This “severing” of the land of Goshen from the rest of Egypt, and so separating it from the sphere of judgment, is called a “sign”, and the words “I will put a division” read, as the margin shows, “I will put a redemption”.  One of the first great results of redemption is this complete separation from judgment.  “There is therefore now no condemnation.”  Even though the child of God be chastened by the Lord, he cannot be condemned with the world (I Cor. xi. 32).

    

    The Lord, Who “severed” Israel from the divine judgments, “put a difference” between the Egyptians and the Israelites, in that He would not allow even a dog to move his tongue against them.  In later prophecies this blessing is expanded.

     “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper;  and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of Me, saith the LORD” (Isaiah.liv.17).

     This twofold difference was made with the object that,

(1)   “Thou (Pharaoh) mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth” (Exod.viii.22).

(2)   “Ye (Israel) may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel (Exod. xi. 7).

     Israel had still more to learn of the Lord before their lesson was complete, and the next step in it was reserved for the wilderness.  The Lord Who delivers from the bondage of sin has pledged Himself to lead us every step of the way to glory.  This is all involved in the work of redemption.  If we look back once more to  Exodus vi.,  we shall find that the Lord’s activities do not finish with the deliverance from Egypt, but He goes on to say:  “And I will bring you into the land, concerning the which I did sware to give it to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob” (Exod. vi. 8).  Here Israel failed.  They said:  “Ye have brought us forth unto this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger” (xvi. 3).  Now, ordinary common sense should have prevented such foolish reasoning, but unbelief is ever illogical.  If God had indeed delivered Israel by such a series of marvels, even to the crossing of the Red Sea dry shod, surely He could provide for the pilgrim journey;  so Moses said:

     “At even, then ye shall know that the LORD hath brought you out from the land of Egypt” (Exod. xvi. 6).  “Ye shall know that I am the LORD” (xvi. 12).

     This lesson is expressed in more doctrinal language in such passages as the following:

     “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. viii. 32).

     “For all things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come;  all are yours;  and ye are Christ's;  and Christ is God's” (I Cor. iii. 21-23).

     The last step of the lesson is connected with sanctification:

     “I will sanctify the tabernacle … and the altar, I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons … I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.  And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them:  I am the LORD their God” (Exod. xxix. 44-46).

     “Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep:  for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations;  that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you” (Exod. xxxi. 13).

     The knowledge of the Lord, though it commences with redemption, is not complete until the object of redemption is attained, viz., the sanctification of the people, and the dwelling of the Lord with them.  We shall never have an adequate knowledge of the Lord unless His intense desire for the full heart-confidence of His people is appreciated.  In the full sense, Israel have yet this final phase to learn.  When the “tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them” (Rev. xxi. 3), when the earth is “filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord” (Hab. ii. 14), when the life of the ages is really entered, then the knowledge of the Lord will at length be attained.

     “And this is life eternal (aionion), with the object that (hina) they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent” (John xvii. 3).

     Without going into the references to “knowing” in  John xvii.,  we suggest the following supplement to the seven passages in Exodus to all readers who desire to pursue these studies:

    In addition to the sevenfold testimony in Exodus, both to Israel and the Egyptians, there is a twofold personal testimony (Jethro and Moses) that rounds off the record.

     “Blessed be the LORD, Who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, Who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians.  Now i know that the LORD is greater than all gods:  for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly He was above them” (Exodus.xviii.10,11).

     “Now therefore, i pray Thee, if i have found grace in Thy sight, shew me now Thy way, that i may KNOW Thee, that i may find grace in Thy sight:  and consider that this nation is Thy people.  And He said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest … so shall we be separated, i and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth” (Exod. xxxiii. 13-16).

     Here are two points of view.  Jethro learns the infinite greatness of the Lord as related to the gods of Egypt.  Moses even though he had learned this, presses on to better knowledge.  “Shew me Thy way, that i may know Thee”, and that ultimate way is a way of fellowship, “My presence”, and that fellowship is a way of peace, “I will give you rest”.  This fellowship, in its turn, manifested Israel’s sanctification, “Thou goest with us, so shall we be separated”.

    Though we may have touched upon the references in Exodus, a great field yet lies before us.  The prophecy of Ezekiel, for example, contains at least 70 references to different experiences of judgment and grace, “that they may know that I am the Lord”.  We must leave untouched the blessed results that follow from a knowledge of the Lord;  this must form the theme of another paper.  We can, however, at all times take the attitude of the apostle when he said, “That i may know Him”.