Ex 6:2, God spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I am the Lord… 
	This morning, we will continue with our consideration of the declaration of God to Moses that He is the Lord God Almighty, Yahweh, the I Am. We will do so on the basis that God was making known the fact that He was the Lord God Almighty, the Sovereign Ruler and Leader of His People. This was the position which He had not claimed previously because He had not, to that point, worked to the increase of the sons of Israel into a nation who were in need of a King. 
That nation in need of a king was now in place as a result of the Lord’s blessing the sons of Israel even though they were in slavery in Egypt. They had prospered and grown, during those 400 years of slavery, to the point that they were now numerous enough to go forth into the Promised Land as they followed the guidance and the direction of the Lord God Almighty. He went before them and He was their Guide, their Protector, their Redeemer and their Lord.  
	God, their Lord and King, was to be their everything and they were to honor Him in His every capacity as He ruled and overruled in their establishment within the land of Promise. As we read in Ex 20:2-6, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before Me. "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 
	God was very clear in His expectations for the nation of Israel to honor and to obey Him. He would provide their every need and give them safety and peace if they would but choose to know Him as their only Lord, both God and Sovereign King. These were the ones to whom God was opening His heart of love and mercy and grace through the power of their deliverance from bondage and slavery. 
	He further provided for their earthly security and safety from the diseases and the plagues of those nations surrounding them by the giving of the 10 Commandments. His Law was to serve as their guidance away from all those traps and snares and the defilement that so cursed and rotted the bodies and souls of the nations surrounding His Beloved and Chosen people. 
	God was very clear in the reason and the benefit that would be derived from so honoring Him and His Law as the course of walk for this peculiar nation. They were to be peculiar in the sense that they would not be as the other nations of the world, but would enjoy the full blessing and security of being the people of God. They were set apart and unique in the fact that they were completely lead forth in the power and the splendor of the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. 
Lev 18:1-5, Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'I am the Lord your God. 'You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. 'You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. 'So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord. 
	Thus will we read in scripture the history of this nation as they journeyed forth under the direct guidance and administration of God as their King. While they chose to serve Him and to honor Him, they flourished in the land of Promise. However, after entering the Promised Land, it was not long until they did not fully obey the every direction of God. Their hearts were swayed within them and they demanded to be just like every other nation with an earthly king to rule over them. Despite the desperate warnings of what an earthly king would do, they still lusted to be just like all the other nations and thus turned away from God as their Lord and King.
	1 Sam 8:7-9, And the Lord said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day — in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods —  so they are doing to you also. Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them." 
God’s people rejected the blessing and the security and the joy of having the Lord God Almighty as their king. They chose rather to be led by a fallible human king who would cause them to be subjected to all the foibles and flaws and mistakes under which all the other nations of the world existed. They gave up the peace and the righteousness and the relationship with God that made them unique in order to be exactly like all the other nations.
	The people’s call for an earthly king made it very evident that they preferred to be governed by someone they could see even though he would lead them into unrighteousness and sorrow. This was their preference over the holiness and the sanctification and the peace of the Lord Whom they could not see. To be governed by the Lord required faith and trust and steadfast devotion on their part, and they were not willing to invest themselves, as a nation unto God in that manner. 
	Nevertheless, God did not forsake His people or remove His Sovereignty from their midst. He watched over those who remained loyal to Him and whose hearts still desired to honor and to obey Him and who wanted to know Him as the Lord God, Almighty. We find this greatly detailed throughout the writing of the Prophet Isaiah as we hear the Word of God declared as in Isa 42:8+9. "I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images. "Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you." 
	God remained true to Himself and to His promise for the blessing of all the nations of the earth through the seed of Abraham. The nation may have rejected Him, but He was still the Lord God, Yahweh. He was going to make it very evident, through the working of His Omnipotence and His Omniscience, that He would do everything that He proclaimed. He would not give up His place as the Sovereign Lord God Almighty. 
The nation of Israel might have rejected Him, but He was still the One Who ruled and overruled, even through the use of the brute force of the other nations, to accomplish all that was His eternal plan and purpose. Those, whose hearts remained true could see the mighty working of God even in the eventual enslavement and exile of that nation which once honored God as its King. Though they forsook that relationship of utter dependence upon His Divine Sovereignty, the I Am, the Lord, was still making Himself known to that remnant who called upon His name and trusted in Him.
	God made it very evident that He was to have the place of preeminence in the hearts of those who would seek Him and honor Him and live according to His statues and His ways. Isa 43:11+12, "I, even I, am the Lord; And there is no savior besides Me. "It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses," declares the Lord, "And I am God. 
He was speaking to those who would choose Him as their Everything. It was a relationship of love and trust and honor and reverence and fear unto His Holiness and His Righteousness and His Providence and His Peace and His Joy and His Sustenance. Very literally, He was and is the all and all of those Who will so choose to know Him in life and sanctification. 
	Again, as we read together in Isa 43:15-21, if you would please turn to it. Isa 43:15-21, "I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King." Thus says the Lord, Who makes a way through the sea And a path through the mighty waters, Who brings forth the chariot and the horse, The army and the mighty man (They will lie down together and not rise again; They have been quenched and extinguished like a wick): "Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. "Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert. "The beasts of the field will glorify Me; The jackals and the ostriches; Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My chosen people. "The people whom I formed for Myself, Will declare My praise. 
	The new thing that God was establishing was the knowledge of Himself in His people not as just their Lord and Sovereign, but as their Heavenly Father. This was the opening of the heart of God unto those who would so choose to know Him in a living and personal relationship that far transcended just a king. He was completing the process by which He would send His Only Begotten Son to make fully evident the fact that God is not just the Lord God Almighty, but He is Our Heavenly Father by Whom eternal life is manifested in the perfect sacrifice of His Beloved. 
	Only Yahweh, the I Am, The Lord, could and would do such a marvelous and eternal work. Isa 44:6-8, "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me. 'And who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming And the events that are going to take place. 'Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.'" 
	This knowledge of The Lord in a living relationship was further declared by the Prophet Jeremiah in Jer 9:23+24. Thus says the Lord, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the Lord. 
	The Prophet Malachi detailed what God would do in order to make Himself so fully known in the hearts and minds of His blessed ones. Please turn to Mal 3:1-10. Mal 3:1-10, "Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the Lord of hosts. "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. "And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness. "Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord, as in the days of old and as in former years. "Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien, and do not fear Me," says the Lord of hosts. "For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. "From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from My statutes, and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the Lord of hosts. "But you say, 'How shall we return?' "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, 'How have we robbed Thee?' In tithes and offerings. "You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you! "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the Lord  of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. 
	There would be an establishment of the Lordship of God, not in terms of political power, but in the reality of that life in which God would be the One to Whom His people would turn their hearts and their desires and their thoughts and their all. The Heart of God, opened through His Son would be met with the heart of His People, so seeking to give Him honor and adoration and reverence in a perfect service of worship and trust.
	We conclude with the message given by the Apostle Paul to the citizens of Athens as recorded in Acts 17:24-31, if you would care to follow along. Acts 17:24-31, "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His offspring.' "Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." 
God has opened His heart to all in Jesus Christ. It is only in Him that we will come into the full knowledge of Yahweh, the I Am, the Lord God Almighty, not as an entity, but as Our All in All. So be it!
God spoke further to Moses and said to him, "I am the Lord… Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Jude 24+25. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.