I Can't Breathe

Dearly beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the notice in our text this evening is rather bleak and definitely heartbreaking. The children of Israel did not heed Moses, because they couldn't breathe.
Now, you don't need me to relate this text to the wave of protests that swept the USA and indeed the whole world last summer. That wave of protests was triggered by George Floyd's dying words, "I can't breathe." Well, brothers and sisters, Scripture tells us that this was the harsh lot of the people of God under Pharaoh's bondage. Even worse, the people's inability to breathe is followed up in short succession by Moses' inability to speak. The man God sent to announce His deliverance wasn't able to properly express what he had been sent to say.
What a mess we are. We can't even breathe properly. Our leaders, our spokesmen who are supposed to speak truth to power, have uncircumcised lips. Yet sandwiched between these two reasons for despair comes God's demand that Pharaoh be told to let Israel go. As we will see over the next several chapters, God's word is going to prevail. Despite the people's shortness of breath, despite Moses' foul mouth, God could and did free them. Why? Because His promises are superior to all circumstances, feelings, and defilements/lacks.