Exodus 6:1 – 9 “But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh, for because of My mighty hand he will let them go; because of My strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” God also told Moses, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but I did not make Myself known to them by My name, ‘the LORD.’ I also established My covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land where they lived as foreigners. Furthermore, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered My covenant.
Therefore tell the Israelites: ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD!’” Moses relayed this message to the Israelites, but on account of their broken spirit and cruel bondage, they did not listen to him.”
Things are heating up in Egypt! Moses finds himself stuck between the Israelites, who are blaming him for their suffering and Pharaoh, who views him as a trouble maker. Things are getting even worse as Pharaoh’s task masters take this opportunity to abuse the Israelite workers.
The Israelites are thrilled when they first hear the message from Moses, but now they wish Moses had stuck with those sheep in the wilderness! God encourages Moses, who then relays His messages to the Israelites, but the Israelites aren’t interested. Frankly, the Israelite elders never thought following God was going to be this difficult! Evidently, the Israelites have selectively remembered the nice parts of the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, while forgetting the years of suffering. Jacob’s twenty years of service to Laban, Joseph’s career as a prisoner and slave for thirteen years before his promotion – nobody wants to remember that stuff!
You can almost hear the elders thinking, “If God is promising to remember His covenant and to take us as His own people, why doesn’t He just do it and get it over with??” The elders have no idea that years of slavery and security in Egypt have left their people unfit for the rigors of the desert, let alone returning to the Promised Land and conquering the tribes still living there. Frankly, at this point, the Israelites aren’t tough enough to make it outside Egypt, and God has a lot of work to do before they will even be able to leave.
APPLICATION: Several years ago, there was an excellent study of the Book of James by Paul E. Billheimer entitled “Don’t Waste Your Sorrows.” (It’s still available through Amazon.) The main message of the book was that God brings us suffering to refine us and to purify us. When we fight against the suffering, we frustrate God’s purposes. If we will look at our suffering and try to learn everything we can from it, we will redeem it and our troubles will not have been wasted.
One of the biggest lessons to come out of the COVID pandemic is the realization of how precious personal contact and touch can be. Many people realize that the family gatherings, the meals with friends, contribute to emotional and mental health and are to be treasured and not to be taken for granted.
What kind of problems are you facing now? Ask God to show you what He wants you to learn from those problems and try to squeeze every bit of goodness you can out of them.
PRAYER: Father God, thank you that you use suffering to purify us and to cleanse us. Help us to be willing to accept your discipline and to hang on, knowing that you are working things out for our good. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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