Exodus 2:23-25 reads “Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.”

When I read this passage the first time, I wondered why it read “God remembered His covenant…”

My first thought was was that the word “remembered” seemed a bit odd to be used in conjunction with God as it somehow implied that He had forgotten.

But since we’re talking about God here, then we know that cannot be true. God forgets nothing.

Then in that same Exodus. Chapter 3 verse 7 “And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.”

Again, knowing God to be all knowing, we know that it wasn’t at that moment when He was talking to Moses that He saw the affliction of the Israelites for the first time.

So I wondered, why all these references that gave the appearance of ‘recent discoveries’.

Well, the answer to that question was in the very next verse.

“So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Exodus 3:8)

The Lord did not suddenly remember Israel. The Lord did not suddenly hear their cry after all these years. The act of calling to remembrance was not for the Lords benefit. It was for ours. The Israelites, and we who are reading/hearing the scripture today. This call to remembrance simply denoted that it was now time for the deliverance to begin.

In that verse 8, the Lord said “ So I have come down to deliver them…”

Up until that point, the Israelites had to endure the suffering that they were enduring. They had to pass through that time of trial & tribulation. The time for deliverance had not come yet. But when it was time, The Lord “came down”, through Moses, to deliver them out of their bondage.

Brethren, our God is a God of timing. He does His work according to His perfect time table. This story of the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, and the other stories of deliverance in the bible serve to do one thing for we believers. They serve to remind us that God hears the cry of His people. But He will move ONLY at the apportioned time.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says “He has made everything beautiful in its time”.

We are required to seek God in prayer. We are required to call on Him in times of trials and hardship. But we also have to learn the ways of this God through the scriptures that he has provided for our benefit to know that He moves according to His perfect plan for us. We just have to remain strong in Him. Trust and believe in His promises and believe that He will move on our behalf at the appropriate time.

Keep in mind, when the Lord did lead the Israelites out of captivity; inasmuch as that served as their deliverance out of Egypt, the end of their captivity, it was just the beginning of their journey to the promised land. A journey that took 40 years! A journey that was filled with just as many trials and tribulations. But even along the way, through the miracles that the Lord performed through Moses on their behalf, He continued to assure the people that He was still with them.

So, when we get delivered out of a particular situation, that doesn’t mean that we have necessarily arrived at our promised land. It simply marks another phase of our journey in life, en-route to eternal salvation.

There will be trials, brethren. At every phase of the journey. But, there will always be deliverance! Because it is the God who delivers us out of the captivity that protects us along our journey. He will cause plagues will befall those that oppress us and seek to hold us captive! Red Seas will be parted when we are cornered! Manna will fall from heaven and quail will be provided to feed us when we are hungry! Water will come forth from the rock to revive us when we are thirsty!

The Lord will continue to deliver those who remain faithful to Him at every turn in their journeys. We just have to remain faithful. We must continue to trust. God will deliver us. We have to remain obedient to the teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because there is a price to pay for disobedience and rebellion. Just as was in the case of the same Israelites, because after a 40 year through the wilderness, despite all the ways that God proved to them that He was with them, most of them did not make it into the promised land. Because they were not obedient. Because they did not trust in Him. Because they did not wait for their deliverance.

Wait patiently and faithfully for your deliverance. For when it is time, the Lord will surely bring it about.

Share your thoughts that you might encourage your brethren.

In Christ,
The handmaid at His feet.