Bible Verse of the Day Wednesday November 23rd, 2022

Exodus 2:23-25 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So, God looked at the Israelites and was concerned about them.

The long period spoken of here in the 23rd verse is the four hundred years that the descendants of Jacob had resided in Egypt, far from the land that God had promised them. The King of Egypt that died spoken of in this verse was Thutmose III, who reigned from 1479 BC to 1426 BC. During his long reign, he reestablished Egypt's role as sovereign over Palestine and Syria, creating the most prominent dynasty in the history of Egypt. Moreover, he did this on the backs of the Children of Israel, the descendants of Jacob. They came to Egypt to escape a famine in their homeland 400 years earlier. 

The Children of Israel cried out to God for help, and when they did, in this scripture verse, God remembered His covenant with Abraham. God had not forgotten His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but had waited until the people called on Him in Prayer. Moses did forget about his people when he left Egypt and spent forty years as a shepherd. He forgot in the sense that he did not think about them any longer. However, God did not forget because once they called on Him, He turned His active attention toward them in their misery. Although there are no mysteries in God's realm, as God knows the beginning and the end, He wants His children to call on Him in prayer. We are guilty of waiting until we realize we cannot fix a problem we find ourselves in before we call on God. Our prayers might go like this: "Dear God, I have tried everything I know how to do but can't fix my problem; maybe you can fix it." Our prayers should be: "Dear God, I am weak, but you are strong; I can do nothing on my own, but all things are possible through you" (Philippians 4:13). 

 

Why did the Children of Israel wait so long in their misery to go to God? Why do we wait until things are in turmoil to seek God's direction and support? God hurt for their bondage to the Egyptians, and He hurts when Satan draws us into his clutches. We, too, were in slavery to sin and Satan before we called on the name above all other names, our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus (Romans 10:13).  

 

The Children of Israel realized they were not where God had intended them to be, and we must recognize when we are somewhere God does not intend us to be. God never intended for us to be in the clutches of Satan, in servitude to him, but to live a life of freedom in Christ Jesus. Jesus suffered and died on the Cross of Calvary so that we could know freedom from the "wages of sin" and have eternal life (Romans 6:23). God sent a deliverer to the Children of Israel in the person of Moses. So likewise, he has sent a deliverer to us in the person of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus.