“23 After a long time the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery, and cried out. Out of the slavery their cry for help rose up to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them.”
(Exodus 2:23-24; 3:7-12, NRSV)
This narrative describes a dramatic yet intimate response of God to His people, the Israelites, who were in misery and hardships in a life of slavery especially long after the death of the king of Egypt. Their life in Egypt finds its relevancy to your life where you are in various aspects. They had not chosen Egypt as their residence but were given a life that was inherited from their parents there. Their parents were descendants of Joseph and his brothers who had moved from Canaan to Egypt to survive; they were the children of the immigrants. The life of the Israelites at that time did not have many resources and free options. Many years had passed after their ancestors had immigrated to Egypt; even though many, many generations had passed, they were neither Egyptianized nor mingled with Egyptians; rather, they were still identified as “Israelites” whom the Egyptians treated them as foreigners and even as slaves. Some of them might have engaged in some types of business but could not own it as their possession. Others might have been highly proficient in certain areas of life with great job skills; yet, they were restricted in their promotion at work and limited to what they could do. Many of them must have felt that they were capable of doing many great things and yet chained to shackles with neither flexibility nor freedom. Their life, confused, hopeless, and uncertain as God’s people, is portrayed as “slavery” to the unchallengeable worldly power. Something common to your life?
At some point in their slavery, the Israelites reached a breaking point where they began to “groan under their slavery” and to cry for help desperately (Exodus 2:23). Their cry did not pass without being noticed by God. Two undeniable points are emphatic and perpetual beyond limit to space and time: (1) God remembered His covenant with His people; (2) God looked upon them and noticed their hardships and pain. First, God had made a covenant with Noah (Genesis 6:18; 9:9) and with Abraham (Genesis 15:18 17:2) about God’s care for His people. The act of God’s remembering marks the intimate, caring relationship with them (Genesis 8:1; 19:29; 30:22; Exodus 2:24; 6:5; Psalm 98:3; 105:42; 106:45; 136:23). Second, God never left them alone while they were suffering because of their taskmasters. He paid close attention to their situation where they did not know what to do with their sufferings and their life in slavery to Egypt. Remembering the covenant with their ancestors, God responded to their cry and promised that He would bring them to “a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). Are you holding onto the words of promise as you hear Jesus and follow his lead?
Do you find something here in common with your life? At good times, it may be easy to feel or say that God seems good to you even though that saying may not carry and reflect in your life as much meaning as it should be. In the midst of hardships or life crisis, we may find something different from the good times and yet similar to the situation that the Israelites had experienced in Egypt. If God were the God of eternity, the same God, who remembered His covenant with faith ancestors and paid close attention to the Israelites, would respond to the cry of His people today and in the future. If that were the case, the same God would respond to your cry for help in prayer while you feel desperate and much pain in your life. The COVID-19 outbreak would be one of those situations where people may find God as the God of care, those who hear His voice, following His lead and enduring to the end in their love for Jesus, rather than an unwarranted voice that is rooted on earthly things and temporary measures. Every now and then, we hear some say, “God is in control” referring to the COVID-19 outbreak. What does that mean to you? To some people, it may sound superficial not carrying any tangible connections with the living God. To other people, it may sound serious because they think they have an intimate relationship with God who remembered His covenant with faith ancestors and cared watching over their sufferings.
You may find similarity between the life situation of the Israelites and yours where you are today. Egypt was their residence whereas where you are is your residence; their heavy labor was a daily reality with no warranted assurance whereas your reality is fragile and uncertain as you are stuck in this pandemic right now. Their hope was to depart from their hopeless reality in Egypt and to enter into their destination, the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey, whereas you are a stranger in this world and yet long for a better place, your ultimate destination in heaven (Hebrews 11:13). In the meantime and in this in-between residence, God does not leave you alone just as He paid close attention to the Israelites in Egypt, a symbol of slavery. As you truly believe and live in the living God who said to Moses, “[God] will be with you” (Exodus 3:12), you may experience in due time His mighty hands working through this difficult time and having you carried into where you are to be with Jesus as you unswervingly endure to the end (1 Corinthians 10:13; Colossians 1:11). At the end of the conversation with Moses, God said to him, “you shall worship God on this mountain” (Exodus 3:12). Even in their uncertain situation, God commanded and expected the Israelites to worship Him emphasizing the act of worship as their first duty in the wilderness departing from the slavery to a new life marked by freedom and abundance of fresh food like milk and honey in a promised, blessed place (Exodus 3:8).
Where is your reality now? Where is your ultimate destination? What is your course of life aligned with? Who is the ultimate leader whose voice you are to hear and follow in the midst of confusion and uncertainty? The voice, which Moses heard, is also offered to you; it is your choice to hear and follow for a better, greater life that is abundant and eternal in Jesus, the risen Lord. Now is a difficult time to everyone; yet, their outcomes can be different depending on their choices and their responses to it for God’s glory. God was, is, and will be with His people. Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay connected with Jesus and with one another in prayer and care. Hold onto the words of promise: “Come to me, … I will give you rest!” (Matthew 11:28). God is good!
In God’s Grace,
Rev. Paul Lee