Readings for today: Exodus 1-4
My family has a history of dementia, early onset Alzheimer’s, diseases that rob us of our precious memories and make strangers of those we love. My grandfather died in his middle thirties due to this disease. My aunt died when she was in her early sixties. My grandmother on my mother’s side spent the last few years of her life in an almost catatonic state. So I know the journey. I know the pain of watching someone you love slip away from you while they are still living. I know what it’s like to say the long goodbye. I’m also a pastor. As such, I’ve spent countless hours with people who wonder if they’ve been forgotten by God. They go through incredible hardship and pain. They face great tragedy in their lives. They wrestle with deep depression and demonic powers. And they feel all alone. They cry out to God in their suffering and they wonder if He hears their cries. I often take them back to these verses from Exodus…
“Many years later the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned under their slavery and cried out. Their cries for relief from their hard labor ascended to God: God listened to their groanings. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw what was going on with Israel. God understood.” (Exodus 2:23-25 MSG)
Surely the people of Israel must have wondered if God had forgotten them. Remember, God had not yet revealed Himself on Sinai. He had not yet given them the Law nor the plans for the Tabernacle. They have not seen His presence. They have not witnessed His miracles. The Red Sea. The wilderness wandering. The journey to the Promised Land. All of that is still in the future for Israel. All they have to go on is a few stories that have been handed generation after generation about a God who chose the family of Abraham to be His people. That’s it. And now they’ve lived in Egypt for many years. They’ve been enslaved. They’ve been abused. They’ve even suffered genocide at the hands of Pharaoh who attempted to kill all their male children. Such is life when one serves a man who sets himself up as a god-king.
Thankfully, God listens. God remembers. God sees. God understands. He is a God who draws near the broken-hearted and crushed in spirit. He is a God who stands with - not apart from - His people. When Israel cries out, God hears and God answers. He calls the midwives to save Moses. He delivers him into the hands of Pharaoh’s daughter where he will be raised to lead as a prince of Egypt. God sends him into the wilderness to prepare him for the Exodus journey. Then, in the fullness of time, He calls Moses from a burning bush. He sends Moses and Aaron to confront Pharaoh. He delivers His people with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. He brings the world’s mightiest empire and the world’s mightiest ruler to their knees. He hardens Pharaoh’s heart. Not allowing him to escape until God has had His way. He rains down plague after plague until all the magicians in Egypt are exhausted and spent. He defends and protects His people from any and all harm. In this way, they will know and come to understand their special place as His chosen people.
Friends, God still remembers His covenant promises. It’s why He sent His one and only Son. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all God has promised. He is the Second Adam. The Faithful Israelite. He lives a life of perfect obedience. He is the perfect Passover lamb who was sacrificed on our behalf. He delivers us from the powers of sin and death and evil by dying on the cross. He parts the Temple curtain so that we might gain access to God. He clearly demonstrates His authority over Satan and all his demonic forces by rising from the dead. All this He does for us. All this He does to deliver us. All this He does to save us. Yes, in this world we will face suffering. In this world, we will face trials and temptations. In this world, we will experience pain but we look to Jesus and take heart. In Christ, we know God listens. God remembers. God sees. God understands. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Readings for tomorrow: None