Exodus 2:24,25
“And 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 had respect unto them.” Though Israel’s cries may not have been addressed to God, He, nonetheless, heard their groans and was attentive to each tear and cry. Although they were entirely unaware of it, the days of their slavery were nearing an end. They were soon to have a glorious release in a manner far beyond hope’s fondest dreams. “For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death.” Psalms 102:19,20.
God had never forgotten His covenant, established first with Abram and later confirmed to Isaac and Jacob. Man may fail time and again in his promises and purposes, but not God. “The Word of our God shall stand forever.” Is it not refreshing, Christian friend, to see that God never forgets His own? His ways of wisdom may lead His child through the furnace of affliction for a season, but at the end of the trial there will always be found great compensation. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalms 30:5.
How reassuring the promise: “God... hath begotten us again unto a lively hope... to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith... wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye a in heaviness through manifold temptations (or trials): that the trial of your faith... might be found unto praise and honor and glory the appearing of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:3-7. Beloved saint of God, He is for you and He will see you through to a glorious eternity!
The one whom God would use in delivering Israel from Egypt may have been discouraged to find so many years of his life spent in the desert, far from his people with whom he had long ago associated himself; for he could not, at this time, realize how preparatory those years had been.
It is interesting to consider how frequently periods of forty years or forty days appear in Scripture. They represent God’s mark of full testing. Moses’ forty years in the desert remind us of the Lord who, before entering public ministry, “was led by the spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil.” Luke 4:1,2. The glorious reigns of David and Solomon were forty-year periods, during which time Israel was richly blessed under God. Moses would soon enter his third forty-year period, when he would lead Israel out of Egypt and on to the promised land. Along the way he would experience forty days and nights on Mt. Sinai’s summit when God gave him the law written on tables of stone.
The preparation period for Moses had now run its course. God had well-schooled him for the task to which he would be assigned as His chosen instrument to set His people free and fulfill His promise to them.
Memory Verse: “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15.
ML 07/07/1968