Moses: The Set Up

God hears His people cry out.

- The nation of Israel (Jacob and his sons and their generations that followed) was still in Egypt from when Joseph was 2nd in command to Pharoah.

Well, that Pharoah died and another took his place, and so on and so forth until it had been so long that the newer Pharoah didn’t know why all of these Hebrew (Israelite) people were in his land, and eventually they became slaves.

And the work got harder and harder, and they were treated worse and worse...

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory Meanwhile, Back in Egypt …

“The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God” (v. 23b). Here the Bible uses three different words to describe the desperate prayers of God’s people. Together they express intense grief, bitter distress, and painful agony. Their sufferings were so great that it was all they could do to cry out to God.

God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

- Does this mean that God forgot about something? I thought God knew everything? Well, no, God never forgot. Just because you remember something it doesn’t mean that you actually forgot it. I remember our bank number, that doesn’t mean I forgot it. I remember each of your birthdays, that doesn’t mean I ever forgot them.

God was mindful of His people, this was all part of His plan.

Genesis 15:13 ESV

13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.

This was not an accident or mistake, God was working something much bigger. And the Egyptians abused the Israelites, but they did not get away with it.

God saw, and God knew.

- God sees everything that happens, and even though He doesn’t always act on it right away, that doesn’t mean that He didn’t see it or that He won’t judge it. You may feel cheated sometimes or that someone has wronged you and didn’t pay the consequences for that, but you can always trust that God saw it, and He will deal with it. In this life, or at judgement day.

The Israelites felt like God had forgotten all about them, He seemed to be ok with them being abused, mistreated, and even killed…but we will see that God deals with Egypt - all of Egypt - when the time is right.

This goes both ways, if you are hurt by someones actions or words you may feel like they got away with it…or YOU may have been the one who hurt someone else with your words or actions you YOU may have thought you got away with it. You didn’t, God saw it.

What should we do about it then? Ask the person for forgiveness and ask God for forgiveness. Admit that what you did was wrong and that you are sorry…but don’t just say you are sorry, be sorry. We can be sorry by acting differently. We call this repenting, saying you are sorry and then acting like you are sorry for what you did, not be being sad, but by stopping the hurtful behavior and act in a way that pleases God and helps the people around you know God better.

Jesus says it this way in

Matthew 5:13–16 NIV

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

When we trust God to take care of us and we let Him deal with people who are not treating us fairly, we give off light to the world around us and they will ask why we aren’t seeking revenge, and we can tell them because we trust that God sees everything and He will deal with it in His time.

So remember when things are hard that God hears, He remembers, He sees, and He knows all that is going on…and He will deal with the consequences.

Because if we trust in Jesus we don’t suffer the ultimate consequence for our sin, separation form the love of God for eternity, and if we have been forgiven that much, surly we can forgive when someone hurts us or hurts our feelings. And it may be that when you forgive someone when they do not deserve it, that may be what they need to see to know that God is real and they can know Him for themselves.