OUR GOD IS PRESENT
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Exodus 2:23–25 (ESV) — 23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.
Life throws us a number of curveballs, so to speak. An insert in your bulletin this morning speaks of how faith is forged in crisis. In crisis, in difficulty we find ourselves crying out. This morning our text reveals the God who is present with us. I pray our hearts will be strengthened and encouraged because of the One we serve.
I. UNDER A HEAVY WEIGHT
A. Exodus 2:23 (ESV) — 23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
B. Moses has been in the wilderness for 40 years shepherding sheep and the people of God have been laboring under the sun building huge edifices for the king of Egypt.
C. The days of that particular pharaoh came to an end by his death and the weight of the circumstances of God’s people has come to a head.
D. Three different Hebrew words are used to express the pain of God’s people.
E. Groaned: sigh, groan. To vocally indicate pain, discomfort, or displeasure; almost always inarticulate.
F. Cried out for help: to utter aloud a request for help with intensity.
G. Cry for rescue: scream, cry. A cry for help or assistance in a desperate situation.
H. “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.”[1]
I. They needed saved. They longed for deliverance from slavery.
J. A desperate cry for help escapes their lips. They are united in their pain.
K. Again, I encourage you to read the article by Jon Bloom in your bulletin – paper or electronic.
II. YOUR CRIES COME UP TO GOD
A. Exodus 2:23 (ESV) — 23 … Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
B. I’m not sure who they were crying out to in that moment, but the cry came up to God.
C. In history, God has revealed Himself as the One who cares for His people.
D. In all our circumstances we must remind ourselves about the character of our God so that while we may not understand our circumstances, we will be able to hope in our God.
E. The focus of verses 24-25 is our God.
F. It is only God who gives the increase. It is only God who can deliver us from slavery. God alone changes hearts. God alone can be patient with a fickle people.
G. God acts according to His promise to fulfill His purposes at the right time.
H. I say this so you will know all that He does, He does according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11 (ESV) — 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will…).
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,
I. This is a foreshadowing of the great deliverance that God has planned for His people throughout history from every kindred and tongue in Jesus Christ.
J. He is always present with us and the words used to describe His action in our text are as follows.
K. He heard, He remembered, He saw, and He knew.
L. This is our God.
M. He heard the cries of His people. He remembered His covenant. His eye was upon them and He took in every detail of their suffering. He knew them – He was intimately involved with them, not distant and distracted.
N. In 3:7 the Lord says He has seen their affliction, heard their cry because of the taskmasters, and He knows their suffering. This is all speaking of His personal involvement with His people.
O. He then says in verse 8, “I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land to a good and broad land…”
P. Genesis 15:13–14 (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. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
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. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
Q. “The same God sent Jesus to be our Savior, and he did so because he remembered his covenant. God remembered that he had promised a Redeemer to free us from our slavery to sin, a Son to keep the whole law for his people, and a Lamb to take the punishment for our sins. From beginning to end, our salvation depends on God remembering his covenant.”[2]
31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.
[1] Ryken, P. G., & Hughes, R. K. (2005). Exodus: saved for God’s glory (pp. 74–75). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
[2] Ryken, P. G., & Hughes, R. K. (2005). Exodus: saved for God’s glory (p. 76). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.