Exodus_5

Scripture

Exodus 5:2

But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.”

Observation - What does it say?

After the death of Joseph, there came about a new king of Egypt who didn’t know about how God had favored him. He didn’t know that God had delivered Egypt from the great famine through Joseph. He was threatened by how prosperous the Israelites were, and he became oppressive over them. In Exodus 2:23-25, we see that the Israelites were crying to God for deliverance. God remembered His covenant to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God decided to deliver Israel through Moses. In the process, the Israelites came to encounter a lot of opposition from the Egyptians.

Understanding - What does it mean?

A lot of the time our scope of understanding in this life can be so limited that we become focused on the wrong thing. Or as they say, “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” And when I say the wrong thing, I mean to say that I have so often been focused on what is going “wrong” in my life. These feelings of self-pity have been a constant roller coaster in my life for some time.

I remember being 18 and sitting in a wheel-chair, with both my legs in casts, feeling like life could not get any worse, even though I had escaped death not too long before. Not to mention feeling confused about my purpose, because, as many people told me, “God saved you for something special.” Then, about a year and a half later, sitting in a hospital bed in Oregon, recovering from a major surgery to fix my intestines. Those feelings crept back in, “life can’t get any worse.” Flash forward to a few years ago, and I didn’t get a promotion I was hoping for at work. “God, life can’t get any worse.” And I wish that I could go back to a time when life was “better.”

Later in the story the Israelites, wandering in the desert, tell Moses a similar story. “Life can’t get any worse. At least when we were in Egypt we had food.” (See Exodus 16). God promised the Israelites a land flowing with milk and honey. He didn’t say it was going to be easy, He told them, “Only be strong and very courageous” (Joshua 1:7). The Israelites went on to do hard battle for the promised land. They took giant steps of faith, walked through rivers when they were flooding (Joshua 3). Their descendants battled giants, and were thrown into fire, fed to lions, etc.. Jesus himself had to struggle with a companion who turned traitor.

When I turn my eyes from my low position to the wonders of God’s goodness, I can begin to find meaning in the suffering that I find here on earth. God has plans that will eventually work out for the good (Romans 8:28). I only need to trust in Him, the God who knit me together in my mother’s womb. No matter who is opposing me, I trust this fact.

Life application

My prayer often turns to the words found in James 1:2-3 “2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” Help me Jesus to trust that, in hard times, you are drawing something out of me that is intended to bring you glory. No matter how bad the pruning feels, I trust that you are completing me, and preparing me for my time in eternity with you.

- Tyler Galloway[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNqo4Un2uZI[/embed]