Day: May 10, 2022

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

“And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. 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” (Exodus 2:23-25 KJV).

Beloved, the LORD is never idle, so may we grow in His words to better see His works….

Centuries before the Israelites suffered under the Egyptians, the LORD had prophesied: “And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Genesis 15:13-16). God had not forgotten about them in Egypt. He could not deliver the Jews from Pharaoh until the Gentiles living in the land of Canaan had sinned enough with their idols. Once the idolatry had provoked the LORD enough, He would throw the Gentiles out and bring Israel in.

Also, God would not liberate Israel until He judged Egypt with 10 plagues, proving His superiority to the Egyptians’ gods and goddesses (Exodus 12:12; Numbers 33:4); Pharaoh himself had been worshipped as a god. The LORD could have instantly caused Pharaoh’s death, but instead delayed it and Egypt’s ruin until He had wrought a mighty work in Egypt to cause all Gentiles to hear and fear: “For now I will stretch out my hand, that I may smite thee and thy people with pestilence; and thou shalt be cut off from the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth” (Exodus 9:15,16).

The LORD was working His will, but only imperceptibly to the natural man….