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)
God
had a purpose. From the beginning of Abraham's call, to Joseph's
being sold into slavery, to the children of Israel becoming slaves in
Egypt – God had a purpose. Even the means the enemy uses to
oppress, to conquer, or to destroy God has already worked out
according to His plans for His people. We, as New Testament
believers have the advantage of looking back and seeing how God
worked to deliver the children of Israel and all His workings, how He
used the hardness of Pharaoh's heart, how He used everything that
happened to Moses, all for His plan to be carried out and His
covenant to be kept with Israel.
“The
farther we proceed in the sacred writings, the more the history both
of the grace and providence of God opens to our view. He ever cares
for his creatures, and is mindful of his promise. The
very means made use of to destroy his work are, in his hands, the
instruments of its accomplishment.”
(Adam Clarke on Exodus 2:25)
And
I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders
in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I
may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my
people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great
judgments. And the Egyptians shall know
that I am the LORD, when I stretch
forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from
among them. (Exodus 7:3-5)
The
enemy has always had his servants that he raises up to oppress God's
children. Today we see much oppression against both Israel and the
church. Satan seeks to steal, kill, and destroy wherever he gets a
foothold and is able to do so. Yet God has His promises for both
Israel and His church. The very oppression and persecution he uses,
God is also in control of and we can be sure He will use only to
carry out His purpose in both. We don't need to fear or fret, as it
says in Psalm 37, when we see the enemy seemingly prevail. God is
not sleeping, nor does He need to be awakened. He hears our groaning
and our cries. Just as He had a plan for Moses, and used even the
king's edict, to kill all Hebrew babies, to actually save Moses and
all that happened after, He has a plan today. Just as He used the
hardness of Pharaoh's heart for His own purposes, He will use the
hardness and plans of the pharaoh's of today that come against Him
for His own deliverance of God's people. When we are trusting in
God, we should not want any other way or plan than the one He has
chosen, even though it may mean hardship before it is finally carried
out. God's plan is perfect. Let us not settle for anything less.
When
we are in God's plan, trusting in Him, there is nothing He will not
deliver us from or through. We fret and fear over political powers
that threaten to take away our freedom, but nobody can take away
God's freedom to do as He wills. He will even use their evil for good
in what He seeks to accomplish in His church and ultimately to
fulfill His promises to the nation of Israel. We need to walk by
faith in His purposes, which will never fail, not in fear of the
enemy. When we find ourselves at the Red Sea, with no way of escape,
and the enemy pressing in, we need to trust His hand, and not look
for our own way of escape. He is able to open up the Red Sea and
make a way through. He created that sea for His own purposes, and to
glorify Himself among His people and among the enemy. When we find
ourselves in the wilderness, we know we can trust God is with us
making all provision for us and has already planned what He will
reveal of Himself to us through it and when He will bring us to the
promised land awaiting us. His purposes will not fail. We can fail
to trust and make our wilderness journey all the harder and longer,
however, if we do not put our trust in Him. But we need to remember
- “Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter
5:6)
and...
...the
God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ
Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect,
stablish, strengthen, settle you. (1 Peter 5:10)
We
must go through our oppressions, our persecutions, our sufferings,
our red seas, and our wildernesses in this world. But we can do so in
faith, understanding God's will and purpose, trusting His hand,
knowing He still is in control, and that salvation and deliverance is
His will always for His children. He will reveal His glory through it
if we trust Him.
Because
the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we
know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together
until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,
waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
(Romans 8:21-23)
(Romans 8:21-23)
And
we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
What
shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us?
(Romans
8:31)
