One of my African-American pastor friends explained to me the phrase “going through” in the Black church. He said, “We say we’re ‘going through’ because we know we’re not staying there.”
The story of the Hebrews being set free from slavery in Egypt reminds us that we may be going through, and going through for a long time, but because God is real, we’re not staying there forever.
The Israelites groaned under their slavery and cried out. Their cry for help rose up to God from their slavery.
God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God looked upon the Israelites, and God took notice of them (Exodus 2:23-25).
In these verses, certain words should be noticed. “Groaning” and “crying” each appear twice, highlighting the deep pain of the Hebrews.
On the other hand, there are God’s actions: “remembering,” “looking,” and “taking notice.” This emphasizes that our groans and cries are never overlooked by God.
When the text states that God “remembers,” it doesn’t imply that he forgets and needs to be reminded of our needs. When God remembers, we know He is active and moving on our behalf.
This was the experience of the Israelites, and it holds true for us as well.
God is at Work
I’ve found two of the best treatments of the early chapters of Exodus to be by Henry Blackaby and Walter Brueggemann.
Blackaby highlights this passage in his Experiencing God material, and Brueggemann’s message, “Action in the Brickyard,” has stayed with me for years since I first read it.
As a minister, I can’t count how many times I’ve asked God to bless my plans.
Years ago, I heard Henry Blackaby challenge pastors like me, saying we shouldn’t make our plans and then ask God to bless them. Instead, we should discover where God is already working and join Him there.
We saw earlier how Moses attempted to correct a terrible situation in Egypt by killing someone and trying to free the slave through his own efforts. This approach would have been catastrophic if he would have tried it on a national level.
God had different plans; He was at work and invited Moses to join Him, just as He invites us today.
At this point, the 80-year-old Moses was working as a shepherd for his father-in-law. While leading his sheep, he arrived at Mount Horeb, the mountain of God. This is the scene.
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.
Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.”
When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God (Exodus 3:2-6).
This section of the text highlights a second point that Blackaby makes about experiencing God. The first is that God is at work in the world. The second is that He forms relationships with people.
This moment marked the beginning of God’s relationship with Moses, one that would continue throughout his life.
Join God in His Work
When God encounters most of us, He typically gives us time to fully grasp the idea that the living God is communicating with us. After this initial period, He may then ask us to join Him in His work.
God, however, did not give Moses the luxury of time to wait. Immediately after meeting with him, God provided him with the outline of his task.
The first thing God did was inform Moses that He had heard the cry of the oppressed Hebrew people and was coming down to deliver them. This was undoubtedly good news for Moses.
Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings,
And I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them” (Exodus 3:7-9).
What came next was probably terrifying. He told Moses that he was to be God’s instrument of deliverance.
Now go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10)
Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God material includes the following points:
- God is at work in the world.
- God forms a relationship with us.
- He invites us to join Him in His work.
- Then comes the crisis of faith.
If we focus on our own abilities, we will always find ourselves lacking. However, if we look to God’s power, we recognize where our true resources lie. Following God, therefore, involves faith.
Tomorrow’s article will feature Moses’ struggle with faith and God’s answer to his concerns.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 