The Story of God: Exodus
As we’ve moved through the story of God, we’ve seen God’s continual faithfulness to his plan — to restore his broken relationship with humanity. But if there is one theme that has been consistent it is this — God does things in his own timing, and it doesn’t always make sense to us.
That theme continues with our story this week. 430 years after Joseph, the descendants of Jacob were still living in Egypt, but they had shifted from welcome strangers to slaves. As their oppression increased, they began to cry out and God remembered his promise, as it tells us in Exodus 2:23-25:
During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.
How troubling is it for you to read that God seemingly forgot his promise so easily?
God had promised the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob they would be a great nation through whom all others would be blessed. After such a promise, why would he allow them to be enslaved to another nation for so long?
What longterm benefits might there have been in allowing his people to be in bondage to another nation for all this time?
February 6th, 2006 at 9:09 pm
God was not in the least forgetful of his promises. When God made the covenant with Abram (Gen. 15:13-14), he told Abram that his descendants would be enslaved 400 years. Then amazingly in Exodus 12:41, we read that the Israelites left Egypt at the end of 430 years to the very day! At least the NIV says it was to the very day. That is amazing to me that God was paying so much attention to detail that he had the Israelites leave in 430 years to the very day. He was counting the days.
February 6th, 2006 at 9:52 pm
Great point Cindy. I’ve read that passage many times, and even taught on it a few, yet forgot about it as I was typing this introduction. It is interesting that the NIV chose to use the word “remembered” in this passage, which seems contrary to God making that promise.
We still have two more questions, (and I’m sure others that we haven’t yet asked) to wrestle through…
February 7th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Does remembering necessarily mean he forgot?
February 7th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
‘Remembering’ can’t always mean that that there has been ‘forgetting’. I think it rather means ‘brought to mind’ in order to do something. Like in Genesis 9:15,16 God said when he saw the rainbow in the cloud, “I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant . . .”
God is not absent-minded, or slow about His promises, but He is purposeful in how He carries forward His plans.
February 7th, 2006 at 4:21 pm
Wow, John, you know how to get a discussion started.
Like the others who have posted so far, I agree that there is ZERO forgetfulness in God. I think that we simply have a tough time grasping God’s perspective of eternity over the span of our “time”. We think of 430 years and we think that is a lot of time. To God in the context of eternity, not so much.
I just did a quick word study on the word for “remembered” in the Hebrew language. It’s interesting in that it told me this:
remember, i.e., to recall information or events, with a focus on responding in an appropriate manner (I’d put a footnote, but I don’t know how – Shanon can you help me that one?)
The word is also translated quite a few times in the Hebrew language as “to meditate upon”
The word that is used always denotes action due to God’s knowledge of something or our need for action due to something. Here He meditates upon His people’s suffering and He will act to bring them out of slavery. In other passages, He “remembers our sin no more” with an action toward forgiveness. The Psalmist says that He “meditates” upon God and it moves Him toward action.
I hope that this brings some more light onto what is being expressed about God here by Moses.
February 7th, 2006 at 4:25 pm
Thank you Dean. Now that we completely have that resolved to everyone’s satisfaction (other than the minor issue of proper citation in the form of a footnote), we can perhaps move on to the second and third questions, which I found to be more intriguing in the first place.
And let me offer the disclaimer which my home group is quickly becoming familiar with: when I throw out a question, I am rarely, if ever, looking for a specific answer. I’m just offering up thoughts for us to wrestle with in order to stir thought and discussion.
That being said…have at it!
February 8th, 2006 at 10:40 am
Okay, I’ll jump into the other questions.
I remember when I was a kid and I got in trouble (rarely, if ever… ha ha!) My parents would discipline me. After that, they would usually make me stay in my room for a while to “think about it”. I hated that! However, it usually worked. I would go through my long list of emotions and “working it out” skills. I would cry and be really angry at first, yelling at everyone in my head and sometimes out loud. Then I would rationalize everything in my head. Sometimes I would get so exhausted I would fall asleep and when I woke up, my emotions were usually much more calm. Then I would get bored so I’d start playing or reading. By this time, my parents would usually “remember” to return and we’d talk it out a bit more and I’d apologize and we’d be good to go.
Could this be a similar situation to the Israelites in the desert? Seems parallel to me. Age old discipline from God’s hand that just works!
February 8th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
As always a great discussion is brewing…
…I will resort to the Jewish 2 levels of Bible study, the first level being “the story” After the time of slavery the Israelites were given the Torah, the commandments, the way of living according to God’s will. These 614 commands stand in direct opposition to the way the Israelites were treated in Egypt. They have a unique perspective on compassion and service and love. Unfortunately, as we are apt to do, they forgot their experience as slaves and soon became the oppresive masters by the time of David and Solomon. In the context of the story the Israelite experience in Egypt seems to set them up to be the lovers prescribed in the Torah.
…the second level of Torah study is taking the story to the next level, life application, how does this connect. Still wresting here…maybe an elbow drop is in the works…but I digress…
Camarillo, OUT!
February 8th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
I’ve lurked and never posted but I was intrigued by the questions and couldn’t help it!
I think the longterm benefits are to demonstrate that God is on the side of the powerless. It illustrates that His design is contrary to the expectations of man. The expectation would be that God’s people would receive everything they wanted, without struggle or suffering. Instead, God’s people suffer under the power of another. I’m sure this created a good deal of confusion for the Israelites. But if God’s people were always in control, what would that say to the millions who suffer every day at the hands of the rich and powerful? The longterm benefits of the enslavement in the context of God’s greater story shows that God raises up the downtrodden. He is on the side of the weak and it is through the lives of the powerless that God reveals His true nature.
Just my two cents!
February 9th, 2006 at 9:30 am
Edie, So good to see you (hear from you) in here! Outstanding thoughts and ones that we need to process in terms of our own story. The American Dream says we need to distance ourselves from the powerless and the suffering – quite the opposite from the story that God is trying to tell.