The
Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help
because of their slavery went up to God. (Exodus 2:23)
In the
opening chapters of Exodus we find the Pharaoh who knew and valued Joseph is
long dead and current leadership sees Jacob’s descendants as at best a
commodity to be exploited, and at worst a liability to be eliminated. Moses,
though raised in the palace, bristles at the treatment of his people and
determines to do something about it. His lack of impulse control leads to murder,
which forces him to run and spend the next 40 years of his life in hiding.
In the mean
time, the Israelites cry out for rescue; God hears their prayer and sets
the wheels of deliverance in motion. Predictably, due to impatience or lack of
faith (or both) the Israelites grumble against their God. They accuse Moses,
God’s instrument, of making things worse for them rather than better.
It boils down
to tunnel vision. They have expectations that God will come through for them,
and probably have the how and when orchestrated in their own minds, but God
refuses to dance to their choreography. God has a plan in the works and doesn’t
need their advice. And because God works differently than they expect, they
don't even see him coming. They have no idea he is working in their midst.
When
you cry out for God’s help, do you tell him what to do and how to do it?
I am struggling to get my heart around how the Israelite's lost favor with Egypt's leadership so much after the death of Joseph. I can see that a struggle with tyranny makes the heart appreciate freedom but this was an incredible burden for them to carry.
ReplyDeleteIn Exodus 1:19 & 2:12 it's kinda like we're being told it's okay to lie & murder as long as it's for the greater good. Later, Moses was filled with guilt for his action, because he thought everyone knew what he did, but the midwives were rewarded for saving the baby boys with their lie. Is it right to do wrong things in hope of getting a right result?
ReplyDeleteRemember, God never intended it to be about the rules, but about the heart. There are rules based ethics and then there are people based ethics. Rules based ethics would say it's always wrong to lie. People based ethics would determine right and wrong by how it affects people.
DeleteConnie, remember this was over a period of something like 400 years. I don't remember the details, but as far as Egyptian leadership is concerned, this involved multiple dynasties. It's really no wonder that a people favored by one dynasty would be enslaved by another.
ReplyDelete