Daily Devotions
Exodus
"For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And he ponders all his paths." Proverbs 5:21
Text: Exodus 2 : 21-25
SETTLING DOWN IN MIDIAN
Moses had many unanswered questions in his mind before he met up with Reuel. Where could he go? What job could he take? Who would employ him? Where would he live? These and other questions were soon settled. Reuel offered Zipporah his daughter as a wife to Moses.
“Then Moses was content to live with the man,
and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.”
EXODUS 2:21
Moses however never forgot the bitter experience that he had in Egypt. This was reflected by the name he gave to his firstborn.
“And she bore him a son. He called his name Gershom,
for he said, ‘I have been a stranger in a foreign land.”
EXODUS 2:22
Where was his homeland? It wasn’t Egypt, for he had to flee from it. It wasn’t Midian either, for he called it “a foreign land”.
THE SORRY PLIGHT OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL IN EGYPT
In the process of time, the Pharaoh who sought Moses’ death passed on. However, his death did not mean that the suffering of the Hebrews abated. If anything, the lot of the slaves became even more dreadful.
“Now it happened in the process of time that
the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned
because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their
cry came up to God because of the bondage.”
EXODUS 2:23
As life in Egypt became more and more miserable, the children of Israel did the only thing that was left to them. With all their heart, they cried out to the God of their forefathers! Would the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob listen to their cries? But how would He be able to help them? They were trapped in the land and Egypt was a powerful empire at that time!
THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF GOD
Little did the children of Israel know that the Lord had indeed heard their groaning, so great was the suffering they endured for years!
“So 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
acknowledged them.”
EXODUS 2:24-25
God had not forgotten His covenant. He would send them deliverance – soon!