Exodus 3:9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
Verse 9 bothers me because it sounds like God wasn’t hearing or wasn’t paying attention to the Israelites, like they are a long way from God and their cries have finally reached His ear. That seems antithetical to what I know of my Savior.
Exodus 3:10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Isaiah 42:3 says “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice….” That, to me, does not sound like a God who is removed from His people, who doesn’t know what’s going on, who has to wait for their cries to finally reach His ear before noticing their pain and distress.
Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
God of the Oppressed, I do not understand suffering–why it happens, why You allow it, why we have to endure it–but I believe with every fiber of my being that we do not suffer alone, that You are with us in our pain, making a way in our wilderness, even if we cannot yet perceive Your presence or Your actions. Thank You that You will never leave us nor forsake us. Amen.
Exodus 3:12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
Have a blessed day.