July 17, 2023

Exodus 1: 11-14 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor . . . But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly. (NIV)

Hard times don’t erase God’s promises.*

After Joseph’s death, his influence on the throne ended, and the Israelites’ quality of life in Goshen began to deteriorate. There were so many of them that their host country – with a new king – began to fear that the Israelites might join forces with Egypt’s enemies, so they made the Israelites’ lives “bitter with hard labor.” It is interesting to note that the king was more afraid of their leaving than he was of their staging an uprising (see verse 10). In Goshen, the Egyptians had their very own “company town.” Picture a mining camp or the community that depends on the big manufacturing plant for their livelihood. Who will do the work for the men who control the wealth if the labor force finds a way out?

The Hebrews lived in a world of slavery, despair, and God’s silence. Hopelessness extinguishes hope -  and produces more hopelessness.  And so, the Children of Israel forgot God’s promise to Abraham. Hope might have found a foothold in the drudgery of their existence if only they had remembered – and believed – that the promise was still in effect. And moving forward. In God’s time. And God did come through for them in spectacular fashion.

We tend to follow the same downward spiral of despair as the Israelites. When things get bad, they get worse . . . because we fail to remember that God is working and that he never fails to fulfill his promises. When hopelessness is your companion, look to God’s word. There, you will find hope for today, for the future, and for eternity. Allow his Spirit to speak to you and deliver you out of the land of slavery, despair, and God’s silence.

We cannot rush the timing of God.*