Ao – God Remembered His Covenant with Abraham 2: 23-25

God Remembered His Covenant with Abraham
2: 23-25

God remembered His covenant with Abraham DIG: What is the big picture of these verses? Why did Moshe go back to Egypt? Had God forgotten the Israelites? What might have been the reason for their four hundred years of suffering? How did God’s remembering set the stage for the redemption of Isra’el?

REFLECT: When has God remembered you after a particularly difficult time in your life? Have you been able to serve Him afterward? When God looks upon you, He is concerned about you. Sometimes we believe that by experience, and other times we have to believe that merely by faith. Where are you with that right now?

These verses summarize the next forty years in which Thutmose III was ruling Egypt after Hatshepsut died, the same forty years that Moses was a shepherd in the land of Midian. Being a shepherd was looked down upon by the Egyptians, but esteemed by Jews. So Moses was eventually content to be a shepherd since he identified himself as a Jew and not an Egyptian.

For a moment, the scene shifts back to Egypt where the writer reminds us of the big picture. After forty years of ruling and reigning, Thutmose III, the king of Egypt, had died. That paved the way for Moses to return to his homeland. The Lord would later tell His prophet, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead” (4:19). But even though a new pharaoh, Amenhotep II, was ruling, the Hebrews remained under severe oppression. Amenhotep II’s mummy has been found and shows him to be a man of powerful physique. One of the inscriptions on his burial coffin also praises him for his physical strength. He proved his cruelty when, after a victory over Syria, he carried seven Syrian leaders upside-down from the bow of his ship on the trip up the Nile, after which he personally sacrificed them.³⁰ It was under this pharaoh that the Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for rescue from slavery went up to the ears of God (2:23). Only then did they turn to the LORD. But we should not forget that Isra’el served other gods while they were in Egypt (Joshua 24:14; Ezeki’el 20:5-10, 23:2-3, 8, 19, 21 and 27). This might have been the reason for the delay. Being involved in deliberate, active sin separates us from Him and can delay His acting on our behalf.

The chapter concludes with reflections upon God’s deep concern for His people. Nearing the conclusion of over four hundred years of subjugation, humiliation and frustration, ADONAI now begins to initiate the plan of redemption and freedom for His covenant people.³¹ But even though the LORD had been silent up to this point, He was not indifferent. Even amid the misery of their backbreaking labor, YHVH was there. Even though we do not read of God speaking in the first two chapters, He was, nevertheless, listening. Indeed, He was silent. But in His silence He was accomplishing four important things.

First, Ha’Shem was in the process of disciplining His children (see the commentary on Hebrews, to see link click Cz – God Disciplines His Children). When Jacob first went down to Egypt, he went with the intention of merely visiting there. It was supposed to be a temporary stay. But the temporary stay turned into a permanent dwelling. Isra’el began to be enticed by whatever attractions Egypt had to offer. In short, it began to assimilate into the Egyptian culture. But instead of settling down and building houses, the children of Isra’el should have been making plans to leave Egypt as soon as possible. In all fairness, they were living in some of the most fertile land in all of Egypt, just on the eastern edge of the Nile River delta. In a time famine, at least there was water and grazing land for their flocks. Nevertheless, Canaan was the Promised Land. The children of Isra’el should have left the land of temptation and come up to their Promised Land.

Instead, by remaining in Egypt, the people made themselves completely vulnerable to all of Egyptian culture, which, apparently, they began to participate in. Because of this God was in the painful process of disciplining His children. Throughout her history, every time Isra’el fell into the sin of assimilation, she always ended up in slavery, as she did in Egypt. The Jews of pre-World War II Germany were, perhaps, one of the most assimilated of all Jewish generations. All of us know the horrible outcome resulting in slavery in the death camps. Assimilation, therefore, invariably, leads to moaning and groaning.

Second, God’s apparent silence caused some deep spiritual growth in the people of Isra’el. This is the first time in the Torah since the story of Adam that a single individual is not at the center of the story. That changes later in Chapter Two where Moshe comes to the forefront. But in the beginning of Exodus, it is not an individual, but a people who are in the limelight – the descendants of Abraham. Exodus tells us how God prepared Isra’el for His redemption, and for His planned nationhood for them.

This process is described by Scripture as a refining process. It pictures the children of Isra’el as a piece of precious metal such as gold, and the harsh slavery as the metal refiner where impurities are burnt away and the pure precious metal is left. Other Scriptures also refer to the slavery story by these terms. For example: He brought you out of the iron furnace of Egypt to be His people (Deuteronomy 4:20). Isaiah also expressed it in a similar manner: Look, I have refined you, but not [as severely] as silver; [rather] I have tested you in the furnace of affliction (Isaiah 48:10). Hence, the had to be moaning and groaning on Isra’el’s part. It was God’s way of preparing them to be a nation. It was, as many would say today, “No pain, no gain!” James said it this way: Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance. But let perseverance do its complete work; so that you may be complete and whole, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4). Thus, in their terrible slavery, YHVH was using the refining process. He was perfecting a people in holiness and in the process, preparing a nation.

Third, there was an educational purpose. Through their slavery in Egypt, ADONAI was teaching Isra’el many “object lessons” which could be used to teach profound spiritual truth. There are many such lessons throughout the Torah. One such object lesson is found in the concept of being a stranger. For example, the LORD tells His people, “Do not wrong a stranger and do not oppress him, for strangers you were in the land of Egypt” (22:20).  How was Isra’el to know how to treat a stranger? One very moving and assured way would be remembering what it was like when they were strangers in Egypt.

Fourth, ADONAI was preparing the children of Isra’el for redemption. They would never know the depth of God’s mercy if they did not experience the hopeless bondage of slavery. They could not fully understand the freedom of redemption if they had never experienced the shackles of servitude. In this servitude and the preparations for redemption, ADONAI was beginning to paint a carefully crafted portrait of the person and work of Yeshua, our Deliverer, our Redeemer, who set us free from the slavery of personal sin. It is for freedom that Messiah set us free- so stand firm and receive it. It’s your choice. And do not be burdened by a yoke of slavery to legalism again, or think that’s going to give you a right standing before God (Galatians 5:1). We are sinners by nature and sinners by choice. But now, because of His sacrifice on the cross, we have a choice. Now because of the indwelling of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh we can say no to sin. In the Egyptian slavery, God was busy painting the picture of the hopelessness, the horrors, the bondage, and the futility of slavery to self and sin. This is needed to convince sinners of their need for personal redemption found in the One who is greater than Moshe, Yeshua (see the commentary on Hebrews Ao – The Superiority of Messiah to Moshe). The Jewish groaning was made worse by ADONAI’s apparent silence. But even though it seemed like God was staying aloof during the Israelite slavery in Egypt . . . He was not inactive. He told us that He, indeed, heard the groaning of their suffering in slavery. Consequently, He was accomplishing significant redemptive things that most would not have noticed.

God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob (2:24). Of course, YHVH never forgot the covenant! Moshe was simply writing from a human perspective. The word remembered is not merely a matter of recall. The Hebrew word carries with it the additional idea of acting upon the remembrance. Therefore, the point here is that YHVH not only remembered His covenant promises to the patriarchs, but He was ready to act and fulfill those promises.³² There was not merit involved. Whatever ADONAI did for them was purely for two reasons. First, it was out of His grace and mercy. Secondly, as this verse points out, it was because of His promise to the patriarchs, not because of merit. The LORD had promised their forefathers that the Israelites would become a great nation (Genesis 12:2), and He had formalized that promise by making a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:18, 17:17), with Isaac (Genesis 17:19) and with Jacob (Genesis 35:11-12). On the basis of those solemn promises, God was about to demonstrate that He never forgets His covenant promises.³³

So God saw the children of Isra’el (2:25a). Of course the LORD saw the physical things. It was a sad and messy sight of miserable beaten slaves in complete subjection to the Pharaohs. But these things anyone could see. What did God see that no one else could see? One thing He saw was the possible doubts in some of the minds of the older Israelites. They remembered the promises of the patriarchs. But they may have also been wondering if God remembered! Thus, conceivably, ADONAI’s faithfulness was at stake here in the minds of some people. Perhaps that is one reason why we are told that God remembered His covenant promises.

Something else God saw was the extent to which sin and unbelief had dominated the children of Isra’el. One example is in 2:13-14 where Moshe tried to intervene between two Israelites who were fighting. They would not accept any mediation and only mocked Moses when he tried to offer justice. To be sure, not all sense of right and wrong had disappeared from among the people (see Ah – So God Was Kind to the Midwives). But, Isra’el was sorely in need of judicial instruction. Hence, ADONAI began a process which would ultimately lead them to Mount Sinai and the reception of the Torah.

Most of all, God saw a real mess. He saw the cruelty of the Egyptian kings. He saw the hopelessness of the Hebrew slaves which caused them to cry out to Him. When the Bible says that God saw it means that He took notice of their miserable state and was moved with compassion to do something to correct it. Through this we learn that God is not a cold, harsh God who only acts to keep a promise. He is real, and He is moved to compassion, mercy, and love for His people.

And God knew (2:25b). The Hebrew word translated knew is from the root yada, which means to know. This hints at more than mere intellectual knowledge. It is a word, for example, which is used in connection with a marriage relationship, specifically a sexual relationship. Thus, it sometimes speaks of a deep intimate personal knowledge. When we read that God knew we are to understand that there were some things about the situation of which only God had intimate knowledge.³⁴

It is comforting for us to realize that God does not forget us, or the promises He has made to us. He remembers us because He is near to us. He maintains a close personal relationship with, and attachment to us. He truly knows us and has an intimacy with what we endure, whether it be trials, suffering or temptations.

The book of Hebrews tells us that this is the work of Christ. For this reason He had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted (Hebrews 2:17-18). And, again, the author to the Hebrews comments: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15-16). The God of the Bible is not distant, or far removed, from the righteous who believe in Him. He is close to His people, running the universe for their good and for His glory.³⁵ Therefore, the stage is set. The next act of the drama of Isra’el’s redemption is about to be made known. How, then, will ADONAI buy back His people?