(Gen.15:12-16) Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. 13 God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. 14 But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16 Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”
Now, it's amazing how God can still use "stupid." This prophecy was all set into motion because the jealous brothers had sold Joseph into slavery, which landed Joseph in Egypt where eventually he was put in a great place of power. And because of a worldwide drought, the family wound up going to Egypt to find food, and there, they were all reunited and lived together in the security and comfort of Egypt. Just as Joseph had told his brothers regarding the evil they had intended - that "God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result..." this statement was still applicable when a Pharaoh came along who didn't know about or care for the previous status quo! When the Israelites were put into slavery, this should NOT have been a surprise to them...
(Exodus 1:6-12) Joseph died, and all his brothers and all that generation. 7 But the sons of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly, and multiplied, and became exceedingly mighty, so that the land was filled with them. 8 Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we. 10 Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.” 11 So they appointed taskmasters over them to afflict them with hard labor. And they built for Pharaoh storage cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and the more they spread out, so that they were in dread of the sons of Israel.
Despite the new Pharaoh's best intentions to eliminate the Israelites, they grew in number. And from out of the Israelite babies that were to be exterminated, Moses was protected and later used as God's spokesperson. Thus prophecy is fulfilled, as God allows these situations and uses them. The world needed to witness and hear about God's power! Israel needed to see that we all need God, and that God delivers, provides and keeps His promises!...
(Exodus 3:7-8) The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. 8 So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite...”
The next portion of scripture will be important to remember later, because in the New Testament, this is what the Pharisees would have referenced when Jesus made the statement (John 8:58) ...“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Jesus came as the Israelites' Messiah to lead them into the Millennium and fulfill all their covenants, but they chose to reject Him and crucifying Him, which then delayed the Jewish Age for an unknown period of time (with 7 years left). But meanwhile - this delay and rejected fulfilled the one aspect of the Abrahamic covenant “...in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Again, just giving some context to consider...
(Exodus 3:13-14) Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
God reassures Moses that He has not forgotten the covenant He made with the Israelites. God wants the Israelites to trust Him...
(Exodus 6:1-8) Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.” 2 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord; 3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. 4 I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned. 5 Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6 Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the Lord.’”
And remember, God wants all the nations to know He is God...
(Exodux 7:1-5) Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay My hand on Egypt and bring out My hosts, My people the sons of Israel, from the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst.”
Today's takeaway: when I struggle with this concept that God hardens some people's hearts, I look to what I know is true. God is fair and just. I believe that God would not harden the heart of a person who would otherwise become a believer. So, I love to tell this story of my great-great uncle. He lived until he was 104 years old. I met him when he was 102, and this is what he told me, that God had let him live this long, because God knew that he was going to become a Christian at the age of 99. How awesome is that!!!...
(Proverbs 16:11) A just balance and scales belong to the Lord;
All the weights of the bag are His concern.
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