A People Delivered

Exodus 6:6-8; 13:17-22

GOLDEN TEXT: “I will trust, and will not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength.”—Isaiah 12:2

THE message Moses was commissioned to deliver to the Israelites was comprehensive and reassuring. In it God assumed full responsibility for the task of delivering his people from bondage—“I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments.”

There is no escaping the meaning of these words. Great as Moses became as the leader and lawgiver of Israel, God wanted his people to know he was their real deliverer and savior. Such a lavish use of “I” in declarations made by fallen men would be quite unbecoming, for it would betoken the spirit of boasting, of pride and arrogance. And how very seldom have the great and proud of this world been able to make good their boasting!

But when the great Jehovah speaks and says “I” will do so and so, it is neither boasting nor an overstatement of his ability to perform. It is not boasting for anyone to declare his intention of doing that which comes within the scope of his ability. To one as meek as Moses, the task of delivering the Israelites would seem to be a formidable one; but for the Creator of the universe it was simple and easy, and his emphatic statement of intention to do so must have been most reassuring to Moses.

How little did the Hebrews appreciate the blessedness and sweetness implied in God’s statement, “I will take you to me as a people, and I will be to you a God.” Later the prophet wrote, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.” (Psa. 33:12) But the Israelites did not have sufficient faith to realize how blessed their lot really was. This is evidenced by the fact of their readiness to complain when conditions were not exactly to their liking.

Even when Moses delivered this proclamation to Israel they failed to give heed to it, for they were too much concerned with their immediate problems. It was necessary for some of the plagues to come upon them, as well as upon the Egyptians, before they were ready co-operate. Their hardness of heart was manifested throughout practically the entire period of their national existence. God promised to make of them a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a peculiar treasure if they obeyed his laws; but they did not obey, hence lost this special position in the divine plan.—Ex. 19:5,6

It is a blessed thing to be the people of God, but those who attain and maintain this position do so at great cost—although great as the cost appears to be from the human standpoint, it is infinitesimally small in comparison to the rich blessing enjoyed by those whose God is Jehovah. God’s ways are contrary to those of the world, and those who would be his people must be separate from the world. This was one of the tests in which the Israelites failed. Even after they were brought out of Egypt by the outstretched arm of Jehovah, they wanted to go back to enjoy its fleshpots.

In order for God to make good his promise to deliver Israel, it was necessary to inflict ten plagues upon Egypt. The first three of these came upon the Israelites as well. The tenth was the death of Egypt’s firstborn—the firstborn of Israel being spared under the protection of the blood of the passover lamb. This plague brought Pharaoh to his knees, and he insisted that the Israelites leave the country, which they speedily did.

In this we have a beautiful illustration of God’s proposed deliverance of the entire human race from the bondage of sin and death. Man was sold into this slavery by sin, and Satan is the cruel “Pharaoh” who continues to impose the yoke of bondage upon him. But God has promised deliverance from death, and he tells us that just as in the case of the Egyptians, he will “plague” death until its captives are set free—“O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction.”—Hosea 13:14

Before Joseph died he assured his brethren that the time would come when they would be restored to the land which God had given to their fathers; and he left instructions that when this time came, they were to carry his bones back to the Promised Land. Moses respected this request. It was an evidence of Joseph’s faith in the promises of God. He knew that the great “I am” was able and willing to fulfill all his good promises.

The Golden Text is associated in prophecy with the final deliverance of the “remnant” of Israel in this end of the age. It is also a quotation from Moses’ song of deliverance which was sung after the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea. It therefore serves to indicate that there is a certain similarity between these two great deliverances.

QUESTIONS:

Was God boasting when he said, “I” will deliver Israel?

Why did Joseph want his bones carried to Canaan?

What great future deliverance will be wrought by means of “plagues”?

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