God Saw the People of Israel, and God Knew

As I was reading how the book of Exodus in the Old Testament begins, picking up with the story of God’s people in Egypt where Genesis left off, as Jacob and his sons and their families moved to that land from Canaan at the invitation of Joseph, a simple statement caught my attention the other day.

“During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” (Exodus 2:23-25, ESV)

That last bit in particular, that God saw, and God knew, Israel in Egyptian slavery, seems to me a profound comfort, only all the more for its simplicity of sentiment amidst the epic which preceded it, and the great and wonderful events which follow soon after, as Moses is called by God, and sent, to tell Pharaoh to let His people go that they might serve Him in the wilderness.

For over four centuries, Israel groaned under Egyptian slavery. At first they were honored guests of a highly placed official in Pharaoh’s court. Then dependence on the generosity of Pharaoh gave way to bondage. Yet their plight was not lost on the Lord, who had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that their descendants would be a great nation, and that He would be their God.

God saw that, and God knew.

So also, in our circumstance, we may not be Israel, and this may not be Egypt. But God is the same, yesterday, today, and forevermore. His character has not promised, nor will His justice and mercy be neglected. And how He provided for and protected Israel, or punished the sin and folly of Egypt and her king – will He not still provide for and protect His people, the Church? Will He not punish the sin and folly of modern nations and peoples when they arrogantly mock Him, and disobey His Word?

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”

We cannot miss that this is the Apostle Paul writing in the New Testament, to drive the point home that the Lord is immutable, the character of His promises unchangeable.

Thus we should welcome the recent news from Christianity Today that the SBC has disfellowshipped Saddleback Church and Rick Warren. A purpose-driven disobedience and stiff-neckedness was dealt with by distance, in hopes such will bring those who have been put out to a place of repentance.

So also, when high school students in America rise to deliver remarks to their school boards on why they are leaving the school after attempts at radical Leftist indoctrination, we should hope for more such exits, and more such calls to set free God’s people to serve Him.

God sees, and God knows, when His people groan under genuine oppression, or as they see fetters being fashioned rhetorically, psychologically, and procedurally. And God will not be mocked, since a man will reap what he sows.

“For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

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