Today let us do a quick comparison between Genesis 15:13, 14 and our text, Exodus 2:23-25.
And [God] said to Abram, Know positively that your descendants will be strangers dwelling as temporary residents in a land that is not theirs [Egypt], and they will be slaves there and will be afflicted and oppressed for 400 years. But I will bring judgment on that nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. Genesis 15:13-14 (AMPC)
Several years later the king of Egypt died. The Israelis were groaning beneath their burdens, in deep trouble because of their slavery, and weeping bitterly before the Lord. He heard their cries from heaven, and remembered his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to bring their descendants back into the land of Canaan. Looking down upon them, he knew that the time had come for their rescue. Exodus 2:23-25 (TLB)
The children of Israel would have been taught concerning the prophetic utterances made to Abraham, but it is not clear that they knew what slavery and affliction meant in practical terms! Furthermore, it seems from several other examples of similar prophetic utterances to those on His assignments, that actual details of pains involved are withheld regarding the future foretold. From the prophets to the disciples in the New Testament this appears to be God’s consistent practice to test the loyalty and dependence of His chosen ones upon Him. Hardly would such ever know the weight of the burden of service! How those who are genuinely called should understand and know it’s hardly ever an easy road.
For Paul, all God told him in Acts 26:16-18 (TLB)—Now stand up! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and my witness. You are to tell the world about this experience and about the many other occasions when I shall appear to you. And I will protect you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am going to send you to the Gentiles to open their eyes to their true condition so that they may repent and live in the light of God instead of in Satan’s darkness, so that they may receive forgiveness for their sins and God’s inheritance along with all people everywhere whose sins are cleansed away, who are set apart by faith in me.
And compare this to the reality expressed by Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, and 2 Corinthians 11: 23-28
2 Corinthians 1:8-10 (TPT)—Brothers and sisters, you need to know about the severe trials we experienced while we were in western Turkey. All of the hardships we passed through crushed us beyond our ability to endure, and we were so completely overwhelmed that we were about to give up entirely. It felt like we had a death sentence written upon our hearts, and we still feel it to this day. It has taught us to lose all faith in ourselves and to place all of our trust in the God who raises the dead. He has rescued us from terrifying encounters with death. And now we fasten our hopes on him to continue to deliver us from death yet again.
2 Corinthians 11:23-28 (TPT)—Are they servants of the Anointed One? I’m beside myself when I speak this way, but I am much more of a servant than they. I have worked much harder for God, taken more beatings, and been dragged to more prisons than they. I’ve been flogged excessively, multiple times, even to the point of death. Five times I’ve received thirty-nine lashes from the Jewish leaders. Three times I experienced being beaten with rods. Once they stoned me. Three times I’ve been shipwrecked; for an entire night and a day I was adrift in the open sea. In my difficult travels I’ve faced many dangerous situations: perilous rivers, robbers, foreigners, and even my own people. I’ve survived deadly peril in the city, in the wilderness, with storms at sea, and with spies posing as believers. I’ve toiled to the point of exhaustion and gone through many sleepless nights. I’ve frequently been deprived of food and water, left hungry and shivering out in the cold, lacking proper clothing. And besides these painful circumstances, I have the daily pressure of my responsibility for all the churches, with a deep concern weighing heavily on my heart for their welfare.
But in all these situations, no matter how long the reality of lack, pain and sufferings are appointed to last, GOD ALWAYS KEPT HIS WORD AND CAME THROUGH.
As the saying goes, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. So fellow pilgrim on this sojourn, your pains, your travails have an end, and will always end up in your good if you hold fast to the beginning of your faith. Shalom.
Pastor Afolabi Oladele
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