Receive the Promise

Exodus 6:9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage. 
 
THIS is a sad response to God’s seven promises to redeem Israel from Egypt’s slavery. (See the two prior lessons.) Egypt’s cruel bondage over Israel was severe. But perhaps Israel’s spiritual bondage was worse.
   Generation upon generation, Egypt’s oppression infected Israel with despair of God’s promises. When the LORD of creation stepped into their lives to say, “I will.” Israel was too weary to welcome him.
   But if they had opened their mind to remember all of God’s promises to Abraham, they would have remembered this: Genesis 15:13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated 400 years. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 
   Exodus 12:40 tells us Israel lived in Egypt 430 years. Moses came with God’s message in the length of time God had promised. Their despair should have turned to joy, “The LORD is a Promise Keeper!”
   But despair puts a dark cover over God’s promises, doesn’t it? This seems to have been the psalmist’s heart when he petitioned God, “I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.” (Psalm 123:1-2)
   As the psalmist, we might see God as a slave master who demands unreasonable devotion. We might believe he directs our lives without reason. In life’s hard places we wonder, “Is it true God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble? (Psalm 46:1) Or do we stop to remember Jesus’ mercy to declare, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
   Despair can steal our joy and cover our hearts with darkness. God’s mercy is his abundant love to welcome us into his life-giving light. For faith to clear their spiritual eyes, Israel needed to believe the God of heaven and earth had moved events over 400 years from the patriarchs to the day the merciful God said to his people, “I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.”  
   Is despair, doubt or weariness keeping you from knowing God is Eternal Mercy? Jesus confronted the darkness to lead  us into his light. Trust his eternal freedom from despair. See joy’s clear skies, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)