January 30, 2017. Exodus 1-3.

 

Have you ever experienced a time in your life when all is going well? Those are great days! But often, as life goes, over a period of time, things change for the worse and you are left scratching your head mumbling to yourself “what the heck happened”? The Hebrews can second that emotion as the book of Exodus opens up.

Seems like the Egyptians had forgotten the Hebrew Joseph and his God who saved their nation through 7 years of famine. Now the Hebrews are seen as a threat and a liability. Things went from God is good to what the heck happened!

Exodus 1.8 Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. 9 He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. 

13 So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. 14 They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands.

15 Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: 16 “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too.

What is God doing when you can’t figure out what the heck happened?

    He is Good in Bad Times- 1.20 So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.

    He is Working In Your Family- 2.1 About this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. 2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months. 

    He is Preparing You to Submit to His Plan- 2.14 The man replied, “Who appointed you to be our prince and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?”

    He is Knows what the Heck Happened- 3.9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. 

    He is Moving to Make Good Happen for You- 3.10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

So “what the heck happened”? Nothing that God did not know about, nothing He is not doing something about and nothing that will permanently harm you only bless you ultimately.

Previous Devotional - January 29