The cries of the people poured from their hearts and rose to God’s ears.
Disturbed by the lack of justice happening on earth, seeing an entire race of people enslaved, witnessing the cruelties of the ruling class, God determines to make “momentous events of justice happen.”
Those events were huge, indeed. So huge that thousands of years later, the stories of Moses’ prophetic ministry in Egypt are still breathing hope into the hearts, souls, and minds of people all around the world.
Whether is was hope for freedom from religious oppression, release from slavery, or a reprieve from violence, it is a Moses-like liberation which suffering people envision.
When Moses goes to the Israelites and tells them what God has commanded him to say, they didn’t hear him “because of their complete exhaustion and their hard labor.”
They were worried that Moses would make their suffering greater rather than lessen it.
The most important part of this story, however, is that God did not shrug them off and say, “Well, I offered and they don’t want my help.”
God saw their hurt and recognized that their suffering made it difficult to hear the grand plans of the Creator of Universes and Momentous Events of Justice.
So, God went to work. Even if the Israelites couldn’t understand what was happening or what it would lead to, God went to work.
Moses, though … Moses was ready to walk away. He had been a bit of a reluctant prophet all along, anyway. He was ready to return to his quiet, idyllic life in the country, but God wouldn’t let him off the hook so easy.
While the Israelites had suffered, Moses had lived in luxury in Egypt. While the Israelites had survived under extreme oppression, Moses had lived free in the wilderness. While the Israelites were in survival mode, Moses had been free to grow strong and able; so, Go called Moses to work on behalf of his people.
Where are the people in our lives who are struggling just to survive? Who are those who may be so preoccupied with making it to the next moment that they can’t see the grand plans and desires of God? Who are too exhausted to hear the message being spoken to them? How is God calling you to work on their behalf? How is God calling you to be a part of their liberation?
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