Hoping on behalf of those who cannot hope
Exodus 6 (Selected verses))
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh: Indeed, by a mighty hand he will let them go; by a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land.’
2 God also spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name “The Lord” I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they resided as aliens. 5 I have also heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are holding as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Say therefore to the Israelites, “I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgement. 7 I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.”’ 9 Moses told this to the Israelites; but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.
10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, 11 ‘Go and tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his land.’ 12 But Moses spoke to the Lord, ‘The Israelites have not listened to me; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me, poor speaker that I am?’ 13 Thus the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and gave them orders regarding the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, charging them to free the Israelites from the land of Egypt.
The last devotional ended with Moses telling God off, “Things are just getting worse since I have started asking Pharaoh to let the people go.” God’s response in this passage was to say again to Moses, “I will act, I will free the Israelites as a nation, and I will bring them to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” God stated that his giving the Israelites freedom would prove that he was “the LORD your God.” Hearing this stirring speech from God, energized Moses who repeated what God had said to the people of Israel. And it fell completely flat. The people would not listen to the hope Moses was proclaiming, because they were past hope. The only future they could imagine was unending slavery. They had no hope, their spirits were crushed.
The people were no encouragement to Moses, they had nothing to offer by way of support, Moses and Aaron had no followers urging them on to get the people of Israel freedom. Moses and Aaron went to confront Pharaoh because of what God commanded them to do.
We may have situations in our lives where we face discouragement and despair, thinking there is no hope. And in human terms there is no hope. But God has not yet spoken the final word on whatever the situation in our life has us broken and in despair. God will bring redemption in the end, God will bring the reconciliation of all things, that is sure. At times we may be the only ones declaring this message of hope. We continue to speak the message of hope, not because people encourage us to speak that way, but because God commands us to speak hope into the places of despair. We are called to live in hope for those who cannot find a way to hope.
PRAYER:
God of hope, you call us to live in hope regardless of what is happening around us. Shape us to hope in you when all seems lost, teach us to hope for others when they cannot find hope. In Jesus’ name. Amen.