KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Bondage
GOD INSTRUCTED MOSES to return to Egypt and lead the Israelites out of bondage (Exo. 3)...
The reason given by God for Moses' return to Egypt at this time was that God had "surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and...heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows" (v. 7). One would expect that this cry for relief from God's people would mean they were ready to follow, but what if things got worse?
Moses did return to Egypt and speak to Pharaoh, but Pharaoh did not let the people go. In fact, when Moses told Pharaoh that God wanted His people set free, Pharaoh responded by saying, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go" (Exo. 5:2).
Pharaoh became angry over this attempt at departure and increased the difficulty of the slavery. Moses returned to God, not understanding what to do next, and God instructed him at this point to speak to the children of Israel (6:6-8).
The key to our thoughts is found in Exodus 6:9: "So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they would not heed Moses, because of the anguish of spirit and cruel bondage." They would not listen because of the storms of life. God was offering freedom. They were willing to settle for an easier bondage simply because they were blinded by their difficulties. Storms of life do that to us. They cause us to forget that our focus is to be on God, not on ourselves. We know that Israel eventually did follow Moses, but if you are familiar with their journey to the Promised Land you know that the storms of life never let them rest. (Terry Frizzell, reprinted with permission, Gospel Advocate)
KneEmail: "So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they would not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage" ( Exodus 6:9).