The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Exodus 1:8-10,
"Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 'Look,' he said to his people, 'the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.'"
After Jacob and his family went to join Joseph in Egypt they grew into a mighty people. We are told "the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them." Verse 7. God fulfilled his promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to make a great nation of them. He used Egypt as a "womb" to grow the fledgling family into this great nation.
Now that God had accomplished that, he began to arrange circumstances to bring about Israel's exodus from Egypt to fulfill another promise he had made to the patriarchs: to give them the land of Canaan. In order to set the stage for Israel's exodus from Egypt, he turned the hearts of the Egyptians against his own people, "Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham. The Lord made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes, whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants." Psalm 105:23-25.
"Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. 'Look,' he said to his people, 'the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.'"
After Jacob and his family went to join Joseph in Egypt they grew into a mighty people. We are told "the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them." Verse 7. God fulfilled his promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to make a great nation of them. He used Egypt as a "womb" to grow the fledgling family into this great nation.
Now that God had accomplished that, he began to arrange circumstances to bring about Israel's exodus from Egypt to fulfill another promise he had made to the patriarchs: to give them the land of Canaan. In order to set the stage for Israel's exodus from Egypt, he turned the hearts of the Egyptians against his own people, "Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob resided as a foreigner in the land of Ham. The Lord made his people very fruitful; he made them too numerous for their foes, whose hearts he turned to hate his people, to conspire against his servants." Psalm 105:23-25.
Psalm 105 tells us that it was the Lord that caused the tremendous growth of Israel in Egypt, and, likewise, when that was accomplished, he turned the hearts of the Egyptians against his own people to bring about their exit from Egypt. God built a people for himself that would be entrusted with his word and through whom he would bring his Savior to mankind.
Every bit of what we read about Joseph's travails, Jacob's move to Egypt, and now the mistreatment of the Israelites by the Egyptians was all part of God accomplishing his purposes in a masterful way. It is just amazing to me to observe the wondrous works God does!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know. A blog with all my posts can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
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