Saturday, October 27, 2018

October 28, 2018

"As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” Genesis 15:12-16

We are reviewing the four promises God gave to His people through Moses when He was about to lead them out of Egypt. These promises are found in Exodus 6:6-7 and are commemorated by the four cups central to the Passover Seder celebration.

Before we begin the inspiring study of each of the four cups I want to establish the faithfulness of God in keeping His promises. Obviously, promises are only as valid as one who makes them. So today I want show you the promise behind these four promises. It is a specific promise made to Abraham that was fulfilled through Moses.

Centuries before God led His people OUT of Egypt He led them INTO Egypt to save them from the great famine that was to come for the next seven years. Remember how God had used Joseph to gain favor with the Pharaoh in Egypt? Remember how Joseph had been sold as a slave into Egypt? God really does work in mysterious ways! 

Just as God promised Abraham but in ways no one could have anticipated He brought His people into Egypt! Not only did God lead them into Egypt to save them but through the grace garnered by Joseph He led them into Goshen, the most fertile region of the land! And He blessed them so abundantly that they began to prosper and multiply until they became a threat to the next Pharaoh and he put them into bondage. Just as God promised!

And after four hundred years of bondage - as promised - God is about to use Moses to lead them out of their miserable bondage! 

To remind you, here are the promises that fulfilled THE promise!

“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians." Exodus 6:6-7

So, not only does this remind us that God DOES keep His promises but it reminds of why it is so important for us to remember that He does - BECAUSE HE WORKS IN SUCH MYSTERIOUS WAYS!

This may be a needed reminder to you today! Remember that God led them into Egypt to provide for them. Remember that it was their prosperity that led them into slavery. And remember that when He led them out He did so with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment - just as He promised Abraham AND Moses!

If you are in bondage today let me remind you that God ALWAYS keeps His promises AND He still has an outstretched arm and mighty acts of judgment to lead you to freedom!