Exodus

Exodus 2: God hears His people

Begin in prayer

Before the basket by the river and the groaning in Egypt fill our thoughts, let us bring our needs to God. Ask Him to teach us the faithfulness of His covenant and to show us its fulfilment in Jesus.

He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.

Psalm 102:17

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Help us see that You hear suffering people and remember Your promise. Show us Your covenant mercy in Jesus. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

A Levite mother hides her son, then places him in a coated papyrus basket among the reeds. Pharaoh's daughter has compassion on the crying baby, and his sister brings his own mother to nurse him. The princess names him Moses because she drew him from the water. Grown up, Moses kills an Egyptian who is striking a Hebrew, and he flees when Pharaoh seeks his life. At a well in Midian he helps seven daughters water their flock, then marries Zipporah and has a son. Meanwhile Israel cries under bondage, and God hears and remembers His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

As you read Exodus 2, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God hears His suffering people and remembers His covenant.

The river intended for a boy's death becomes the place where Pharaoh's daughter finds him alive. His mother receives wages to nurse her own child before he becomes the princess's son. Moses means one drawn out, as the princess explains when she names him. Yet the child preserved from the river cannot free Israel by his own strength. His killing of an Egyptian is followed by rejection and flight. In Midian he gains a household, but his son's name remembers that he remains a foreigner. Israel's hope comes into view when God hears, remembers, sees and is concerned. Remembering His covenant means acting on His promise, without any suggestion that He had forgotten. Luke connects God's covenant mercy with the coming of Jesus (Luke 1 verses 72 and 73).

How does Exodus 2 show us that God hears His suffering people and remembers His covenant?

God preserves the child who will lead Israel out.

His mother can hide him no longer, so she places him among the reeds. Pharaoh's daughter has compassion when she sees the crying child. God works through these ordinary acts before Moses can do anything to help himself.

Moses becomes a foreigner while Israel remains in bondage.

Moses looks at his people's burdens and strikes the Egyptian. The next day a Hebrew challenges his authority, and Moses is afraid. This rejected man will need God's sending, while Christ comes with the Father's authority.

God remembers the promise His people's groans cannot earn.

The king dies, yet the bondage continues. God's covenant with the fathers stands behind His attention to their cry. The mercy promised to Abraham reaches its saving fulfilment in Jesus (Luke 1 verses 72 and 73).

Memorise

God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

Exodus 2:24

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what trouble have I kept from Jesus instead of asking for His mercy?

Israel's cry comes up to God, and “God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” Their groaning has no power to force His hand. His own promise is the ground of their hope.

God kept His covenant mercy by sending Jesus. Sin has put every one of us under guilt, beyond the help of any human rescuer. Christ carried the sin of His people to the cross and suffered as their substitute. The Father raised His Son from death. The rescue He completed is enough, and no further payment is needed.

Bring your helplessness to Him. Turn from sin and trust the Lord Jesus. All who take refuge in Him receive forgiveness and a place among His people. Long waiting does not cancel His word, and a weak cry does not fall beyond His hearing.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God heard Israel's suffering and that Jesus is the promised Savior who died and rose. Please help a child in distress speak to a trusted adult. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for hearing Israel and keeping His covenant, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

to show mercy towards our fathers, to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to Abraham, our father,

Luke 1:72-73

Father, thank You for hearing the cries of Your people. We bring our troubles and our sins before You. Please lead each one to trust the crucified and risen Jesus. Make us quick to hear someone who is hurting and to seek help for them. Amen.