God Hears Israel's Groaning (Exodus 2:23-25)

[Now that Moses’ situation has been summarized, these verses conclude the introduction by returning to the crushing situation of slavery for the people of God.]

23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

[Five important assertions are made in this section:

[if !supportLists]1. [endif]The pharaoh who sought Moses’ life has died. This makes the return of Moses possible no longer as a criminal fugitive but as a prophet of God.

[if !supportLists]2. [endif]The change in government has made no difference for the Israelites.

[if !supportLists]3. [endif]The people of Israel began to pray and God hears their groaning.

[if !supportLists]4. [endif]God remembers his covenant, the one he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Bible portrays God as intervening at various times for various purposes, though rarely as soon as self-centered human beings would like him to. When the Bible states that God remembered his covenant, it could also be translated as “God decided to honor the terms of his covenant at this time.”

5. “God was interested in his people and in making himself known to them,” is probably a better translation than the way the ESV translates verse 25. The theological issue here is not whether or how people suffer; the issue is: does suffering go unnoticed? If it does not, then his people can properly surmise that their suffering may well be part of a plan. It is part of a suffering that has a beginning and an end. It is a suffering understood by and watched over by a sovereign God who will not let it continue without good purpose and result.]