What God does is what He has always done. He is who He is. He is the Creator. He is also the Redeemer. One of His earliest and greatest redemptive acts recorded in Scripture was the deliverance of His people from Egypt. And in the Bible, there is a redemptive red thread that runs directly from that event to the coming of Christ. In many ways the cross of Jesus and last sign of the night of Passover are the same work, though on a different scale. Let me rehearse a few of the similarities.
There is about a 400 year gap from the death of Joseph, to the coming of Moses. There is about a 400 year gap between the message of Malachi (the last OT prophet) and the coming of Jesus. At the time of Moses, Israel was in bondage to Egyptian rulers. At the time of Jesus, Israel was under the oppression of the Roman government, as well as corrupted Jewish officials. Moses brought a message that God would fulfill His covenant. Jesus brought a new covenant. Before the people left Egypt, there was a Passover lamb that gave it’s blood as a sign, seal and covering, so the people wouldn’t incur the wrath of God. Jesus was called God’s Passover lamb. His blood is the sign, seal and covering that provides for the deliverance of all who trust Him.
All this is to say, we can learn about our eternal redemption and God the Redeemer, by seeing all His acts of redemption. These are witness to what God does and what the coming of Christ means. The deliverance of Israel has some very specific things to show us about the redeeming heart of God.
One verse in particular I want to point you to is Exodus 2:25. Before that, let’s look at verse 24. “And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.” God remembers His promises. He remembers His commitments. In times when God seems forgetful, He is remembering. To remember is to bring the past into the present. This means that God’s promises are never distant. They are forever present. His promises don’t fade into the dusty pages of history. They are refreshed in His mind because He remembers.
As important, and even more meaningful is the next verse. Verse 25 reads, “And God saw the children of Israel, and God knew.” Read that again. And now again. God saw. And. God. Knew. This is why Moses came.
This is why Jesus came. Because God saw and He knew. From the beginning of time, God saw the pain, the suffering, the bondage in which the human race had been trapped. He saw the hopelessness and the despair. He saw the evil. Nothing happened without His notice. Just like He saw the suffering of His people in Egypt. He has seen all that has happened and is happening with all who are part of His creation. We may not think He sees, but He sees.
And more importantly, He knew. His heart is intimately connected to all He made. He knows their hopes, their dreams, their longings. He knows their hurts, their disappointments, their suffering, their despair. And in the coming of Christ, He didn’t just know from a distance. He knew by joining us. In the flesh, He knows. He knows what life on this dusty, hate-filled planet is like. He knows, by experience, the hunger and thirst for righteousness. He knows the desire for deliverance. Just as Moses, came to the people of Israel, being one of them. Jesus became one of us to deliver us to a new life with God.
As you gaze upon the cross this Good Friday. Be filled with the realization that Jesus is not looking down at you with judgment, or criticism. He is looking down as One who sees you. He notices you there. And He knows. He knows who you are. He knows what you’ve been through. He knows and has loved you enough to join you in this life and provide the path of deliverance.
Just as the people had to trust in the coming of Moses, to put the blood of the lamb on their door posts, I encourage you to trust in the coming of Jesus, to be the Lamb who covers you with His blood. He is trustworthy because He sees you and He knows.
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for coming as a new and greater Moses. You have come, not just to deliver a certain group of people, but you came to deliver all of humanity from the oppression of evil and sin. And you gave yourself to do it. Thank you for becoming one with me, so I could become one with you. I praise you for the joy and confidence I get from understanding that you see me and you truly do know me. Today, I ask you to increase my faith in you. Help me rest under the cover of your love and sacrifice. Amen.