Daily Devotional

August 19th, 2021
by Pastor Wil Staley

Exodus 3:6-8

"And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites."

If you had to guess what the slang phrase "brown study" means, what would you say? Let me pause and tell you that you can't cheat and ask someone from Gen Z. Well you can, but they'd likely have no idea because this is slang from the 17th century. Give up? "Brown study" is a 17th-century slang phrase to describe when you're deep in thought, as I'm sure you just were. If you weren't close you shouldn't feel bad. I mean this is a phrase from approximately four hundred years ago and four hundred years is a long time!

God’s chosen people, lived as slaves in Egypt for four hundred years. Four hundred years had passed but God hadn’t forgotten His promise to His people. He was still the same God who called Abraham, and it was time for Him to intervene on behalf of His people. At times we may doubt or forget God or His promises, but we can know for certain that God has not forgotten about us.

In the case of the Israelites, God used an average guy like Moses, reminding us what's most important: God Himself. In serving the Lord and Moses performed signs and wonders allowing God to demonstrate His power over all false gods and “magic”. Each of the signs targeted a particular god that the Egyptians worshiped. Ultimately, the greatest sign and wonder God ever performed was raising Jesus from the dead, proving He had power even over death.

God told Moses his name, "I AM" as a revelation of His transcendent self-existence. Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the great “I AM” who came to save us from sin. May this be a wonderful reminder that God hears His people. That God sees the suffering of the oppressed and promises redemption through Jesus Christ.

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