Daily Dose of the Word of God - Exodus 3: 16-17

Erin Pacheco, Director of Worship

Transcript

Erin Pacheco 0:11
 
Welcome to Elmhurst CRC’s Daily Dose of the Word of God. It’s Friday, January 10, and Sunday is coming! I’m Erin Pacheco. This week, as we dig deeper into the Bible, we’ve been listening to God’s message to Moses at the burning bush, when God calls Moses and sends him to Egypt to “Let my people go.” Yesterday we heard how God shares his name, his identity, with Moses, as “I Am Who I Am.” Here’s what God says next to Moses in Exodus 3:16-17.

Erin Pacheco 0:47 

“Now go and call together all the elders of Israel. Tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me. He told me, “I have been watching closely, and I see how the Egyptians are treating you. I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt, and I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey…”

Erin Pacheco  1:17 

God will go on to tell Moses the details of his plan to set his people free. But for now, I’m drawn to how God specifically wants the leaders of Israel to know that he has been watching over them in their struggle. He has seen their oppression. He has heard their cries. And he has promised to rescue them.   It’s as if God knows that he has felt distant to them. All they can see is their pain, and they have no idea if anyone hears their cries. 

Erin Pacheco  1:56 

Maybe you can relate. It’s human nature to turn in on ourselves when we’re hurting. And it’s totally normal to go through seasons when God feels far away. So I love how God, in his mercy, sends someone to his people specifically to say: I see you. I hear you. I’m coming to rescue you.  To Israel, he sent Moses. To us, maybe he sends a kind word from a friend, or a timely word from scripture. And to all, he sends Jesus. To join our pain, to hear our cries, and to rescue us finally from every kind of evil, and bring us to a place of peace and plenty. 

Erin Pacheco 2:58  

Let’s pray. Thank you, God, for seeing us and hearing us, even when we can’t see and hear you. Please send a reminder of your care to those who especially need one today. And help us all to look for ways to remind others that you are with them and you are making all things new. Amen.