AP

Exodus 1:12-13  But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly.   

The 430 years the descendants of Jacob spent in Egypt started off as a real blessing from God and an answer to prayer; but when their numbers grew as a result of this blessing and a new regime came to power with no knowledge of their historical background in the land, the blessing changed to cruel adversity, suffering and affliction.  Where was their God in all this?

Their God was using it for his purposes, to work out his sovereign plan, in order to redeem them from slavery by his powerful hand and to establish them as a large, strong, unified nation belonging to him, and to foreshadow his ultimate purpose: to deliver us from slavery to sin.  This difficult time for them was just one part of his ‘Salvation Plan A’, the Plan that was set in place at the ‘the creation of the world’ (Revelation 13:8) and that found its fulfilment in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We really feel for our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world today, people belonging to God, who are undergoing unimaginable oppression.  But even as we empathise with them and support them in prayer and, where possible, materially, we see God doing an amazing work in their countries so that ‘the more they are oppressed, the more the Church multiplies and spreads’.  The Church is growing much faster in these countries than it is in the West.

The same thing happened in the first few centuries after Christ: it was the intense persecution of the early Christians that resulted in their ‘multiplying and spreading’.  We, in the relative ‘comfort’ of the West, are seeking God’s blessings of peace and prosperity for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren, and rightly so.  But it may be that the real growth and expansion of the Gospel among us will only come through means of opposition and persecution.  And the events of Exodus should be preparing us for this possibility.  They help us to focus on God’s long term Big Picture and not to get discouraged by immediate circumstances.  Increased opposition to our proclamation of the truth that Jesus is the only Saviour and Lord is inevitable in our present political and social climate.  So let us hear and take to heart what God is saying to us through James: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2)  And as Paul wrote to the Philippians from his prison cell: “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.” (Philippians 1:12)

– Bruce Christian