Ten Words of Comfort

Exodus 3:7-22

 

Exodus 3 gives a brief account of some of the circumstances that preceded GodÕs deliverance of the children of Israel from their captivity and bondage in Egypt. But we must not forget that these things were written Òfor our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hopeÓ (Romans 15:4). ÒThey are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are comeÓ (1 Corinthians 10:11). Here are ten words of comfort, ten declarations of mercy that fell from the lips of our dear Savior for the comfort of His people in the midst of great trouble. If you can hear them, they are written here in the Book of God specifically for you.

 

      1. ÒI have surely seen the affliction of My peopleÓ (v. 7). — Though in our troubles and sorrows we often forget our God, He never forgets us.

 

      2. ÒI have surely seen the affliction of My peopleÓ (v. 7). — He thoroughly observes our affliction; and He is moved by what He sees. It is written, ÒIn all their afflictions, He was afflicted.Ó And He is bent upon delivering us from our sorrows.

 

3. ÒI know their sorrowsÓ (v. 7). — When crushing sorrow lies like ice on your heart, when the dearest earthly friend cannot enter into the grief you bear, Christ can and does! He who once bore my sins also carried my sorrows and is touched with the feeling of my infirmity. His tender eyes were once dim with weeping, too!

 

4. ÒAnd I am come down to deliver themÓ (v. 8). — He who sees our affliction, hears our cries, and knows our sorrows rises from His lofty throne, not to command the armies of angels that surround His throne to fly to the relief of His  suffering  children,  but to  come  down from  heaven,  in His own Person to deliver us! Thus He came down in His incarnation. Thus He comes down in His saving grace. Thus He comes down in His wise and good daily providence.

 

5. ÒCertainly, I will be with theeÓ (v. 12). — The Lord your God promises you that He will be with you always, to strengthen and help you, to encourage and comfort you, to keep and protect you. His oft repeated promise to His chosen is, ÒI will never leave thee, nor forsake theeÓ (Isaiah 41:10; 43:1-5; Hebrews 13:5).

 

      6. ÒYe shall serve God upon this mountainÓ (v. 12) — The Lord God promised Moses that he and the children of Israel would serve Him upon Mount Horeb (Sinai), as they did at the giving of the law. There they built an altar upon a hill and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings (Exodus 24:4-5). So it shall be with you, my brother, and with you, my sister. The high mountain of sorrow and trouble that rises before you shall be made a mountain of praise upon which you shall offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise to your God.

 

7. ÒI Am That I AmÓ (v. 14) — What a great word of comfort this is! ÒI AMÓ is the name of God our Savior. He is the eternal, self-existent, self-sufficient God, the Being of beings. He comprehends the past, the present, and the future. I do not merely mean that He knows the past, present, and future. I mean He comprehends it. It all exists in Him! Yet, there is more. This name, by which our God reveals Himself, ÒI Am That I Am,Ó means, not only I am what I am at present, but I am what I have been, and I am what I shall be, and shall be what I am. In a word, it declares He is the constant, invariable, immutable, faithful God. Our Savior here declares that His name, ÒI Am That I Am,Ó is the sure foundation upon which we may rely. The mighty I AM will do all that He has said!

 

8. ÒI will bring you up out of the afflictionÓ (v. 17) — He purposed it. He promises it. And He will do it. And when He does, He will bring you into Òa land flowing with milk and honey.Ó He squeezes milk and honey out of every hard rock of adversity and causes the milk and honey to flow with such abundance into our souls that the rock of adversity from which it flows is soon forgotten.

 

9. ÒYe shall not go emptyÓ (v. 21) — You know how the Egyptians loaded the sons of Jacob with everything they would need in the wilderness, when the Israelites fled from them. So it shall be, child of God, with you, when the Lord God delivers you from any trial by which He may momentarily crush your heart. You shall not go out empty, but enriched by the experience (2 Corinthians 4:17-18; 1 Peter 1:3-9; James 1:12).

 

10. ÒAnd ye shall spoil the EgyptiansÓ (v. 22) — Just as Israel took everything worth having out of Egypt, so it shall be with us at last. In that great day that knows no night, when God our Savior has made all things new, when all His elect have at last been made possessors of their heavenly Canaan, they shall come from all the nations of the earth, bringing the spoils of the nations with them (Revelation 21:22-27; Zechariah 14:1, 9, 20-21).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don Fortner

 

 

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