April 24, 2013
GOD'S TIMING ISN'T OUR TIMING; IT'S BETTER!
Exodus 12:35-51
Tom Fuerst
Central Truth
When times are tough, our job is to trust in Him, ask Him for what we need, and rest in His perfect timing. After 429 years, I'm sure some of the Israelites thought God had forgotten about them in Egypt. But He hadn't! His timing was perfect.
Key Verse | Exodus 12:41
And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, to the very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:41)
Exodus 12:35-51
35 The people of Israel had also done as Moses told them, for they had asked the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry and for clothing. 36 And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.
37 And the people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. 39 And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
40 The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. 42 It was a night of watching by the LORD, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the LORD by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.
Institution of the Passover
43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but every slave 1 12:44 Or servant; the Hebrew term ebed designates a range of social and economic roles (see Preface) that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him. 45 No foreigner or hired worker may eat of it. 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. 47 All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. 48 If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. 49 There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”
50 All the people of Israel did just as the LORD commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 And on that very day the LORD brought the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their hosts.
Dive Deeper | Exodus 12:35-51
I don't know if you've written a Join The Journey entry before, but it's always a bit daunting to pick a passage out of the selected range, because you don't always know what is waiting for you once you read it. Last year, I went with my wedding anniversary and ended up in the seventh chapter of Revelation -- maybe not what I intended, but I enjoyed diving in and discovering what was there.
This year, I went with my wife's birthday and ended up in Exodus (I'm just happy she wasn't born in May, else I'd be in Leviticus . . . oh dear). Reading over my passage a few times, however, I couldn't help but feel it was something of a bridge passage -- something that connects the escape from Egypt and the institution of the Passover. As I read and reread it, however, one thing kept jumping out at me -- verse 41, where the text indicates that the Israelites left Egypt after 430 years, to the day. Not about 430 years, but 430 years to the day.
I had read the passage and that number a few times, but it wasn't sinking in just how long that actually is. With a little research I was able to put it in perspective--as I write this in the fall of 2012, it is 430 years since William Shakespeare was wed at the age of 18. That was a long, long time ago. That was how long the Israelites were in Egypt. Yet, as God had promised, He brought them out. In His time. On the appointed day.
In Genesis 15, God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Abraham didn't wait, however, on God's timing for a son, but had a child with his wife's servant, Hagar. Contrast this with Jesus in John 17, who waited on God's perfect timing to end his public ministry and begin the road to the cross. Things work out so much better when we wait on God's timing.
Discussion Questions
1. In what area of your life are you relying on God's timing? Are you patient or worrisome? What does your attitude say about in whom you are placing your trust?
2. It's been said that we shouldn't refer to eternity as the afterlife, but our time on earth as the "before life," given that this life is but a passing shadow of the life to come. How does this altered perspective change your view on God's timing? Are you more patient or less?
3. Who around you needs encouragement and prayer as they wait on God's timing? What can you do today to show them God's love?