Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Scripture Readings
- Primary Reading: Exodus 5-7
- Secondary Reading: Psalms 64
Key Verse
Exodus 6:17 — “The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families.”
Devotional Thought
Pharaoh’s first words in Exodus 5 set the tone for everything that follows: “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice?” He does not merely refuse Israel’s request; he refuses to acknowledge that there is any authority higher than his own throne. And notice how quickly his contempt turns cruel. Before Moses and Aaron leave his presence, Pharaoh has already ordered that the people gather their own straw while producing the same quota of bricks. The taskmasters beat the Israelite officers, and those officers turn on Moses: “The LORD look upon you, and judge.” Even Moses cries out, “Lord, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people?” This is the raw honesty of Scripture—God’s deliverers do not glide to victory; they stumble through it, and God does not rebuke them for bringing their anguish to Him.
Then comes the hinge of the passage. God answers not with explanation but with Himself: “I am the LORD.” He reminds Moses that He appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but now He will make Himself known by His covenant name, JEHOVAH. He has heard the groaning of His people. He has remembered His covenant. He will redeem them “with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments.” Deliverance is not a rescue from a distance; it is God making Himself known in the very place of bondage. The people could not hear Moses “for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage”—and God understood that too.
By Exodus 7 the confrontation begins in earnest. Aaron’s rod becomes a serpent and swallows the serpents of Egypt’s magicians. The Nile, Egypt’s lifeblood and its god, is struck and turned to blood. Still Pharaoh’s heart hardens. The psalmist knew this kind of enemy—those who “whet their tongue like a sword” and shoot “bitter words” in secret, saying, “Who shall see them?” But the psalm’s answer is God’s answer: “God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.” The wicked who believe they act unseen are themselves seen, and their own tongues fall upon them.
This is early June, a season of long days and heavy labor for many—gardens to tend, projects to finish, children home from school. It is easy to feel like the Israelites, told to make bricks without straw, worn down until we cannot hear God’s promises over the noise of our burdens. Yet the word to Israel stands for us: “I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God.” The God who remembered His covenant in Egypt has not forgotten you. He is not distant from your groaning. He is at work, even when the first answer to prayer looks like more trouble than before.
Reflection
- The Israelites “hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.” When has weariness or grief made it hard for you to hear God’s promises—and what helped you listen again?
- God told Moses He would deliver Israel “with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments,” yet the process unfolded slowly and painfully. How do you hold onto trust when God’s deliverance seems delayed?
Prayer
Lord God, the same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who heard the groaning of Israel in Egypt and remembered Your covenant: hear us now. We confess that our burdens sometimes drown out Your promises, and like Moses we cry out, “Why hast Thou sent me?” Teach us to know You as JEHOVAH, the covenant-keeping God who redeems with a stretched-out arm. When our enemies seem to prevail and our labor feels in vain, remind us that You see what is done in secret and that no Pharaoh stands beyond Your reach. Take us to Yourself for a people, be our God, and bring us out of every bondage, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Psalm Verse
Psalms 64:1 — “Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.”