Key Verse: Exodus 2:24
So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

Here we are in Exodus, the book of departure which starts with the word “Now.” On July 23rd we completed Genesis with the key verse being God’s promise (Genesis 49:10), which was consistent with His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Fast forward to “Now,” approximately 400 years later. Israel now numbers at perhaps 2,000,000 people. “God remembered” does not infer that God forgot. Of course, He forgets nothing. It does highlight the timing of God. In His dealings with Israel and with us, there are unique times when God moves to bring about His will. Moses makes his appearance in God’s time. The enemy of God’s purposes tried to kill Moses in a sweeping decision to kill all the boy babies. That enemy did the same through King Herod to try to kill Jesus. Let us remember that God will fulfill His plan in His time regardless of the opposition.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father God, Thank You for Your timing in bringing about Your plan for Israel. You’ve made hundreds of promises recorded in Scripture which I can claim for my people and for me personally. I stand today on Jeremiah 29:11-13. You promised, “a future and a hope.” You promised, “then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.” You give me such great encouragement. Thank You! I receive Your blessings and Your timing. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:
In Exodus 2:23, the Children of Israel “cried out” to God. This was a groaning for God’s intervention. Because of my parents’ years as missionaries in the Middle East, Egypt in particular, and my first cousin’s former position at the University of Toronto as Head of Middle East Studies, I took great interest in the “Camp David Accords.” This was an agreement that was negotiated in 1978 and signed in 1979 by President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Prime Minister Begin of Israel, and President Carter of the U.S.A. (see photo below). The first night that they were at Camp David, I could not sleep. Around midnight I began to cry out to God for His purposes to be fulfilled. I can only describe what happened to me as the most intense intercessory cry to God I had ever experienced. God answered my prayer and the prayers of many others. On the White House Lawn they announced that they (from three different religions) had prayed to the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” and the rest is history. Sadat was assasinated, but, by the grace of God, I had the opportunity of sharing my experience of that night with both Begin and Carter…Begin at his home in Jerusalem and Carter on a “Habitat for Humanity” building site in Kitchener, Ontario. Sorry! I’m well over 100 words. I’m finding the commitment to keep to 100 words in each section a big challenge, but I’ll keep trying.

Yours to help us all to take God’s promises most seriously, because He remembers,

David