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In spite of all the trouble that Jacob’s favoritism and poor choices had caused, God reassured Jacob that He still planned to make good on His covenant and that Egypt was part of that plan (see Genesis 46:1-7).
Joseph and his extended family settled in Egypt, and God made a great nation out of them. As long as the Pharaoh who loved Joseph was alive, Joseph and his descendants enjoyed favor in Egypt, but as soon as a king who didn’t know Joseph came to power, that favor was over. The new king was afraid of the Israelites (Jacob’s descendants) and decided to destroy them so they wouldn’t grow too powerful.
Thankfully, Joseph and his brothers had done a very good job of teaching their children and grandchildren about God, and they were more afraid of disobeying God than disobeying the Egyptians. Otherwise, their family would have died out when the Egyptians told the midwives to kill the boy babies. Moses was one of the babies saved and grew up to become an important figure in the story of God’s people.
Moses did not have the spiritual benefit of growing up in a Hebrew household, but he felt a strong connection to his own people, so much so that he murdered an Egyptian for mistreating one of them. When Pharaoh found out, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses ran away to Midian, where he met and married his wife, had a child, and worked for his father-in-law. While he was gone, that king of Egypt died (see Exodus 2:11-22).
God is TOTALLY knowing. He was never unaware of the condition of the Israelites, but He waited for them to cry out to Him before He helped so they would recognize that the help was from Him when He gave it and give Him glory. God had predicted the struggles the Israelites would face and their ultimate deliverance to Abraham in a dream (see Genesis 15:12-16). Nothing that ever happened to them was outside of God’s control or a surprise to Him. It was all part of His plan. God only waited for the prayers of His people so they could play a part in His plan.
God doesn’t need our help but lets us partner with Him through prayer. When we pray and ask Him for things, it teaches us to rely on Him.
About this Plan
Human relationships are almost always messy because people are involved, but God isn’t people. God is God. He is completely, TOTALLY different. If our relationship to/with Him is ever messy, it's only because we made it that way. We invite you to put aside any assumptions you've made about God and let Him speak for Himself. We think you’ll find that He is much easier to trust than people.
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