Exodus is of course the second book in the Old Testament. Genesis is the book of beginnings, the beginning of the world, the beginning of man and of sin, as well as many other things. Exodus is a book of redemption and deliverance. Genesis tells of God's power in creation. In Exodus we see God's power on behalf of his people. The word 'Exodus' means to go out and that tells us the main story of the book. There are also many wonderful pictures of Christ in this remarkable book, written down by Moses, the man who led the Israelites out of Egypt. Notice what verse 5 in our reading tells us. The number of Jacob's family that went down into Egypt totalled 70, including Joseph, his wife and two sons, who were already there. God had promised Abraham and later Isaac and Jacob that their children would be as many as the sand on the seashore. It was in Egypt that God began to fulfil that promise in a remarkable way. Both in Genesis 47:27 and again in our reading today (v.7) we are told that the numbers of Israelites increased very rapidly. They had large families and in the 400 years they were in Egypt they multiplied from 70 persons to over two million. No wonder the kind of Egypt finally became afraid of them. Why was there such a big increase? Because God's hand of blessing was on them. We may not always have all the money or material things which we feel we would like, but if God's hand is on us, it will always be for our good and we can trust him to bless us in the way that is best for us. God never forget his people nor will he forget us. Remember his promise, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'. REMEMBER: God always keeps his word. |
沒有留言:
張貼留言