God Knows
Exodus 2:23-25:
“During those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”
I read this passage the other night before bed. I didn’t remember ever reading it before, it stood out to me so starkly. Unlike certain New Testament epistles, I don’t tend to flip to the book of Exodus often- but this section of verses had me questioning why.
The last sentence especially caught my attention:
“God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”
God knew. To me, that word implies so much. More than what would fit in the sentence.
I looked up this verse in other translations for comparison:
NASB says, “And God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them”.
NIV: “So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”
NLT: “[God] looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.”
NKJV: “And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.”
Strong’s Concordance says the Hebrew word yāḏaʿ (“knew” and “acknowledged” and others in various versions), could also be translated to “took notice”.
God saw the suffering of His people the Israelites, and He took notice. He was not abandoning them in their suffering and agony- He had a plan to use it and to deliver them from it.
God not only saw what His people were going through, He understood it.
When I am thinking “in the flesh” and focused on myself, I tend to look at suffering as punishment or cruelty afflicted upon me. However, I know from Scripture (such as 1 Peter 5:10, Romans 5:3-5; 8:18, Philippians 2:5-9 and James 1:2-4) that God uses suffering for a purpose, and He allows it to shape me and mold me into the person He created me to be. To make me a more perfect vessel for Him to use.
Sometimes I forget that God suffered more than I ever have- or ever will. I say that because I believe the suffering Jesus experienced during the crucifixion was greater than what I could endure and live through. Jesus experienced the physical torment of beatings, lashes, and nails, but I can only imagine the spiritual torment He experienced: the weight of all of mankind’s sin, the feeling of abandonment and separation… He carried all of it.
The God who saw the suffering of the Israelites in Egypt is the same God who sees the suffering of me and you. He did not abandon the people of Israel in 1446 BC, He has not suddenly forgotten us now!
He KNOWS the traumatic experience of having your sister get in a car accident and the feelings you had as you wondered for too many uncertain moments if she would be alright…
He KNOWS the stress and challenge of work every day, and the struggle to do the things that sometimes seem impossible for you to do well…
He KNOWS the fear and hope and worry and sadness and confusion that pierces you every day, each complicated emotion that fills your heart, every inch of imperfect human-ness…
He KNOWS the depression, the grief, the anger, the confusion, the hurt, the terror, the longing, the waiting… God knows it and He sees you in it. He has not and never will abandon you in it.
Exodus 2:23-25 convicted me. When I let any of these experiences overwhelm me, I am not taking in and understanding an unbelievable truth:
the King of the Universe stoops to the lowness of humanity and KNOWS the depravity of the fallen evil world.
The Holy, Almighty God KNOWS my sinful, selfish heart.
The Light of the World KNOWS the haunting darkness that threatens to choke out our hope.
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” -Romans 5:8
My God is the God who Rescues the doomed. He Restores the shattered. He lavishes the destitute. He sanctifies the polluted. He loves the hated.
No Greater Love can there be than that of our God and King! His faithfulness continues from generation to generation. From the people of Israel, to us, and beyond.