Exodus 2.24, 25

So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them.

The people of Israel were slaves in Egypt when God called Moses to lead them into His redemption and Law. They had no relationship with the Pharaoh of Egypt except to serve his whims and obey his commands. They knew no benefit from his oversight of their labors, but they lived in fear and misery and uncertainty all their many days, “groaning” in all their travails without relief.

Our text says that God “remembered” His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. A better way to translate “remembered” would be “gave attention to” or even “was attending to” His covenant. And as Israel groaned and suffered, God “knew” that the time had been fulfilled, which He had declared to Abram (Gen. 15.13, 14) and that He must now act to bring His covenant to a higher state of fulfillment for His people.

God’s covenant is simply His gracious means of relating to the world and, in particular, the people He has redeemed for His own glory. His covenant is entirely of grace; that is, it comes as His design, at His initiative, freely and not as a result of merit or desert, and it is extended to those people whom He has chosen according to His love, and not because of their worthiness. By His covenant God binds Himself to His people for their redemption and blessing, so that, through them, He might make Himself and His blessings known to all the families of the earth (Gen. 12.1-3).

The worldview contained in the Law of God is thus rooted in grace, and brings God’s covenant with His people to a higher and clearer stage of development. It does not do away with the promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12.1-3); rather, it maps out the manner in which those who have been redeemedby promise may now enjoy the blessingsof promise through faith and obedience.

God’s covenant holds out promises of blessings, commands obedience, and warns of sanctions against those who reject the grace, love, and truth of God, preferring their own way in life instead of His. We cannot gain the benefits of God’s Law to the full extent that He intends except by entering into His covenant through the cut and bloody path provided in the Body of His own Son (Gen. 15.12-21; Ps. 50.3-5; Jn. 14.6).

As Abraham embraced God’s covenant and pursued His promises by obeying the Lord, removing to the land of Canaan, fathering a son, and circumcising him, so Israel, redeemed from Pharaoh’s tyranny, would know His blessings by removing from Egypt to the land of promise and walking in obedience to God’s further elaboration of His gracious covenant.

In the same way, we know the blessings of God by receiving His Son, embracing His promised redemption, and laying hold, through obedience to His Word, of the full and abundant life He has provided for us in Jesus Christ.

Act: What is the Christian’s relationship to the covenant God made with Abraham? Meditate on Romans 4.13-16. Talk with a pastor or church leader about this question.

T. M. Moore

Jesus came proclaiming the Kingdom of God – another primary theme of Scripture. Order a copy of The Gospel of the Kingdomfrom our online store, and learn how you can become more effective at proclaiming this wonderful Good News.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.