²⁴ God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. There was one great reason for God to hear the backsliding Hebrews in Egypt. God had made a covenant with the patriarchs. He had promised Abraham that after 400 years He would bring them out of captivity. (Genesis 15:13-14[notes1] ) He had promised to make them a great nation and give them the land first promised to Abraham. When God hears our cries, he remembers His covenant, His promises.

Now, ask yourself this, “Has God given us promises?” The Scriptures tell us that He has given us great and precious promises. (2Peter 1:4) [notes2] He has promised that whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life. (John 3:36[notes3] ) He promises that if we receive Jesus and believe in His name we will become sons of God. (John 1:12[notes4] ) He has promised us that as believers in Jesus we are heirs of the promises to Abraham. (Galatians 3:29[notes5] )

We cry out to God in our temporary suffering of this life and God remembers the great promises He has made to us because we have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. He remembers because we have been adopted into the family of God. (Romans 8:15[notes6] )

These four active verbs have become very important to the Jewish people and they should be to us as well. God hears, remembers, sees, and knows. What powerful reminders to cling to in our times of testing. He hears our cries. He remembers His promises. He sees our plight. He knows us personally, intimately.

The NIV misses the translation of the last verse. ²⁵ So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. The ESV give us a more literal translation. ²⁵ God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. If I tell you I am concerned about your suffering, it doesn’t really give a sense of personal involvement or commitment. In Hebrew, the word “to know” is used of intimate relations. God is not just concerned; He knows what you feel, what you are enduring, and the particulars of your suffering. He feels toward you like you feel for your hurting child, only He knows exactly what you are enduring. He knows that you are His child and He sees in you the righteousness imparted to you by your Savior Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:22[notes7] ) He knows our light and momentary afflictions are working for us a far exceeding weight of glory. (2Corinthians 4:17[notes8] )

If we need to be broken, separated, exiled, humbled to be all we can be for His glory and for our eternal good, then He will walk with us through the process. (Hebrews 13:5[notes9] ) If it takes our whole life, it will be more than worth it for the reward is eternal. This isn’t just pie in the sky, it’s the righteousness of Almighty God. Cry out! He hears you. (Psalm 34:17[notes10] ) He remembers His promises. He sees your situation. He knows! He knows! No one else may understand, but rest assured beloved, He knows!

This is why we are in God’s Preparatory Academy. People are crying out to Him He is preparing you and me to be His voice to them. He wants to lead them out through us.

13 Then the LORD said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years.

14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

[notes2] 2 Peter 1:4 (ESV)

4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

[notes3] John 3:36 (ESV)

36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

[notes4] John 1:12 (ESV)

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

[notes5] Galatians 3:29 (ESV)

29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

[notes6] Romans 8:15 (ESV)

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

[notes7] Romans 3:22 (ESV)

22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:

[notes8] 2 Corinthians 4:17 (ESV)

17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

[notes9] Hebrews 13:5 (ESV)

5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

[notes10] Psalms 34:17 (NIV)

17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.

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Shepherd Moses

Exodus 3:1 (ESV)

¹ Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Moses had one more lesson to be ready to lead God’s people. He became a shepherd. Since the Midianites made their living raising flocks, Moses did what was detestable to the Egyptians. He became a shepherd. (Genesis 46:34b[notes1] ) Many of God’s great leaders took this class, Shepherding 101, in God’s Preparatory Academy.

People are said to be like sheep in a number of passages. (Psalm 77:20[notes2] ; 78:52[notes3] ; Isaiah 63:11[notes4] ) It is really a humiliating comparison, but so true. Sheep can’t care for themselves. They need guidance. They can’t discern good plants from poisonous ones. They can’t groom themselves. They usually stink and are dirty because the lanolin in the wool attracts dirt. They tend to wander into dangerous situations. They are vulnerable to predators.

Moses spent the next 40 years of his life in the wilderness tending these creatures, caring for his family, learning about YHWH, until the day of his call. It took 40 years to learn the wisdom of the world, and 40 years to put that wisdom in its proper place and learn the ways of God. He went from palace prince to desert wandering shepherd. What a fall! Or was it? God’s way up is often down. His lessons are rarely learned in a classroom. They are lessons of the heart and will. They are about the priority of a relationship with God.

An unknown person wrote this paragraph about Moses’ decisions to this point in his life. “Bred in a palace, he espoused the cause of the people; nursed in the lap of luxury, he embraced adversity; reared in the school of despots, he became the champion of liberty; long associated with oppressors, he took the side of the oppressed; educated as her son, he forfeited the favor of a princess to maintain the rights of the poor; with a crown in prospect, he had the magnanimity to choose a cross; and for the sake of his God and Israel, he abandoned ease, refinement, luxuries, and the highest earthly honors, to be a houseless wanderer.” Anon.

34 you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our fathers,’ in order that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.”

[notes2] Psalms 77:20 (ESV)

20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

[notes3] Psalms 78:52 (ESV)

52 Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

[notes4] Isaiah 63:11 (ESV)

11 Then he remembered the days of old, of Moses and his people. Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put in the midst of them his Holy Spirit,

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Exodus 2:16 (ESV)
¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

Moses learned from his mistakes. He learned from being a husband and a father. But perhaps the greatest lesson of all was just referred to in passing. Reuel was called a priest of Midian. What kind of priest was he? He was descended from Abraham through Keturah. (Genesis 25:4[notes1] ) He was a cousin of Moses. There is archeological evidence that this region to which Moses fled was one of the first to worship Yahweh! This would have been passed down from Abraham. (cf. Exodus 6:3[notes2] )

As a priest of Midian, Reuel would have reminded Moses of the stories that were surely told to him as a child by his mother Jochabed. He would have reinforced the greatness of a God who honors His promises and who made a covenant with their forefather. (cf. Genesis 15) He prepared Moses for Moses’ own encounter with the God named Yahweh.
The name Reuel means “the friend of God”. Later we will learn that he is also called Jethro. Jethro may be a title similar to “his excellency”. His forefather, Abraham, was also referred to as “the Friend of God”. (James 2:23[notes3] ) So we see a direct link to Abraham and the likelihood that God sent Moses to this wilderness to be under the tutelage of this priest. God was getting into Moses while getting Egypt out of Moses.

Today, the Holy Spirit is our priest/teacher, but God also gives us human mentors at certain times in our life. They may not be a lifelong friend, but someone that is an example of that next step we are to take spiritually. Their walk with God challenges us to take our walk to the next level.  They’ve been where we want to go. That is why the Apostle Paul could say, “Follow me, as I follow Christ.” (1Cor 11:1)

4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.

[notes2] Exodus 6:3 (ESV)

3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.

[notes3] James 2:23 (ESV)

23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”— and he was called a friend of God.

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