Short Memories

Exodus 12-15 We remember in Exodus 5:2, Pharaoh had said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by releasing Israel? I do not know the Lord, and I will not release Israel!” After ten plagues, you would have thought he would now know the true God, but Pharaoh is stubborn and resistant. He has lost his firstborn but foolishly thinks he is greater than the God of Israel.

In the meantime, the Israelites have left with riches untold, and God graciously provided an escape route for His people. But as often is the case, like them, we look back, not forward. How often are we blind to the riches that God has given us? The sight of the Egyptian armies scares them; they think there is escaping and begin to murmur. They murmured before when Pharaoh increased their workload and, just like then, so now they say to Moses, didn’t we say leave us alone and let us serve the Egyptians? We have short memories. They, and we, would rather be like the Prodigal son and serve the pig master than the Mighty God. Yet, God is patient.

We wonder why God is so patient with us. The answer is because of His plan to show Himself strong, and He loves us more than we can understand and also, this truth of Jer. 29:11 is still true: He has a plan not to harm us but to give us a future filled with hope.