The Goodness of God in Exodus
“Sometimes the providence of God is best seen looking backward.”
I heard these words several months back while listening to a sermon series by Life Church pastor Craig Groeschel on one of my daily walks. When I heard this message and these particular words, I was currently in the midst of a difficult and confusing space, and the message of hope I heard through this message spoke poignantly to my place of discouragement. While I didn’t find myself, like the Israelites, in a foreign country oppressed by slavery and facing potential annihilation, I was in a painful situation, uncertain how God might bring me through. These words by Craig were like a balm to my heart. I was reminded that although sometimes, during our hard times, it can be challenging to see, God is always GOOD and always working FOR our good. He has shown himself faithful through countless experiences throughout my life, just as He showed up for those we read about in scripture. Even when we can’t see it, that doesn’t mean God isn’t good or is not working behind the scenes. Instead, He walks with us in the pain, in the hard, and dwells with us until we can look back and see what He knew all along. And this is the story of the Israelites in the book of Exodus.
God’s Goodness Demonstrated in Exodus
We see God’s goodness strongly demonstrated throughout the book of Exodus, although the Israelites’ story may not always have allowed them to comprehend it clearly.
The story of Exodus begins with the people of Israel living as exiles in the land of Egypt, subjected to slavery and desperate for a rescue. This is 350 years after the events at the end of Genesis, where we find Israel’s (a.k.a. Jacob’s) sons making a home in Egypt, far from the land promised by God to their ancestor Abraham.
During these 350 years between the two narratives, the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied in the land of Egypt:
“But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.” Exodus 1:7
Due to their magnitude, the Egyptian Pharaoh subjected the Israelites to slavery and domination, even going as far as seeking to kill every son born to the Hebrews to suppress their power and influence on the Egyptian culture and way of life.
God’s goodness is evident almost immediately in the narrative when He deals bountifully with the midwives who defy Pharoah’s orders by giving them their own families and continuing to multiply the Hebrews in the land. It was during this time that Moses, a key player in the Exodus story, is himself saved from death as an infant, grows up in Pharaoh’s household, and is prepared by God in the land of Midian to be used to deliver His people from slavery in Egypt.
While Moses is in Midian, the Israelites cry out to God for help from their place of desperation under slavery, oppression, and the threat of annihilation.
“And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.” Exodus 2:24-25
This scripture paints a picture of God’s goodness reflected throughout the entire book of Israel. It lays the framework for what He will do as a promise-keeping, ever-faithful, eternally GOOD father.
God heard their groaning.
God remembered His covenant.
God saw their suffering.
God knew.
The Israelites could not fathom what God had in store in their current situation. But the underlying narrative - God’s redemptive plan - was already in motion. God heard. God remembered. God saw. God knew. Under what was seen, God had already been preparing Moses to rise up as a deliverer. Beyond what the Israelites experienced, plans were in motion. God already knew the story from beginning to end, from creation, where he desired to dwell with man, to the end, where He would redeem His people and dwell with them again for all eternity. And He certainly knew the current story He was writing to deliver the people of Israel and call them His own.
God showed His goodness when He sent Moses to advocate on behalf of the Israelites before Pharoah and, through a dramatic and miraculous turn of events, delivered them from the land of Egypt in Exodus 7-15.
After their deliverance, God continues to reveal His goodness as He provides for the Israelites in the wilderness (ch. 16), even as they turn to other gods and break their covenant with Him. God establishes the Mosaic covenant with the people of Israel to restore them to Himself, providing a law to guide His people into righteous living (ch.15-24).
Towards the end of the book, God again is seen as good when He instructs His people to build a tabernacle within which to house His presence, the “shekinah” glory of God, so that He may dwell with His people, even in their wandering (ch. 25-38).
While this is far from the end of the larger redemption story still being written in our own world today, what we see in the book of Exodus is God’s fathomless goodness to not only the people of Israel but also humankind. His dealings with His chosen people, the Hebrews, only foreshadow his plans for all humanity—to rescue, redeem, guide, instruct, provide for, establish, and forever dwell WITH us. This is profoundly good news.
Underneath the Narrative
What was merely impossible for the Israelites to fathom in the midst of their story and vantage point is now clearly evident for us today when we look beyond the initial narrative to the story God was writing. We get the privilege of seeing their story “looking backward” and knowing what God did in their midst.
We see a God who had a plan from the beginning of time, who wrote (and is still writing) a redemption plan so beautiful, rich, and marvelous that it is worth every harrowing experience on the path to get there. This is the story of the Israelites in the book of Exodus, and it is also our story in the context of God’s great master plan.
Sometimes, it is hard to see God’s goodness when we look at the circumstances of our lives. The Israelites in the book of Exodus are no exception. In the narrative of their story, it had to have seemed like God, if He were present and active in their lives, was not good. What good God would allow such suffering to those whom He created, called, and promised a lasting covenant? We, too, find ourselves and those we love in situations and hardships that make it terribly hard to reconcile that God is active and present in our lives, much less good.
Yet through the story of the Exodus and His work in and for the nation of Israel, we see a foreshadowing of the story of redemption God was writing for all humanity.
In his commentary on Exodus, T. Desmond Alexander writes,
“It foretells a “greater Exodus” to come, “one that will bring fulfillment to God’s creation plan to dwell on the earth with His people. This comes through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, which results ultimately in the creation of the New Jerusalem, witnessed by John in Revelation 21-22.”[1]
This story is inextricably tied to the greater story of God’s plan to redeem us through Christ so that we can dwell with Him forever.
While the story begins with captivity, slavery, and distress, this is not where it ends. In the book of Exodus, God takes the people of Israel from suffering amidst slavery as exiles to a place of rescue, covenant relationship, and dwelling with man in His glory through the Tabernacle and, ultimately, for eternity.
Seeing God’s Goodness in Our Own Narrative
When I look at the story of Exodus, I can’t help but wonder how often we’re only able to truly see one side of the narrative in our own walks of faith. We may sometimes feel like the Israelites, struggling in a situation where there seems to be no way out or wandering in a place where, despite our best efforts to follow God’s lead, we feel like we may have lost our way.
But God.
I’m comforted that the same God who heard, remembered, and saw the Israelites in their dark and uncertain places is the same God who hears, remembers, and sees us today. God KNEW then, and He KNOWS today. His plan is always to rescue, always to redeem, always to protect and provide, and always to dwell among His people, now and forevermore.
And just as the people of Israel experienced, we may not always get to see His goodness in our current narrative, but we can still trust that He IS good, knowing that the ultimate story He is writing will end in GOOD for all who put their trust in Him. He will make Himself known. He will provide. He will redeem every part of your story as you entrust it to Him.
How to respond to God’s goodness as seen in the book of Exodus:
When you’re in a dark or uncertain place:
Take comfort in knowing you are not forgotten by our Heavenly Father. He hears you, remembers you, sees you, and He is most certainly working behind the narrative in your life to bring about good. Find ways to acknowledge His goodness, regardless of whether you see it.
Make steps to activate your trust in His faithfulness. In the darkest and unknown places, direct your heart to His care. Declare your absolute trust in Him and release control of the narrative of your life to His guidance and direction. He is certainly there in the midst of your struggle.
Keep a heart of gratitude. Gratitude ultimately stems from faith because we can trust that God works even when we don’t see the good. When we are grateful for what God provides, we open the door for the joy of His presence to flow in our lives. You may be amazed at the goodness around you when you learn to posture your heart with gratitude.
When we hold on to faith, God’s goodness WILL become evident along the way. He will not stop working in our lives, redeeming situations and circumstances until the Ultimate Redemption at the end of time, when He calls each of us home to live with Him in his goodness forever.
If your road looks a little like the Israelites at the beginning of Exodus, don’t forget where they were by the end of the book: freed from the tyranny of slavery in Egypt and building a tabernacle for the glory of God to reside with them! Sometimes, we have to hold on, and then one day, we’ll look back, and we’ll see. His goodness was with us the entire journey, but we just had to have faith to see it.
[1] Alexander, C. Desmond, “Exodus” - Teach the Text Commentary Series, p. 13.
