Exodus 3:7 - Meaning and Application

After Moses had taken off his sandals, as God had told him (Exodus 3:5), and covered his face, God moved on to the task at hand, bringing Israel out of Egypt. After forty years of Israel’s slavery and Moses’ exile, both he and the people likely had begun to lose hope. They may have thought Israel would never be freed, and Moses would never be used to rescue them. Yet at last the time came, the year of deliverance.

This reminds us that God often comes to save his people when they have stopped expecting him. Will the Son of Man find faith when he comes? (Luke 18:8)

First, God notices the suffering of Israel (Exodus 3:7, 9). He says, “I have surely seen,” which means more than simply seeing. It means he had watched carefully and considered their situation fully. God took notice of three things.

He saw their sorrows, and likely they had little chance to complain to Pharaoh. They may not have been able to seek help from the courts, and they may have even feared speaking freely to one another. But God saw their tears. Even the hidden grief of God’s people is known to him.

He heard their cry, and it came up to him (Exodus 3:7, 9). God is never deaf to the cries of his suffering people.

He also saw the oppression of their cruel masters (Exodus 3:9). The poorest oppressed person is not too small for God to notice, and the most powerful oppressor is not too great for him to judge. He will surely deal with such wrongs.

Second, God promises to bring them out quickly and bring them into a better place. “I have come down to deliver them” (Exodus 3:8). This shows his firm purpose. His heart was set on saving them, and he would do it soon, fully, and in a way that went beyond ordinary providence, God’s usual way of governing the world. When God does something especially great, Scripture says he comes down to do it (Isaiah 64:1).

This rescue also pointed ahead to our redemption through Christ, our rescue from sin and death. The eternal Word truly came down from heaven to deliver us. That was his mission in the world. God also promised to settle Israel in the land of Canaan, where they would trade slavery for freedom, poverty for abundance, hard labor for rest, and a life of uncertainty for security and honor. All whom God brings out of spiritual Egypt, the bondage of sin, he will bring to a heavenly Canaan.

Third, God gives Moses his commission for this work (Exodus 3:10). Moses is not only sent as a prophet to tell Israel that their rescue is near, though that alone would have been a great mercy. He is also sent as an ambassador to Pharaoh, to negotiate, or more exactly, to demand Israel’s release and warn of judgment if Pharaoh refused. He is sent as a leader to Israel, to guide and command them.

So Moses is taken from caring for sheep to a far greater work, like David, who was taken from tending ewes with young (Psalm 78:71). God is the source of all power, and every ruler serves only because he appoints them as he chooses. The same hand that called a shepherd out of the desert to help build the Jewish church later called fishermen from their boats to build the Christian church, so that the power would clearly be from God.