Exodus 2:23-25

"And it came to pass in the course of many days, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the children of Israel, and God took knowledge of them."

As many have pointed out, these verses are actually the introduction to the following chapter. Doubtless the children of Israel had hoped with the death of Pharaoh that a more mild and tolerant Pharaoh might succeed him, but no such relief came. In utter despair, they cried mightily unto God, and God heard their cry.

"And God heard ... and remembered ..." These words express in human terms God's determination to relieve the suffering of Israel and to deliver them from their shameful and oppressive bondage. Of course, God, in no sense, had "forgotten" either his Chosen Nation, or the glorious promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What is indicated is that the time had almost arrived when God would act decisively to aid and deliver them. As Ellison put it, "This is a classic example of the attribution of human terms and attributes to God, who, in fact, never forgets a promise,"[35]

MOSES THE TYPE OF CHRIST

It is the relation of Exodus to Jesus Christ that resolves all uncertainties and corroborates our conviction that we have here a divinely inspired book. In this chapter alone, note the following:

Both Jesus and Moses were the sons of virgin princesses; Jesus by miraculous birth, Moses by adoption. Both forsook great joys to be identified with the poor. Jesus forsook heaven; Moses left Pharaoh's palace. Both were rejected, Jesus by his own nation, Moses by his brethren.

Many other examples of this phenomenon will be pointed out in our subsequent studies of this wonderful book.